What you need to know:

• Cashrewards hires former Westpac Head of Brand & Advertising Nicole Bardsley as CMO.
• She's aiming for UK-levels of merchant cashback penetration in ANZ.

Cashrewards has hired Westpac marketer Nicole Bardsley as its CMO. Bardsley has also worked with brands including Virgin Mobile, Foxtel and David Jones. 

CEO Bernard Wilson said Bardsley joins the firm at a "pivotal point" in its bid for sustained growth.

“Nicole’s experience leading and motivating high calibre teams to drive brand transformations at Westpac and Virgin Mobile will be invaluable as we encourage more members than ever before to start even more of their shopping journeys with Cashrewards,” said Bernard.

The firm has been building out a marketing muscle, hiring Westpac, M&C Saatchi and DDB alumni Matthew Poulier as Head of Brand, former Afterpay B2B Marketing Director Sally Marsden to lead B2B marketing and Pickles Auctions and Audi growth marketing leader Karlien McLeod as Head of Shopper Marketing.

Bardsley, who starts with Cashrewards on 10 January, said the UK market, "where top cashback platforms are used by more than 20 benchmark of shoppers" illustrates the local growth potential.

“It’s a compelling proposition for brands, enabling them to reach high-value shoppers at compelling ROI because they pay only on conversion, so there’s no wasted reach,” she said.