Lowe’s chief marketing officer exits as company realigns structure

Dive Brief:

Marisa Thalberg, Lowe’s chief brand and marketing officer, has exited the company as part of a broader reorganization effort. Thalberg became Lowe’s CMO in February 2020.
As part of the realignment, the home improvement retailer’s marketing team will move under Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising, according to details provided to Retail Dive.
The company has promoted Jen Wilson, who comes with more than 20 years of experience in marketing and merchandising, to senior vice president of enterprise brand and marketing. Wilson will report to Boltz.

Dive Insight:

With Thalberg’s departure as chief marketing officer, Lowe’s joins the growing list of companies undergoing changes in the C-suite ahead of the all-important holiday season.

Other retailers including Dollar General, Bed Bath & Beyond, Francesca’s and Adidas have experienced executive changes in recent weeks.

Marisa Thalberg became Lowe’s chief marketing officer in February 2020.

Courtesy of Lowe’s

Thalberg joined the home improvement retailer from Taco Bell just prior to the pandemic upending nearly every aspect of consumers’ lives. She oversaw many marketing efforts, including supplying materials to “American Idol” contestants to help build at-home stages for the show’s season finale, appearing at New York Fashion Week to help designers create runways and launching its #BuildThanks campaign, which encouraged consumers to create yard signs to support first responders.

For Lowe’s, the company pegged the executive change on a broader realignment to its leadership structure. In addition to moving marketing under its merchandising team, the home improvement retailer has also realigned its Pro organization under store operations. As part of that shift, Tony Hurst, senior vice president of Pro services and international, will report to Joe McFarland, executive vice president of stores.

Additionally, to build on its collaboration between its online and tech teams, the company’s senior vice president of online, Mike Shady, will report to Seemantini Godbole, executive vice president and chief digital and information officer.

Lowe’s, like many other retailers selling goods for the home, experienced a boost in the early months of the pandemic. But in recent months, the retailer has lost some of that momentum and is seeing sales slide as consumers shift spending away from the home. In its most recent quarter, Lowe’s reported net sales fell 0.3% year over year to $27.5 billion and comparable sales declined 0.3% largely due to a slowdown in sales from its DIY customers.