Breaking News: Tesco's Marketing Guru Alessandra Bellini Shocks Industry with Unexpected Departure

Alessandra Bellini

Alessandra Bellini is leaving her role as chief customer officer at Tesco after nearly seven years.

The supermarket made an announcement today, on September 20th, stating that Bellini will be resigning from her position at the end of September. This announcement was made in an internal memo sent by CEO Ken Murphy to the staff of the supermarket, which was also shared with our website.

Tesco has decided not to hire a new chief customer officer. Instead, they will merge their customer and product teams, with a focus on bringing customer products and propositions to life. This new unit will be supervised by Ashwin Prasad, the group chief commercial officer, who will be in charge of implementing product and customer strategies.

Murphy commended Bellini in the memo for her significant contribution to the company, particularly her role in transforming the group customer function at Tesco, which he believes is now regarded as the industry leader. He specifically highlighted her achievements in developing distinct brand propositions such as Food Love Stories and Aldi Price Match, as well as her work on successful Christmas campaigns.

However, it was her efforts on the highly successful Clubcard scheme that received the greatest praise from Murphy. He noted that Bellini's efforts in digitization and personalization had significantly increased Clubcard penetration, resulting in improved NPS, sales, and reputation for the business. In addition, the company has received numerous awards for its customer marketing as a direct result of her contributions.

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In addition, it is worth mentioning that Bellini was named Our Website's Marketer of the Year in 2020, receiving personal recognition.

Bellini sent a message to her colleagues, detailing her experience at Tesco as "intense, challenging, and incredibly enjoyable".

She stated, "I am pleased with our achievement of a successful turnaround and growth strategy. However, after almost seven years, it is time for a new beginning and a fresh perspective. I want to express my gratitude to the customer team for their enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication, as well as my colleagues on the executive team for their collaboration. I wish everyone ongoing prosperity."

Bellini joined Tesco in 2017, having devoted most of her professional career to Unilever. At Unilever, she eventually became the VP North American food and marketing director for its USA division. Additionally, she holds the position of chair of the board of trustees for Teens Unite Fighting Cancer and is the president of the Advertising Association. Her future plans remain undisclosed.