Target Names New Chief Marketing Officer
Target Corp. has named 17-year company veteran Lisa Roath its new EVP and CMO. In her new role, Roath will lead Target's core marketing functions, including creative, guest marketing strategy, retail brand experience, social media, paid media strategy and marketing strategy and operations. She joins Target’s leadership team effective immediately and will report to Cara Sylvester, EVP and chief guest experience officer.
“Marketing plays such an important role in Target’s guest experience and brings to life the inspiration, care and connection people feel when they shop with us,” said Sylvester. “Lisa’s detailed understanding of the retail landscape, her experience leading teams to deliver strong business results and her deep knowledge of and empathy for our guests make her the ideal candidate to steward Target’s brand and grow our relationship with guests.”
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Roath most recently served as Target's SVP of food and beverage merchandising. She led the team through a period of explosive growth as Target grew its annual food and beverage sales by more than $5 billion since 2019 and established itself as one of America's largest digital grocers. During that time, Roath’s focus on innovation helped quadruple the number of emerging brands in its assortment.
Before that, she held a variety of leadership roles across the company, including VP of essentials merchandising. She oversaw Target’s baby, health and household commodities divisions. Prior to that, Roath established a new capability for Target focused on maximizing the effectiveness of its pricing and promotions strategies. She also served as lead architect for a transformation of Target’s merchandising organization, blending its physical and digital buying functions to deliver a more seamless and holistic experience for Target’s customeres and team.
“Target’s marketing has long been a key differentiator for our brand, and it plays a critical role in helping us foster meaningful connections with the millions of guests who shop with us,” said Roath. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead this best-in-class team as we work together to fuel those connections with our guests, driving deeper loyalty and continued sales growth for years to come.”
Target is currently giving Amazon Prime Day event a run for its money with its members-only sale. Target Circle Week, July 9-15, features savings of up to 50% off across the retailer's entire assortment, including both private label and national brands.
Meanwhile, the company reported sales growth of 0.5% in its first quarter, reflecting flat comparable sales combined with sales from new locations, while traffic grew 0.9%, on top of 3.9% in Q1 of 2022. Comparable store sales increased 0.7%, offset by a decline in comparable digital sales, though same-day services saw mid-single digit growth with high-single digit growth in Drive-Up.
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 6 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with nearly 2,000 locations.
