That Tarzhay magic that makes guests call us their happy place? We design every guest experience with inspiration, connection and joy — and our marketing team plays a big role in bringing it all to life.
Today, we announced that Lisa Roath will lead the way as our new chief marketing officer (CMO). She’ll oversee our core marketing functions including creative, guest marketing strategy, retail brand experience, social media, paid media strategy and marketing strategy and operations.
With 17 years at the Bullseye under her belt, Lisa’s already a seasoned leader — most recently heading up our food and beverage merchandising team. During that time, she helped turn Target into a company that celebrates food and led the team through a period of major growth. Since 2019, our food and beverage sales have grown more than $5 billion, and Lisa’s focus on innovation helped quadruple the number of emerging brands in our assortment.
We asked Lisa to tell us more about herself, her experience and what she’s most looking forward to with her new team.
Congrats, Lisa! What has you most excited to step into the CMO role?
Thanks! There’s a lot to be excited about. Marketing is such a core component of how we relate to our guests, and in many ways, we’re just getting started in connecting people with the affordable joy that defines our shopping experience. The ease, inspiration and value Target delivers to so many families has kept me here for nearly two decades and energizes me for what’s ahead. I’m thrilled to work with Target’s talented marketing team, whose creativity, compassion and commitment to driving business growth through our brand is unmatched.
You’ve had a wide range of leadership experience at Target. Is there a project that stands out as a pivotal moment in your career?
Back in 2017, I had the opportunity to lead a companywide merchandising transformation. The goal was to identify areas to invest in to make our merch experiences even better — like getting faster at bringing new products to market and improving on retail fundamentals like excellent promotions and inspiring presentation.
It was a huge effort that required me to collaborate with a number of teams and leaders across our enterprise and understand how each area contributes to the total business. I consider that work a career highlight because it pushed me to grow both personally and professionally. I learned so much about leading teams through big change, and those are skills I’ll carry forward as my teams take on new projects.
They say everyone has a superpower. What’s yours?
One of the most valuable skills I’ve honed over the course of my career is taking a big, complex idea and making it simpler. So, for example, when leading my team in merchandising, we started with a long list of priorities that reflected all the ways we could invest in our product assortment. The list was helpful, but it lacked the focus we needed to move the dial and ensure we captured that only-at-Target magic we’re known for. So, we distilled our list to three priorities: value, ease and differentiation. That clarity and focus helped rally the team around a unified vision for what we wanted our assortment to be and enabled us to deliver strong results — for our guests and our business. Our marketing team has this superpower, too. You see it in how the spirit of our brand comes through our guest experience in a clear and compelling way, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll create together.
What’s something that’s always in your Target cart and why?
My family and I love shopping at Target together. Our cart is usually filled with food — plenty of snacks and drinks to keep my kids going during their many sports practices and games as well as a few treats for our dog. We also love to spend time on the water, so we’re also always on the lookout for items that help us make the most of our boating and swimming adventures.
