Fiftyfive5 Hires Customer Experience Leader

Australian insights consultancy Fiftyfive5 has appointed Ben Vernon as a Director, leading its customer experience capability.

Recently named Research Organisation of the Year 2020-21 at The Research Society awards, the agency was launched in 2010 by three former directors of The Leading Edge: Karen Phillips, Mark Sundquist and Darren Kemp. In 2018, it merged with brand development and consumer insights agency GalKal, and the combined business now has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore.

Vernon (pictured) joins in Sydney from Commonwealth Bank, where he latterly served as Head of Human Centred Innovation, driving employee innovation capability and culture across the organisation, incubating ideas and solutions through client engagement, social innovation, research and design. During his time with the bank, he was also General Manager of Digital Experience, Executive Manager - Research & Experience Strategy, Executive Manager Customer Centred Design, and Executive Manager Digital Customer Insights & Engagement. Earlier, he worked for the bank's online stockbroking firm CommSec as Executive Program Manager - Research & Development.

Commenting on the appointment, Phillips said: 'Ben is a valuable addition to our CX team - as our clients' need for CX strategy, execution and measurement continue to grow. He brings a wealth of expertise and experience through working with and in organisations with highly developed CX functions and thinking'.

Web site: www.fiftyfive5.com .