Garden Centre lures Clubcard chief

The Garden Centre Group has recruited senior Tesco Clubcard marketer Rebecca Pollard as its head of CRM, succeeding interim boss Adrian Robertson who left at the end of last month.
Pollard, who started her new role this week, has been a senior member of the Clubcard operations team since June 2012, responsible for defining and delivering the strategic direction for the loyalty scheme in the UK.
She has also been heading up key strategic projects for the retailer, including the imminent launch of Digital Clubcard and Clubcard CRM strategy.
Prior to Tesco, Pollard was a consultant at OC&C Strategy Consultants for more than four years, including a six-month secondment at Guardian News & Media.
At the Garden Centre Group, Pollard will head up the company’s CRM operation, including its Garden Club loyalty scheme, which has 2.5 million members. The 140-chain group is set to rebrand back to Wyevale Garden Centres, although the loyalty programme is likely to retain the Garden Club name.
Former Disney marketer Robertson had been the interim head of CRM at the group since September last year. During this time he hired The Gig at DST (formerly Lateral Group) as the firm’s loyalty scheme provider, and WDMP as its CRM agency.
Late last month the group also appointed John Townshend’s agency Now to create the new brand identity, as well as devise a strategic positioning and retail communications.

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