Jennifer Wilson has taken up the mantle as the new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at home improvement giant, Lowe’s, succeeding Marisa Thalberg who resigned in September 2022. With a 15-year tenure at Lowe’s, Wilson is set to steward the marketing team under the oversight of Bill Boltz, Executive Vice-President of the Merchandising division.
This leadership transition comes as Lowe’s engages in pronounced changes in light of declining revenues due to yawning pandemic-induced consumer behavior shifts. An illustrative move is Lowe’s recent flagship decision to move media agencies from Starcom to Spark Foundry, signaling a comprehensive restructuring strategy. This strategy, inclusive of noteworthy cost-cutting initiatives and a drive towards digitalization, exhibits Lowe’s ambition to embrace and prosper in the emerging post-pandemic economic milieu.
Wilson is set to harness her leadership to solidify Lowe’s reputation as a brand with unrivaled home improvement assistance. In the crosshairs is customer loyalty – an area for probable improvement given current data indicating that more than half of customers vacillate between different home improvement outlets.
Jennifer Wilson’s leadership transition at Lowe’s
Wilson also aims to usher Lowe’s marketing through a technological awakening, leveraging retail media networks, customer data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence technologies.
Wilson’s scope at Lowe’s promises to be considerably expansive, eclipsing that of her predecessor’s. Envisioned within this broader remit is a quintessential focus on refining customer experiences and developing a robust customer marketing team to propel Lowe’s loyalty program. This team is envisaged to seamlessly marry data and narratives across the company’s divisions.
Amidst an inundated market, Wilson has charted out four pivotal performance indicators (KPIs) for Lowe’s: elevating brand preference to lure a broader clientele; studying in-store traffic patterns; weighing Lowe’s value perception scores vis-à-vis competitors; and cementing customer loyalty. Given the competitive nature of the market, these KPIs underscore the importance of intriguing potential customers, understanding shopping behaviors, spotlighting areas for improvement, and maintaining customer loyalty.
Wrapping up its creative revamp with the installment of a new agency, Lowe’s plans to build creatively on the potential of the former “Lowe’s Knows” campaign. The goal is to provide more cohesive, creatively rich content that resonates with its customers.
