Sainsbury's has appointed a boss at MasterCard to head up its marketing department.

Mark Horgan, managing director of MasterCard’s Access Prepaid Worldwide subsidiary, has joined the supermarket as marketing director.

He will join Sainsbury's Operating Board reporting to Mike Coupe, Sainsbury's group commercial director.

In his role at Sainsbury's, Horgan will focus on customer insight, communications and brand loyalty.

Marketing strategy was previously led by Gwyn Burr prior to her appointment as customer service and colleague director in July 2010. It is anticipated that Mark will start in his new position within the next six months.

Prior to joining MasterCard, Horgan has undertaken a variety of operational roles and is a seasoned marketing director with a background in FMCG and retail.

He has worked for a number of top brands and previous positions he has held include European CEO at The Number (118 118), group marketing and strategy director at MFI group. His early career was spent at Mars and Nestle where he joined as a Physicist following his graduation from the University of Strathclyde.

Coupe said: "Mark brings with him a wealth of experience and I am sure will be a real asset to the team. He has a fantastic background working for some of the world's high profile brands and he has the expertise needed to develop the brand and to be a great success at Sainsbury's."

Horgan said: "Sainsbury's is one of the UK's most respected companies. It is renowned as a brand with an innovative, exciting approach to marketing that listens and quickly responds to the needs of its customers, something that is vitally important in the competitive world of retail.

"The talented team it has in place has delivered a number of industry leading campaigns over the last few years and I look forward to working with them to develop new ideas in the future."

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