Target has named Mark Weinstein chief marketing and guest experience officer, effective Sept. 14.
Weinstein formerly served as global chief marketing officer at hotel chain Hilton, which is known for its Hilton Honors loyalty marketing program. At Target, he oversees a portfolio that spans the retailer’s brand, guest experience, Roundel retail media network and Target+ marketplace.
Weinstein reports directly to CEO Michael Fiddelke and fills the role Target created in February, when Fiddelke’s leadership restructuring moved Cara Sylvester from chief guest experience officer to chief merchandising officer, elevated Lisa Roath to COO and launched an external search for a combined marketing and guest experience leader. Weinstein is the lone outside hire of that rebuild.
“As we continue writing the next chapter at Target, deepening how we know and engage our guests will be critical to our success,” Fiddelke said. “Mark has a proven ability to understand what consumers value and turn those insights into brand connections that feel relevant and personal.”
From Hilton Honors to Roundel
Weinstein spent more than 16 years at Hilton, serving as global chief marketing officer since 2020 with oversight of all 28 of the hospitality company’s brands, the Hilton Honors loyalty program and its luxury portfolio. He stepped down from Hilton on Sept. 10.
“Target is an iconic brand with the rare ability to be both deeply familiar and continually surprising,” Weinstein said. “I’m excited to join Michael and the team as Target charts its next chapter and build on that incredible foundation in fresh, distinct and more connected ways.”
The hire puts a loyalty and personalization specialist atop functions grocers and CPG suppliers watch closely: Roundel, the retail media network vendors buy into, and Target+, the curated third-party marketplace, now sit under the same executive shaping the brand itself.
‘Car door opening to car door closing’
In a Q&A published by the company, Weinstein pointed to where he sees the opportunity. “I think about the opportunity to be even more in culture and conversation by fully connecting all marketing through a consistent brand platform, more fully harnessing the power of loyalty and personalization, and really defining our in-store and digital guest experience of the future,” he said. “There’s a real opportunity here to think about the guest experience from car door opening to car door closing.”
He described his leadership approach as creating “the right environment” for teams to act as “world creators” in marketing and experience, removing roadblocks and challenging teams to “imagine the art of the possible and then craft it into existence.”
The appointment continues a year of aggressive rebuilding under Fiddelke, who took the helm in February and has since committed $5 billion to stores, reworked the merchandising organization and added a chief AI officer. As for Weinstein’s own shopping habits, the incoming marketing chief admitted his quick trips rarely stay quick: “I’m like, ‘OK, I just need to go get one carton of eggs.’ And by the time I leave, my Target cart looks like it has exploded with life.”
Target operates more than 2,000 U.S. stores with more than 400,000 team members.
Related: Target Names New CMO, COO Following Leadership Change