Ahold USA Retail’s Jeff Martin, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, is delivering value to Ahold’s customers in a variety of successful ways, earning him SN’s 2012 Marketer of the Year Award. The marketing achievements of Martin and his colleagues were spotlighted during a recent ceremony at the company’s Carlisle, Pa., facility, and earlier this year at Food Marketing Institute’s Midwinter Executive Conference in Orlando, Fla. Acosta Sales & Marketing sponsored the award.
Those attending the Carlisle, Pa., ceremony included the company’s executive committee members, a large group of associates who work there, and representatives from SN and Acosta. Left to right: Jerry Rymont, Supermarket News publisher; Don Sussman, Stop & Shop New York Division president; John Hamm, Acosta VP; Paula Price, Ahold USA EVP and CFO; Jeff Martin, Ahold USA EVP of marketing and merchandising and Supermarket News 2012 Marketer of the Year; Carl Schlicker, CEO of Ahold USA Retail; David Orgel, Supermarket News editor-in-chief; Mark McGowan, Stop & Shop New England Division president; Kathy Russello, Ahold USA EVP of human resources; Rick Herring, Giant Carlisle Division president; Tom Hippler, Ahold USA EVP and general counsel; and Bhavdeep Singh, Ahold USA EVP of operations.
Ahold USA Retail CEO Carl Schlicker praises the efforts of Martin and the entire team.
Martin was honored earlier this year at the 13th annual Friends of the Industry Dinner during FMI’s Midwinter Executive Conference in Orlando, Fla. Pictured are Dan Bagan, SN, senior vice president of Penton Media; Robert Hill, Acosta; Martin; Ramin Eivaz, Acosta; and Jerry Rymont, SN publisher.
Martin shows off the new look for the company’s Guaranteed Value private label. (In-store photos No. 5 - No. 13 by Susan Angstadt)
The new packaging for Ahold USA’s Guaranteed Value private label makes the product stand out on the shelf, Martin said.
Ahold USA’s loyalty card provides a vehicle for working with vendors: Consumers can earn bonus points for purchasing certain products, and vendors have been eager to participate, Martin explained.
A major factor in Ahold’s sales growth in recent years has been the success of its multi-tiered private-label program.
“We need to create a lot of different kinds of value for our customers,” Martin says.
Earning rewards points for certain purchases has been a key element of Ahold’s loyalty-card program, and has been embraced by both vendors and shoppers, Ahold said.
Ahold’s multi-tier private-label offer includes the natural and organic Nature’s Best line and CareOne for HBC.
“Private label is going to a big part of our plan going forward, both in the U.S. and in Europe,” Martin says.
Ahold has enhanced its value messaging in stores on national-brand product by working closely with vendors to craft deals that make sense for all parties.
“Ahold’s success is really a reflection of a lot of hard work by a lot of people and the support team,” Martin told SN. “I’m very fortunate to work with them. I am always humbled by my opportunity to work with them.”