Executive VP & Chief Commercial Officer, Target
Search every verified Richard Gomez interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2020 interview, Gomez discussed his expanded role as chief marketing, digital, and strategy officer at Target, noting that the e-commerce part of the role was the newest for him. He described the challenge of using data from Target’s loyalty program, Target Circle, which had over 50 million sign-ups in its first four months, to create personalized communication and offers for guests at scale. Gomez said the company refers to its customers as “guests” to reinforce the idea of Target as a generous host, and he emphasized the importance of using consumer data responsibly and transparently. He also mentioned an internal media agency called Round Owl that leverages first-party data to place targeted ads for vendors, calling it a profitable incremental revenue stream. Gomez also voiced support for the #SeeALL movement, describing it as a call to action for advertisers and marketers to better reflect multicultural consumers in their work. He stated that prioritizing the multicultural consumer is “no longer a nice to do, it’s a must do” for long-term brand growth, citing the diversity of Gen Z as a key reason. Gomez acknowledged that Target had made progress in this area but said there was more the company and the industry could do.
“Ecommerce is a new world for me, so I'm still learning. What I'm realizing in the world of e-commerce is there's so much data; the trick is to understand what data is most important.”
“The way we are thinking about how to deliver personalization at scale is exciting. Consumers, or what we refer to as our guests, want communication and offers that are personalized and unique to them.”
“We launched a new loyalty program called Target Circle in October, and in the first four months, we had over 50 million guests sign up. Now the challenge is to take all that data and create personalized communication, content, and offers for everyone at scale.”
“We refer to our customers as guests because we want them to think of us as a generous host. Whether online or in-store, we want them to have a great experience and want to come back.”
“Talent is something that keeps me up at night. We've had success at Target with a talented team driving that success, and I want to make sure we're doing everything we can to grow, retain, and reward our talent so they stay with us.”
“An innovation impacting our business is Round Owl, an internal media agency we've created at Target. We leverage first-party data to work with our vendors to put targeted ads to our guests, creating a profitable incremental revenue stream.”
“We think about consumer data as something we manage very carefully. There's a trust between our guests and us; they know we have this data and want us to use it responsibly, be transparent about it, and protect it.”
“The best piece of career advice I received was from an old boss, Poly Kowalik: be you and be unapologetic about being you.”
“I was incredibly excited to read the See All manifesto and I was excited about it because it really is a call to action to all of us advertisers and marketers that we need to reflect the importance of the multicultural consumer in our work.”
“The multicultural consumer is a large segment, it's a growing segment, and it's an incredibly influential segment. At Target, we have made a lot of progress reflecting the multicultural consumer in our work but there's more that we can do.”
“That's why I'm so excited about the CEO movement; it's a chance for us really to rally the industry to do even more.”
“If you want to grow your brand for the long-term, you have to prioritize the multicultural consumer. It's a large group, it's a fast-growing group, and it is incredibly influential.”
“Just look at Gen Z; they are incredibly diverse and they expect to see themselves in the content that we're creating.”
“Prioritizing the multicultural consumer is no longer a nice to do, it's a must do; it's an imperative if you want to grow.”
Target's Rick Gomez says making the shopping experience easier and more personalized is his No. 1 goal in 2020. Just elevated ...
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