CMO Moves Mid April Update

April has been a month marked by spring breaks for youngsters, earth quakes for Taiwan and New York, and career breaks for marketing talent.

In the first half of April, there were 17 CMO announcements, a notable increase from the merely 12 in the total monthly count in 2023.

Among these appointments, the balance tips slightly towards female leadership, with 9 women and 8 men taking the helm. 5 of the CMOs are first-time in roles, and two were promotions—most appointments are still being filled by external talent and via private searches.

Software development emerges as the frontrunner, hiring 9 CMOs.

Geographically, California, New York, and Colorado lead the charge with three hires each - a dynamic distribution across the nation.

Citigroup

Citigroup, one of the world’s largest banking institutions, has named Alex Craddock its new Chief Marketing and Content Officer.

Craddock brings a wealth of experience, having served as the Global Chief Marketing Officer at BlackRock, the largest global investment manager with assets totaling around $10 trillion. Before BlackRock, he was the global CMO for HP’s Personal Systems Group and has held down several marketing leadership posts over a 12-year tenure at Visa.

This announcement comes amidst a period of flux for Citigroup, marked by CEO Jane Fraser's ambitious reorganization efforts unveiled in September 2023. The restructuring initiative, aimed at streamlining operations and enhancing competitiveness, saw the elimination of management layers, operational closures, and significant job cuts totaling 5,000 positions. It is part of a broader goal to trim Citigroup’s global workforce by 20,000 over the next two years.

Craddock's appointment fills a void left vacant since October 2021 when Carla Zakhem-Hassan departed for JPMorgan Chase. Reporting to David Livingstone, the recently promoted global Chief Client Officer, Craddock's mandate extends beyond his predecessor's purview as he steps into a role charged with overseeing enterprise and business marketing while spearheading the formulation of original content and thought leadership strategies. This expanded scope underscores Citigroup's commitment to enhancing its marketing strategies and content creation efforts.

Craddock is a builder of sustainable marketing systems. He once shared this nugget of business advice: “Take your time,” He adds, “the best thing you can do today is to think about continuity, as opposed to making one sprint after the next”

Citigroup's financial performance, as evidenced by its recent first-quarter revenue figures surpassing analyst expectations, reflects resilience amidst operational transformation. With Craddock set to assume his new role next month, all eyes will be on Citigroup as it looks to leverage his expertise to drive sustainable growth and innovation in a highly competitive market.

Hy-Vee

Hy-Vee, an Iowa-based regional supermarket chain serving the Midwestern and Southern United States, has welcomed former ad agency CEO Jessica Hendrix aboard as its new Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Hendrix will also assume the presidency of Hy-Vee's retail media network, RedMedia.

We at the CMO Ladder love to see bold hires that allows ad-agency vets to flex new muscles in the top marketing job. A native of Iowa, Hendrix brings 25 years of expertise in retail, shopper marketing, and business development. Her tenure as CEO and president of Saatchi & Saatchi X, under the Publicis Groupe, saw her spearheading initiatives with industry titans like Procter & Gamble, Wendy’s, Kraft, and Samsung.

Jessica is not the first agency exec to trade the CEO title for the CMO title. Late last year, we tracked Doug Rozen as he embraced the ROKT CMO role after running the media show at Dentsu North America as Chief Exec.

In her new role, Hendrix will lead Hy-Vee’s marketing initiatives and drive the strategic expansion of RedMedia, Hy-Vee’s pioneering retail media network launched in September 2023 with a mission of helping CPGs and other brands precisely target consumers and provide them meaningful and personalized interactions.

Hot on the heels of Walmart and Target’s successful launch of similar media networks, Hy-vee seeks to capitalize on their substantial customer traffic by offering targeted advertising opportunities to brands, thus creating new and lucrative revenue streams.

Established in 1930, Hy-Vee has grown into a retail powerhouse with over 550 locations across eight Midwestern states, annual sales exceeding $13 billion, and over 75,000 employees.

Hendrix will report directly to Donna Tweeten, President of Hy-Vee, Inc., who is also a former CMO of the company. Anna Stoermer, the current EVP at Hy-Vee, will transition to spearhead the company’s merchandising efforts as Chief Merchandising Officer.

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