News Briefs

Ahold Delhaize’s The Giant Co. has promoted Rebecca Lupfer to senior vice president and chief merchant, effective immediately. In her new role, Lupfer leads all aspects of merchandising for the company as well as commercial planning and pricing, reporting directly to The Giant Co.’s president, John Ruane.

Lupfer joined Ahold Financial Services in 2005 as a business analyst and held various positions before joining Ahold Delhaize USA in 2016 as a portfolio lead for seasonal merchandising, according to a statement. She joined The Giant Co. in 2018 as director of merchandising planning and has held various positions over the last six years, including VP of merchandising - center store, VP of the company’s Mid-Atlantic division, and, most recently, chief financial officer. 

“With nearly 20 years of retail grocery experience spanning nearly all areas of the business, [Lupfer] brings a tremendous amount of expertise to the table as well as an incredible passion for building strong teams that deliver results,” Ruane said in a statement. “With her strong knowledge of our business, team and customers, I know The Giant Company will continue to be the grocery store of choice for customers and team members alike.”  

Lupfer currently serves on the board of directors for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, and the Academy of Food Marketing and The Food Marketing Educational Foundation at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. 

In addition, she serves as the executive sponsor of the company’s women’s business resource group. 

Experiential retail media company Freeosk is enhancing its in-store discovery platform through a new integration with Place Exchange, a supply platform for programmatic out-of-home (OOH) media. 

The partnership offers agency and brand advertisers access to programmatically plug into Freeosk’s in-store digital video inventory and activate messaging on the discovery kiosks through the same demand-side platforms (DSPs) they already use, according to a media release. The inventory/technology will initially be available at Wakefern’s ShopRite.

The ad solutions include verified traffic sources based on real consumers actively shopping at physical stores, where a majority of purchases and shopping decisions are made. The most recent quarterly report from the U.S. Department of Commerce indicates that in-store commerce represents over 84% of total U.S. retail sales.

“The demand for in-store retail media activation is surging as marketers push for incremental growth opportunities,” Ari Buchalter, CEO of Place Exchange, said in the release. “Brands want highly motivating, immersive experiences to make lasting impressions that promote trial and build CLV (customer lifetime value).”

The Freeosk platform engages shoppers often in high-traffic aisles midway through a shopping journey, offering product samples, opt-in trials and little experiences at the kiosks. A rotating loop of dynamic media on the kiosks is designed to engage shoppers and influence in-store decisions and buying behavior. 

“The integration will meet the growing demand for highly-effective in-store retail media campaigns and drive more ad dollars from national brands to retail environments,” Matt Eichorn, president, co-founder, and CEO at Freeosk, added. “Together we are making product discovery easier while reducing risk aversion for shoppers.” 

Freeosk’s solutions are expected to scale in both the physical and programmatic worlds, per the release.

Ahold Delhaize USA’s Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop chains have selected Havas Media Network (HMN) North America as their media agency of record as the grocery giant continues its focus on advancing efficiency through scaled media. HMN is part of Havas Group, a global integrated marketing communications business owned by media giant Vivendi.

Havas Media Network will support the four brands’ strategy, planning and activation across all traditional and digital touchpoints, according to a media release. Leveraging real-time data to create relevance and precision will be at the center of the partnership.

“Reaching customers digitally is and will remain an integral part of advancing our brands’ omnichannel strategies,” Keith Nicks, chief digital officer for Ahold Delhaize USA, said in the release. 

As part of the digital execution, HMN will also implement dynamic creative optimization, which will enable the four Ahold Delhaize brands to create personalized ads based on real-time data.

“We’re equally excited to launch capabilities that enable personalization and a great experience for our brands’ customers,” added Caroline Masullo, head of digital marketing, Ahold Delhaize USA. “We look forward to beginning campaigns with Havas Media Network later this year and evaluating ways to further scale the relationship over time.”

“We’re thrilled to be expanding our partnership with ADUSA and its brands,” added Greg James, CEO of HMN North America. “Employing our extensive expertise in retail, proactive leadership and the power and efficiency of a data-led strategic approach, we’re excited to leverage our innovation to create solutions that help these four omnichannel brands achieve their goals.”

Meyers, a printing company and provider of sustainable packaging solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Minnesota-based Johnson Printing & Packaging Corp. (JPP). 

The move underscores Meyers’ efforts to expand its footprint in the folding cartons sector, a “key component” of the company’s sustainable packaging solutions, according to a media release.

The asset acquisition will enhance Meyers’ capabilities serving its combined client base. Meyers (which specializes in sustainable packaging, labels and retail displays) and JPP share “significant overlap” in industry verticals, including food and beverage, life sciences, and health, beauty and cosmetics, per the release. 

“We are excited to welcome JPP’s clients into our operations,” Christopher Dillon, Meyers’ CEO, said in the release. “This acquisition, along with our continuous efforts to recruit top talent from across the packaging industry, strengthens our ability to provide superior service to our clients. We are particularly proud to continue offering JPP’s clients access to an independent, family-owned packaging manufacturer that is deeply committed to sustainability.”

Under the agreement, Meyers will acquire all of the assets of JPP. Specific financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. 

JPP was founded in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1921, initially as Johnson Printing Co. The company has expanded into point-of-purchase displays, folding cartons, and carded packaging, leading to a name change in 1982 to reflect their broader focus.

Campbell Soup Company has appointed Jill Pratt as senior vice president, chief marketing officer of its meals and beverages division, effective July 29.

In her new role, Pratt leads the U.S. consumer experience team for Campbell’s meals and beverages division. She will partner with the category and sales teams to attract new consumers and strengthen customer partnerships, according to a statement from the manufacturer. She’s responsible for driving growth, relevance and the continued modernization of its iconic portfolio of brands, including Campbell’s, Chunky, Michael Angelo’s, Noosa, Pace, Pacific Foods, Prego, Rao’s, Swanson, SpaghettiOs and V8. 

She’s also tasked with elevating the division’s consumer and shopper insights to develop an innovation pipeline and strengthen the company’s integrated marketing efforts and capabilities.

Additionally, Pratt joins the Campbell leadership team and will report to Mick Beekhuizen, executive vice president and president, meals and beverages.

“With our portfolio of iconic and distinctive brands, Campbell’s meals and beverages division is transforming our categories to accelerate growth with our retail customers,” Beekhuizen said in the release. “Our consumer experience team plays a significant role in elevating our brands by engaging existing shoppers and attracting the next generation of consumers. I’m confident [Pratt’s] leadership will take our marketing to the next level.”

Pratt joins Campbell from Heatonist, a company that partners with hot sauce makers to bring new flavors to market. Prior to Heatonist, she served as the first global chief marketing officer of McCormick & Co., which she joined in 2008 and held roles in brand marketing and general management. While at McCormick, she served as vice president and general manager of Zatarain’s and supported the integration of French’s and Frank’s RedHot sauce, McCormick’s largest acquisition. She also led marketing excellence for the company, designing and building the global marketing function before she was promoted to CMO. Prior to McCormick, Pratt held several marketing roles at Procter & Gamble.

Pratt succeeds Linda Lee, who has left the organization.

Commerce media company Criteo has promoted three key leaders to further drive growth and build momentum in retail media and performance media, effective immediately.

Brian Gleason, who joined Criteo in April 2022 as chief revenue officer, has assumed an expanded role: CRO and president of retail media. He will oversee the end-to-end execution of Criteo’s retail media plans, driving efficiency and agility, and advancing the company’s market presence and leadership in the digital advertising channel, according to a media release. Gleason will also continue to lead Criteo's global commercial organization and expand new client opportunities. Prior to joining Criteo, Gleason was global chief commercial officer of WPP’s GroupM. He also served as CEO of Xaxis, a global programmatic audience platform, and in senior roles at various advertising and technology companies.

Ryan Damon, formerly chief legal and corporate affairs officer, assumes the expanded role of chief legal and transformation officer. In addition to overseeing the company's legal, compliance and public affairs, his new responsibilities span transformation initiatives to further drive Criteo's commerce media platform execution roadmap, including its trading infrastructure and custom capabilities. Prior to joining Criteo in 2018, Damon served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Riverbed Technology, where he led legal and corporate development. He has also held senior legal roles at Charles Schwab and was an attorney with the law firm of Gunderson Dettmer in California’s Silicon Valley, representing start-up technology companies and venture capital investors.

Connor McGogney, formerly executive vice president of corporate development, has been promoted to chief business development officer. Since joining Criteo in 2018, McGogney has played a key role in shaping the company's acquisition and business transformation strategy. As part of the senior leadership team, he will play a central role in driving the company's growth strategy, including mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Previously, McGogney was vice president, global M&A and corporate development at Nielsen. He also served as vice president, media and technology investment banking at Credit Suisse.

Gleason, Damon and McGogney will report directly to CEO Megan Clarken.

"These executive leadership changes will accelerate our success and enable further growth as we continue to transform our company into a commerce media powerhouse,” Clarken said in the release. “[Gleason, Damon and McGogney] are exceptional leaders who will help us continue to scale our business and drive shareholder value.”