dunnhumbyUSA, a global leader in building sales and brand value for
consumer goods and retail companies, has named Stuart Aitken as its
Chief Executive Officer. Aitken, hired in August 2009 as Chief Operating
Officer just as dunnhumbyUSA christened its new 150,000 square foot
Cincinnati headquarters, assumed management of dunnhumbyUSA from then
CEO Simon Hay, who relocated to London to assume broader
responsibilities with the company’s London-based operations.
dunnhumbyUSA continues on its growth trajectory, maintaining its hiring
plans through 2011 to add 150 new employees to its U.S. operations.
dunnhumbyUSA employs over 350 in Cincinnati and five other U.S.
locations, with 2009 revenue of $ 190 million. dunnhumbyUSA continues to
be recognized for its exceptional workplace culture, having recently
been named a Top Workplace by Enquirer Media. The recognition was based
on a broad-based employee survey that ranked company leadership, career
opportunities, workplace flexibility, compensation and benefits.
Since Aitken’s hiring, dunnhumbyUSA has expanded its partnership with
Macy’s, establishing a New York office; has made significant progress
against the expansion of its consumer packaged goods client base; under
the recently established dunnhumby Canada, a joint venture with Metro, a
leading food retailer in Canada, secured the Canadian Tire business.
“Working collaboratively, we’ve accomplished a great deal in the ten
months since I’ve been on board. We continue to be laser focused on
building Kroger’s customer-based strategy, growing our consumer packaged
goods business globally, and expanding our portfolio of retail clients –
by putting the unrelenting voice of the customer at the heart of
everything we do and applying those learnings into actionable strategies
that effect our clients bottom lines,” noted Stuart Aitken, dunnhumbyUSA
CEO.
Aitken’s deep experience in loyalty programs, marketing, retail and
grocery, through his previous executive roles at arts and crafts retail
chain Michael’s Stores Inc., and grocery retail giant Safeway, Inc.,
have ideally positioned him to lead dunnhumbyUSA’s continued exponential
growth.
Since relocating to Cincinnati from Dallas, Texas, Aitken has become
involved in the local community through board membership in the European
American Chamber of Commerce, as a judge for the Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and was recently selected as a 2010
“Pink Tie Guy”, ambassadors for breast health, by the Susan G. Komen For
The Cure of Greater Cincinnati, and has just been named to the Board of
Trustees for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Aitken emphasizes the
importance of community involvement across the company employing
significant efforts towards volunteerism and financial support of local
non-profit organizations.
Through dunnhumby’s joint venture partnership with The Kroger Co.,
dunnhumby has helped Kroger focus on what matters most to its customers
– good prices, a memorable shopping experience, the right products and
great people.
“Stuart’s keen sense of what matters most to customers is helping us
strengthen our connection with our loyal shoppers,” said Don Becker,
executive vice president of Kroger. “Stuart and his team at dunnhumby
play an instrumental role in helping Kroger earn each customer’s loyalty
for life.”
About dunnhumbyUSA
dunnhumby is the global leader at helping companies understand the
wants, needs and desires of their customers. Insights from over 350
million people in 24 countries enable dunnhumby’s clients to put the
customer at the heart of the way their people, processes and systems
work. Once companies put the customer first in business decisions, they
become their customers’ first choice—increasing brand value as they buy
one more product, one more time.
dunnhumbyUSA is a joint venture of The Kroger Company and London-based
dunnhumby. Employing more than 1,300 people in 30 offices in Europe,
Asia and the Americas, dunnhumby serves a prestigious list of companies
including The Kroger Co., Tesco, Coca-Cola, General Mills,
Kimberly-Clark, Macy's, Panera Bread Company, PepsiCo and Procter &
Gamble. For more information, visit www.dunnhumby.com
For dunnhumbyUSA
Ann Keeling or Suzanne Blackburn,
513-381-3248
suzanne@cristofolikeeling.com
ann@cristofolikeeling.com