Matthew Knight has been handed the role of head of marketing, insight and communications, as part of a marketing overhaul that includes working with digital agency Rocketer.
Knight joined Ocado in a consultancy capacity in March. He previously spent seven years at Nectar in strategy roles.
His appointment comes as Ocado seeks to deflect the negative publicity surrounding its flotation last week. The retailer was forced to cut the price of its shares by 20% after it failed to justify its pre-float valuation of £880m-£1.1bn. Investors were concerned that it had never made a pre-tax profit.
Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said he was not disappointed because Ocado was "going to hire thousands of people and sell loads of groceries and that will ultimately grow the share price".
Marketing plans include increasing digital activity, including search marketing and Facebook campaigns.
This follows the success of Ocado's iPhone app, which now accounts for about £15m of sales, according to Knight.
Ocado has an in-house creative team, but has also worked with CHI & Partners in the past.
Ocado timeline
- 2002 Founded by former Goldman Sachs bankers.
- 2006 Appointed former ITV chief executive Michael Grade as non-executive chairman.
- 2009 Became first online grocer to launch iPhone app, confirmed plans for flotation.
- May 2010 Extended deal to sell Waitrose goods until 2020.
- July 2010 Floated on London Stock Exchange.
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