Walmart's Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer Tony Rogers to be Sam's Club Chief Member Officer
BENTONVILLE, AR - Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Walmart U.S. Tony Rogers will be transitioning into a leadership role with subsidiary Sam’s Club next month. He’s moved up the ranks of Walmart since starting out as its Senior Director of Brand Strategy in 2005, including having worked with current Sam’s Club CEO John Furner for Walmart China prior to his current role.
"When I was in China I worked for [Sam's Club CEO] John Furner, and I was really drawn to him as a leader," Rogers told AdAge. "He rang me up recently and said they were going to create this job."
The newly-created role the executive referenced is Chief Member Officer, which Rogers told the source he found appealing because after 20 years in marketing working on packaged-goods, tech, retail, and customer marketing, this will be his first time working with a membership database.
Before joining Walmart, Rogers spent six years in PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division in a number of brand marketing roles on the Tostitos and Doritos brands, and also on the Walmart customer team there. Prior to his marketing career, he was a Certified Public Accountant with accounting firm KPMG.
Rogers served as Chief Marketing Officer of Walmart China before moving to U.S. operations, leading traditional, digital, and social media efforts for Walmart stores in China as well as for Walmart-branded online-to-offline initiatives. During his two years in China, Rogers focused on driving the day-to-day business while also building a world-class marketing function in country, according to Walmart’s website. He also spent eight years in the Walmart U.S. marketing organization, holding a variety of roles including Senior Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Advertising.
He is best known during this time for his work on Walmart's "Save Money. Live Better." rebranding initiative, revamping the company's advertising approach and championing multicultural marketing.
Rogers told AdAge that he sees a lot of untapped potential in Sam’s Club, much like he saw the Walmart brand when he first joined on. As for who will succeed him, Rogers said they have not yet been named, but that he won't move to Sam's until late July, leaving time for a transition.
