Dive Brief:
- Circana announced Thursday the appointment of Cara Pratt as president of global retail and media, a newly created role, effective May 27.
- Pratt joins the technology and analytics company from Kroger’s data arm 84.51°, where she most recently served as senior vice president of media, insights and loyalty, per the press release.
- This announcement follows 84.51°’s recent layoffs and the exit of its chief data and technology officer.
Dive Insight:
In this new role on Circana’s executive leadership team, Pratt will lead the company’s retail and media strategies, including growing the firm’s role as a strategic growth partner for retailers, strengthening retail media network partnerships and improving advertising effectiveness, according to the announcement.
Pratt has over two decades of experience, Circana said. During her eight years with Kroger’s data arm, she served as vice president of customer communications, product strategy and innovation as well as vice president of commercial and product strategy before taking on the SVP role, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“Cara brings proven innovation and expertise, and we’re excited to partner with her and our clients to improve their business outcomes,” Circana President and CEO Stuart Aitken said in a statement. Aitken joined Circana at the start of the year after serving as chief merchandising and marketing officer of Kroger since 2020.
Pratt’s earlier career included stints at IRI prior to its merger with The NPD Group in 2022 to create Circana, and Nielsen, per her LinkedIn. She also spent a dozen years at Dunnhumby in multiple leadership roles.
In March, Kroger confirmed it laid off an unspecified number of workers at 84.51° so the company could “focus on the key priorities that power our go-to-market strategy,” a spokesperson said in a statement. That same month, Todd James, the retail analytics subsidiary’s chief data and technology officer, announced his departure on LinkedIn to serve as founder and CEO of Aurora Insights.
