Target Suffers Uber Loss of CMO Jeff Jones

Target EVP and CMO Jeff Jones is leaving the Minneapolis-based retailer to become president of ridesharing at Uber, where he will be responsible for the San Francisco-based transportation company’s global operations, marketing and customer support. His departure follows those of several other executives this year, including Chief Stores Officer Tina Tyler and Chief Human Resources Officer Jodee Kozlak.

At Target, Jones was in charge of corporate communications and public relations, brand and category marketing, enterprise loyalty, and all advertising, media and marketing operations. He also was responsible for the Guest Center of Excellence and served as the architect of Target’s on-demand shopping experience. He is known for having helped modernize the retailer’s marketing, evolving its digital offerings and spearheading its #MoreMusic campaign.

An executive with extensive experience in leading global marketing and advertising strategy and operations across more than a dozen industries – including CPGs and retail – Jones was partner and president at Durham, N.C.-based ad agency McKinney prior to joining Target in 2012. Before that, he was EVP and CMO at The Gap, basedi  in San Francisco, where he led global marketing strategy, retail store design, store experience and all consumer communications; and in various other leadership roles at short-lived Chicago-based professional services firm marchFIRST Inc.; CPG manufacturer The Coca-Cola Co. based in Atlanta; and Chicago-based ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide.

Jones was named 2015 Marketer of the Year by Mass Market Retailers, one of the Top 5 CMOs to Watch in 2015 by The Wall Street Journal, one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs by Forbes, and one of the Top 20 Social CMOs of Fortune 250 Companies.