Target elevates former grocery merchandising head Lisa Roath to CMO

Target veteran Lisa Roath, who most recently served as the retailer’s SVP of food and beverage merchandising, has been promoted to CMO.

Roath, who has worked for Minneapolis-based Target for 17 years, will lead the company’s core marketing functions, including creative, guest marketing strategy, retail brand experience, social media, paid media, marketing strategy and operations.

Roath will report to Cara Sylvester, Target’s EVP and chief guest experience officer.

Target, which operates nearly 2,000 stores around the country, has been without an official CMO since Sylvester was promoted into her current role in May 2022.

The retailer pointed to Roath’s grocery success in announcing her promotion, noting that Target’s food and beverages sales have grown more than $5 billion since 2019 and that her “focus on innovation” helped quadruple the number of emerging CPG brands on Target shelves.

“During that time, she helped turn Target into a company that celebrates food and led the team through a period of major growth,” Target said in a statement.

Roath, an FMI – The Food Industry Association board member, has also served as Target’s VP of essentials merchandising, pricing and promotions, and merchandising transformation and insights.

In 2017, she led a companywide merchandising transformation that focused on identifying ways to improve product selection, promotions and presentation.

“It was a huge effort that required me to collaborate with a number of teams and leaders across our enterprise and understand how each area contributes to the total business,” Roath said in a Target blog post. “I learned so much about leading teams through big change, and those are skills I’ll carry forward as my teams take on new projects.”

Target’s grocery business has been a bright spot for it in recent quarters as inflationary pressures pushed shoppers away from discretionary goods. In May, the retailer reported food and beverage sales increased in the high single digits during its first quarter, while same-store sales grew just 0.7% overall during the period.

“Target’s marketing has long been a key differentiator for our brand and it plays a critical role in helping us foster meaningful connections with the millions of guests who shop with us,” Roath said in a statement. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead this best-in-class team as we work together to fuel those connections with our guests, driving deeper loyalty and continued sales growth for years to come.”