Supervalu Names Parker as Its First CMO
Grocery giant Supervalu has hired its first chief marketing officer, six months after completing its $17.4 billion buyout of Albertsons.
Susan Parker joins Supervalu today as vice president and chief marketing officer, overseeing branding and marketing strategy for Supervalu’s 12 grocery and pharmacy banners, including Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Shaws, Acme, Cub Foods, Shop n Save and Lucky.
Parker will oversee Supervalu’s shopper-experience efforts and its marketing partnerships. She’ll also handle marketing strategy for the 2,200 independent grocers that Supervalu serves as a wholesaler.
She comes to Minneapolis based Supervalu from Southwest Airlines, where she spent the last 16 years, most recently as senior director of marketing. In that post, Parker oversaw customer loyalty and set the strategy for customer relationship management.
Supervalu created the role of CMO to leverage its national reach, now that it has incorporate Albertsons into its portfolio. In all, Supervalu has 2,500 stores in 10 states, with combined annual sales of nearly $40 billion.
“As the nation’s third-largest grocery retailer, it is essential that we continually strengthen our marketing and brand management capabilities,” said Duncan Mac Naughton, Supervalu’s executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, in a statement.
