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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. is restructuring its marketing and merchandising staff in a bid to foster a more integrated approach to the two disciplines and intensify the drug chain’s customer focus.
A major component of the realignment is the elimination of the chief marketing officer’s role. As a result, Kim Feil, a vice president who has held that post since joining Walgreens three years ago, is leaving the company at the end of the month.
“Kim helped transform Walgreens from an advertising-based model to a retail marketing organization, establishing an overall brand strategy and building a talented marketing team,” says Joe Magnacca, the retailer’s president of daily living products and solutions. “We thank Kim for all her contributions to marketing’s transformation and wish her well in her career as she moves on.”
Under the new structure several key marketing executives previously overseen by Feil will report directly to Magnacca. They include Cindy Donohoe, vice president of pharmacy and health care marketing; Catherine Lindner, vice president of retail marketing; Deborah Sabo, vice president of marketing services; and Mark Cordes, senior director of marketing operations and planning, who is responsible for the Walgreens Integrated Network and other marketing technologies.
Division vice president of marketing insights and loyalty Todd Vang will report to Graham Atkinson, the drug chain’s chief customer experience officer.
In addition to the shifts in marketing, two changes in merchandising are being made. Rachel Bishop, divisional vice president of strategic planning and analysis, and Moe Alkemade, divisional vice president and general merchandise manager for private brands, will report to Magnacca instead of vice president of merchandising Bryan Pugh.
By bringing about a closer alignment between the strategic objectives of Walgreens marketing and merchandising teams, the changes will enable the retailer to tighten its focus on being consumers’ first choice for meeting their health and daily living needs, according to a company spokesman.
