Haygarth hires for lead shopper and brand experience roles

Haygarth, has announced the appointment of two senior team members to its Commerce and Brand Experience teams.

Haygarth has this month welcomed Rachel Cross as Director of Shopper & Commerce and Frankie Speakman as Head of Brand Experience to lead clients through the fast-moving digital commerce landscape.

Rachel will be leading the agency’s shopper and commerce division, and joins from Saatchi & Saatchi where she was previously Commerce & Shopper Business Director, responsible for heading up the P&G shopper marketing team. Having worked in both retailer and creative agencies, she will use her 18 years of experience to bring a unique perspective on the UK retail landscape to the likes of Jack Daniel’s, General Mills and Unilever.

She joins newly hired Dan King (Head of Digital & eCommerce) who brings both media planning and client-side experience to Haygarth. Together with the wider team, the duo’s added energy and expertise will increase the agency’s ability to “Amaze & Persuade” through meaningful brand engagements and measurable sales.

Commenting on her appointment, Rachel said: “I’m incredibly excited to be working with a fantastic portfolio of clients, supporting them to drive growth and navigate the complexity of the digital landscape to ensure they remain strong in their markets. Introducing new commerce capability to our clients to ensure their customers experience a connected journey wherever they shop is essential to any brand’s success, more so now than ever before as consumerism continues to steer towards a digital landscape.”

Hot on Rachel’s heels, Frankie Speakman has joined Haygarth as the new Head of Brand Experience. Frankie comes from specialist experience shop, Hot Pickle, where she was Business Director. She brings with her huge expertise in integrated brand experiences both across the UK and internationally which was built not only at Hot Pickle but also as Managing Director of Seen Productions and within award-winning agencies, Amplify and Space.

Frankie comments: “I’m looking forward to helping Haygarth fuse on and offline customer experiences that drive brand love and purchases. With clients like L’Oreal, Vodafone and Disney to work on, I’ll be leading the newly refreshed BX team with a ‘Build Back Better’ ambition. We’ll be taking on board all the behavioural and technological learnings from the pandemic years to offer clients reimagined customer experiences which leave lasting impressions.”

Among others, Frankie will be working with Haygarth’s new Head of Operations, Ben McDonald who brings extensive international experience.

Marcus Sandwith, CEO of Haygarth, adds: “Given the acceleration towards online consumerism that the past few months has necessitated, we have bolstered our senior team with a number of big-hitting appointments to make sure we are best placed to drive clients forward in this experience first commerce landscape.

“Haygarth’s success lies in our belief that brands can create work which both ‘Amazes & Persuades’ their customers, despite industry pressure that assumes a choice must be made between brand building and sales driving activity. We work hard to develop meaningful brand engagements which enhance brand appraisal while also driving measurable sales.

“With the marketing landscape evolving into a place where consumers expect meaningful experiences with brands at the same time as the ability to buy, whenever and wherever they want, we believe Haygarth has just the right recipe for success.”