J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) is losing yet another executive. This time it’s marketing executive Lisa DeStefano-Orebaugh, who will be leaving the department store chain for The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD). She is the third executive to leave the struggling retail giant in 10 months.
It was rumoured earlier this month that CEO Ron Johnson would resign in the wake of the company’s weaker-than-expected fourth quarter earnings report, but a company spokesperson dismissed the rumour.
Bloomberg reports that DeStefano-Orebaugh will leave J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) to become a vice president of marketing and brand management for The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD). J.C. Penney’s marketing chief Michael Francis departed back in June, while Greg Clark vacated his position of senior vice president of creative marketing in October.
Johnson has said that there were some missteps in marketing over the past year, like utilizing mail less and not communicating the chain’s low price strategy. He said on a conference call in February that J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP)’s marketing strategy over the past year “didn’t connect very well” with its customers.
According to Johnson, the company spent too much money on television ads and not enough money on mail and print ads over the past year. Johnson also said that the retail chain has cancelled its July mailings and ended its TV ad campaigns as it tries to rethink the way it does marketing.
Johnson took over some of Francis’ responsibilities when he left and still is handling them. Also former Coca-Cola Co. marketing Chief Sergio Zyman is offering additional marketing advice to the retail chain.
