John Lewis top marketer Charlotte Lock departs the business
Charlotte Lock spent three years as pan-partnership customer director at the business. It is not yet known who will take on leadership of the marketing function.
The John Lewis Partnership’s top marketer Charlotte Lock has left the role after almost three years with the business.
The brand’s pan-partnership and customer director announced her departure on LinkedIn today (6 January). Lock joined the business as its first pan-partnership customer director in February 2022, working across both the John Lewis and Waitrose brands as, part of the company’s plan to bring the two closer together to deliver better value and save costs. In 2023, she took on additional responsibilities for the John Lewis brand following the departure of Claire Pointon.
Lock’s tenure as customer director at the retailer has seen significant changes. Shortly after Lock joined in 2022, John Lewis made the decision to retire its famous price promise ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’. In September last year, it was brought back the pledge with Lock admitting that the brand’s value perceptions have been a “detractor” for it.
In 2023, the John Lewis Partnership also made the decision to review its creative agency, ending its 14-year relationship with Adam&eveDDB. The partnership produced some of its most famous Christmas advertising in this period, such as 2011’s ‘The Long Wait’, 2015’s ‘Man on the Moon’.
The retailer instead began a new partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi, which has produced its last two Christmas ads. Its festive 2024 ad was part of a three-part series, which brought to life the Never Knowingly Undersold slogan.
The conclusion of the series, festive ad, The Gifting Hour’, scored a 4.6 star rating on System1’s Test Your Ad platform, the brand’s highest score on the effectiveness predictor since ‘Excitable Edgar’ in 2019.
Lock has not confirmed where her next job will be following her departure from the retailer, only that she is leaving for a role that fulfils a “personal passion”. She thanked the team for three “intense, rewarding and super-fun years”.
Lock joined John Lewis from the Co-op, where she was director of data, loyalty and digital products. Before that, she spent almost nine years at the BBC, latterly as director for BBC Sport’s youth strategy.
Marketing Week contacted John Lewis to confirm who will lead marketing following Lock’s departure but did not receive a reply before publication.
