Dive Brief:
- Albertsons is moving its media and marketing capabilities within its merchandising organization under Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Emily Turner, the grocer confirmed to Grocery Dive.
- This move follows the recent departure of the grocer’s former retail media head, Brian Monahan, who helmed Albertsons Media Collective for more than a year.
- This restructuring is the latest example of Albertsons consolidating internal operations as the company works to improve its sales performance.
Dive Insight:
Albertsons said that combining its retail media and marketing departments will strengthen its coordination across these organizations while enabling faster decision-making and creating a more connected experience for its partners, according to an emailed statement.
Albertsons Media Collective remains key to Albertsons’ strategy, and that team will remain intact, a spokesperson for the company stated. Current partner plans and campaigns will also continue without interruption, the spokesperson added.
Turner is still new to Albertsons, having joined the company’s C-suite in mid-August after working as The Fresh Market’s chief marketing officer.
In July, Albertsons announced plans to centralize its center store merchandising operations as well as roll out a new regional operating model that consolidates 11 divisions into four regions.
Albertsons has also been busy expanding its board of directors, growing it from 10 members to 14 since September. Last month, the grocer tapped former technology industry CEO Meg Whitman to serve as its first-ever executive chair. Whitman will also act as an operations and strategic advisor to Albertsons CEO Susan Morris.
Shortly after Whitman joined, Albertsons brought on three additional board members: former Food Lion President Meg Ham, Lowe’s Companies Executive Vice President of Merchandising Bill Boltz, and Aligned Data Centers Chief Operating Officer Chris Drumgoole.
