Stacey Thorpe appointed Director of Marketing

AUCKLAND, 18 May 2006

Stacey Thorpe appointed Director of Marketing, Australia and New Zealand
Christopher Taylor promoted to Singapore to head up sponsorship and alliance marketing for Visa Asia Pacific

– Visa International today announced Ms. Stacey Thorpe has been appointed Director of Marketing, Australia and New Zealand.

Ms. Thorpe replaces Mr. Christopher Taylor, who moves to Singapore to take up the role of Regional Head of Sponsorship and Alliance Marketing. Ms. Thorpe will be responsible for driving increased Visa usage, the strategic development of the brand and managing the portfolio of sponsorships in Australia and New Zealand.

“Stacey has a wealth of experience in managing some of the world’s great iconic consumer brands and she brings with her strong analytical and marketing skills that will be valuable in further driving the strength of the Visa brand,” said Bruce Mansfield, Visa’s Executive Vice President, Australia and New Zealand.

“Stacey joins Visa at an exciting time, with opportunities to develop the brand through the roll out of Visa’s new brand mark in consumer, commercial and merchant campaigns, Rugby World Cup 2007, the Beijing Olympics, the continued expansion of Visa Entertainment and other key marketing programs,” he said.

Ms Thorpe’s global brands portfolio included McDonald’s, Lexus, Toyota and Elizabeth Arden. In 1990 she moved to the United Kingdom where she joined McDonald’s Corporation in the European Marketing division working as Marketing Manager and later Pan-European Marketing and Research Manager. From Europe, Stacey moved to Argentina as Marketing Director for McDonald’s Argentina.

She returned to Australia in 1998 and set up a specialized consultancy business providing brand and marketing strategy to advertising agencies and corporations in the finance, retail and automotive sectors.

In 2003 Stacey moved with her husband to Chicago, USA where she became a Director of the Australian American New Zealand Chamber of Commerce. In 2005 she returned to Australia and resumed her association with Lexus, working on automotive launches and CRM initiatives.

During her career Stacey served on several regional marketing communications boards and led work on corporate sponsorship programs within the Olympics and the World Cup events.

Ms Thorpe said she was delighted to join the Visa International marketing team. “To be given the opportunity to take guardianship of a great brand like Visa is incredibly rewarding and exciting. I look forward to using my marketing experience as a building block in driving the continued successful growth of the Visa brand,” she said.

Chris Taylor will take up his new appointment in Singapore as Regional Head of Sponsorship and Alliance Marketing in June. In this role, Chris will be responsible for managing and leveraging Visa’s investment in properties such as the Olympic Games, Rugby World Cup 2007, ICC Cricket World Cup, the 2007 FIFA World Cup and the partnership with Disney across Asia Pacific.

ENDS

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