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Asda has confirmed that KFC’s chief marketing officer, Meghan Farren will join the group as chief customer officer (COO) in October.
Farren replaces Anna-Maree Shaw, who returned to her native Australia in January 2021.
Since her departure, Preyash Thakrar, Asda’s chief strategy officer has provided leadership support to the customer team over the past seven months and will continue to do so until Farren joins the business in autumn.
Meanwhile, Farren is set to exit KFC after serving 10 years at the establishment, joining first in 2013 as an innovative director before later being promoted to CMO in 2016.
Prior to this, Farren had a “track record” of driving growth and business change across a broad range of consumer businesses.
She began her career at JPMorganChase, then spent five years in strategy consulting across various retail and FMCG sectors, followed by roles in sales, category management and brand marketing at Gu Puds.
As Asda’s COO, she will lead the development and strategy of Asda’s total customer proposition, marketing and management of its brands – leading a team of over 250 colleagues based in Leeds and Lutterworth.
Roger Burnley, CEO of Asda, said; “Meg brings a wealth of experience to this role from her time at KFC – and her combination of creative instinct and experience, customer centric approach and track record in leading high performing teams will be a great addition to Asda as we take the next exciting step forward on our journey.
“I am also very grateful for all Preyash has delivered over the last year – stepping across to support the customer team as well as his role as chief strategy officer. I look forward to his continued contribution when he returns to his chief strategy officer role as part of our leadership team.”
