Bubble tea chain Chatime Australia has appointed Alison Walsh as chief marketing officer.

Walsh joins Chatime after a 17-year career at Guzman y Gomez, most recently serving as head of sales and marketing.

As national marketing manager, and GYG’s first head-office hire, Walsh worked closely with founder and CEO, Steven Marks and the global CMO, Lara Thom, to define core values and build marketing foundations for growth.

Walsh has helped scale the business into a multi-billion-dollar brand operating internationally in Japan, Singapore and the US.

Charlley Zhao, MD at Chatime Australia, said Walsh brings a combination of commercial discipline, brand instinct and hands-on leadership.

“Alison has a proven track record of aligning strategy, product and brand to drive growth, which will be critical in Chatime’s next phase in Australia,” Zhao said.

In her role as CMO, Walsh will lead Chatime’s brand, marketing, product development and growth agenda, with responsibility across national and local area marketing, digital, delivery, social and product innovation.

“I’m excited to join the Chatime team, it’s a fun brand with great foundations. Together, we are all focused on driving sales growth by aligning strategy, brand and commercial outcomes,” Walsh said.

“There’s a clear opportunity to re-energise our core customers while continuing to broaden appeal with young Australians. The priority is moving with pace, staying culturally relevant, and ensuring every initiative delivers measurable commercial impact.”

• This story was originally published on Franchise Executives.