Judge Replaces Linton at Best Buy
Retail giant Best Buy has named Barry Judge to lead marketing after the surprise departure of Mike Linton.
Best Buy promoted Judge to VP-marketing after Linton’s Aug. 17 departure. Judge assumes Linton’s responsibilities, but not his executive VP-CMO title, which Best Buy has eliminated.
Judge, 44, took over as marketing leader, effective Aug. 24, when Linton resigned for personal reasons, per Best Buy officials.
Judge had been senior VP-consumer brand marketing; he joined Best Buy’s e-commerce team in November 1999, and helped launch BestBuy.com and boost the retailer’s multi-channel consumer marketing and direct marketing.
Judge’s career includes stints at Young & Rubicam, Coca Cola USA, The Quaker Oats Co., Pillsbury Co. and Caribou Coffee Co., where he was VP-marketing.
Linton’s departure follows the July exit of Ronald Boire, Best Buy’s former executive VP-global merchandising manager, who left to become president of Toys ‘R’ Us, U.S.
The change in marketing leadership comes as Best Buy prepares for the holiday season. It’s too early to know how the staffing shifts will affect Best Buy’s ongoing marketing strategy, said Best Buy spokesperson Susan Buch.
Linton, 49, announced his intent to leave the company in early August, Buch said. He had been with Best Buy for seven years, nearly four of them as CMO, leading consumer research, customer relationship management and brand and product management functions.
During his time at Best Buy, Linton was a key player in Best Buy’s segmentation strategy that tailors stores’ merchandise mix and marketing based on local demographics, with individual stores targeting two of five audience segments, from soccer moms to young male techies to small-business owners (April 2005 PROMO). Linton was one of PROMO’s 2005 Marketers of the Year, based on Best Buy’s music-driven promos in 2004 (January 2005 PROMO).
