Target's chief marketing officer to leave, join Uber
Updated 3:12 p.m. | Posted 1:26 p.m.
Target's chief marketing officer, Jeff Jones, is making a surprise move to the ride-sharing service Uber.
The companies made the change public Tuesday, a week after Jones gave his notice at Target.
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Jones' exit is ill-timed for Target, said Kantar Retail analyst Amy Koo.
"It's never a good time to lose your chief marketing officer heading right into your holiday season," she said. "They're going to have some tough challenges ahead, including shopper penetration declining, falling trips and also they need to figure out their grocery strategy."
But Target's fortunes recently headed south. Earlier this month the company reported falling sales and earnings fell in its most recent quarter, and reduced its profit goals for the rest of the year. Under Cornell the company had increased sales at established stores for more than a year and a half.
Jones was a relative newcomer at Target, having arrived in 2012. When the retailer endured a massive customer data breach in late 2013, and the subsequent firing of CEO Jeff Steinhafel, a 35-year company veteran, Jones went public with his feelings in a rare display for someone atop a Fortune 500 firm.
His missive, "The Truth Hurts," appeared on the career site, LinkedIn in response to critical comments about the company from a purported employee published on Gawker.com.
Jones' response quoted French novelist Emile Zola: "If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way."
The response raised eyebrows for its candor and speculation about whether this was his pitch for the top job.
Two years ago, Brian Cornell was tapped to be the new CEO after a stint leading the largest of PepsiCo's four divisions. Like most incoming CEO's Cornell has shaken up executive row at Target's headquarters, but having survived for two years there was no hint Jones might be on his way out.
Retail consultant Carol Spieckerman said she expects Target will find a lot of capable candidates inside and outside the company to replace Jones.
"There's a lot of talent out there," she said. "I think Target is going to have a wide selection of talent to pull from, as needed. Had he been more vocal, had he been functioning more as the spokesperson of the company I think it would have been a much more glaring loss."
Uber's statement explained that CEO Travis Kalanick had met Jones at a conference last February.
"Within minutes we were debating how Uber could improve its reputation. And since then we've discussed everything from profitability to brand love and how to differentiate our driver experience most effectively," Kalanick said in a statement.
"It's super clear to me that Jeff understands scale, operational excellence, innovation and storytelling--and that he's up for learning and testing his limits," he added. "Most of all I love Jeff's optimism about, and enthusiasm for, our mission."