Tesco moves UK marketing boss to lead healthy living efforts

Tesco has moved UK marketing director David Wood to lead a renewed push of its health and wellbeing agenda, prompting a restructure of the supermarket’s senior marketing team.

tesco-healthyliving-2

Wood will be responsible for developing Tesco’s health and wellbeing offer, which includes online heath food shop NutriCentre and health-related food product development.  He will also oversee the limited launch of the ‘My Fit Lifestyle’ range of healthier foods, which will be trialled in selected London stores this week.

Wood will lead the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ division, which does exist but will benefit from a “greater emphasis”, according to a spokeswoman. She adds: “This is an increasingly important part of our business, and an area with huge potential as the sector is growing rapidly.”

The move follows Tesco’s pledge last month to remove all sweets and chocolates from the checkouts across its UK stores.

It has also launched the ‘Tesco Healthy Living’ range in January and a ‘Health and Wellbeing’ app and website.

Wood will not be replaced as UK marketing director and will hand over to Jill Easterbrook who will oversee group and UK marketing in the newly created chief customer officer role.

Wood’s departure has prompted further changes to the senior marketing team reporting to Easterbrook. Leonie Foster has switched to the new role of customer communications director from brand marketing director, while group marketing director Sharry Cramond is now food and general merchandise marketing director.

Tracey Clements, moves from her support office director job to become community and customer experience director.

The changes to Foster and Clements’ roles are in line with Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke’s pledge to focus its operations around the needs of the customer as it looks to reverse declining sales.

Recommended