Best Buy Bolsters Management Team

Wireless News
03-07-2008
Best Buy Bolsters Management Team

WIRELESS NEWS-March 7, 2008-Best Buy Bolsters Management Team (C)2008 10Meters - http://www.10meters.com

Best Buy has announced several executive changes, effective March 2.
"As we continue to grow this enterprise, we are fortunate to be able to rely on a team of senior leaders who represent a mix of rich perspectives, deep industry experiences and understandings of our company and its unique culture," said Brian J. Dunn, Best Buy s president and chief operating officer. "These individuals have strong points of view on how to turn insights and ideas about better serving our customers into scaleable actions. I am confident that these appointments will facilitate the ongoing growth and progress of Best Buy around the world."

Michael A. Vitelli was promoted to executive vice president, customer operating groups. In his new role, Vitelli will lead Best Buy s PC mobility, home solutions and entertainment operating groups and also will have oversight for enterprise merchandising and the company s private label business. Pacific Sales and Magnolia Audio Video also will report to Vitelli. Vitelli previously was senior vice president and general manager of the home solutions operating group.

"Mike is a leader with a wealth of knowledge about the consumer electronics industry and unique insights into our vendor relationships," said Dunn. "I expect Mike to play a critical role as he brings teams together to share expertise, create targeted solutions and ultimately drive growth by better meeting the needs of our customers around the world. Blending Mike s industry experience with the insights of our employees should help us, and our vendors, to create extraordinary customer experiences throughout the enterprise."

Vitelli held several executive management positions with Sony Electronics, before joining Best Buy in 2004. He served as president of Sony s personal audio products company; executive vice president of the business and professional products group; executive vice president of the consumer products group marketing; and executive vice president of the visual products company.

David Morrish was promoted to the newly-created position of executive vice president, connected digital solutions. In this role, Morrish will be responsible for working across Best Buy operating groups and brands to develop a business strategy and model that would allow Best Buy to further profit from new connectivity technologies. Morrish and his team also will work to build integrated solutions that would allow customers to subscribe to certain Best Buy products and services. In addition, Morrish will have oversight of Best Buy for Business and other new growth categories, such as they evolve.

"Dave is adept at fostering relationships with our vendor partners as evidenced by building Best Buy s world-class assortment and current strong market share in consumer laptops," said Dunn. "Our customers tell us that they cannot imagine life without Internet connectivity. Dave is passionate about this digital space and that s why he is charged with finding new ways to bring our increasingly mobile customers easy access to their digital information, regardless of their location around the world."

Prior to his promotion, Morrish was a senior vice president and business group leader, responsible for computer hardware and software, peripherals, digital services, car electronics and digital imaging at Best Buy. He joined Best Buy in 1998 as vice president of merchandising. Before coming to Best Buy, Morrish spent 17 years with Sears Canada, where he held positions including senior buyer, general merchandise manager and vice president/general merchandising manager.

Barry Judge was appointed chief marketing officer. As CMO, Judge provides overall vision and leadership to all areas of marketing for the enterprise, including brand management, customer research and development, trend, promotions, advertising, marketing communications as well as internal communications and public affairs.

"Our marketing efforts reflect a quality and point of view that highlight how Best Buy is differentiated from other companies," said Dunn. "Barry has been the driving force behind this work for nearly two years. He is important to our company as a strategist and a leader. Best Buy has multiple channels, multiple brands, and our 140,000 employees all tremendous assets that Barry s team is working to maximize in order to drive growth. Barry s work to deepen our relationships with our best customers through programs such as our Reward Zone -- allows us to be more efficient with our spending while creating new growth opportunities. His team is guiding our journey from transactions to relationships."

Judge joined Best Buy as a member of its e-commerce team in November 1999. He played an integral role in the launch of BestBuy.com and helped pioneer the company s multi-channel consumer marketing and direct marketing efforts. In 2006, his role as senior vice president of marketing expanded to include oversight of the company s customer research and development capability in order to facilitate increased ingenuity in service of customers and focus on growth. He also gained responsibility for marketing communications, internal communications, public relations, public affairs and promotions at that time.

Judge began his career at The Direct Marketing Group and held marketing and management positions at Young & Rubicam, Coca Cola USA, The Quaker Oats Company and the Pillsbury Company. He also served as vice president of marketing for Caribou Coffee Company.

David Berg was promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president, international strategy and corporate development. Berg is responsible for the enterprise s mergers and acquisition activities as well as the identification and evaluation of opportunities in new geographic markets. He continues to have overall responsibility for the company s commercial office, including oversight of Best Buy s relationship with Accenture as an information technology and human resources outsourced service provider. In addition, he continues to be responsible for the function at Best Buy responsible for purchasing all of the company s goods not for resale. Prior to his strategy and development role, Berg was senior vice president and chief operating officer of Best Buy International, the business unit of Best Buy responsible for growth outside of North America.

Berg joined Best Buy in 2002 as vice president and associate general counsel. He played crucial roles in the company s sale of its Musicland subsidiary, the development of its strategic relationship with Accenture, and its acquisition of a majority interest in Jiangsu Five Star Appliance. In 2004, Berg was promoted to senior vice president, Strategic Alliances, where he focused on maximizing enterprise-wide strategic relationships with significant external parties. He was named senior vice president and chief operating officer of Best Buy International in 2006.

Best Buy offers consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services through nearly 1,300 retail stores across the United States, throughout Canada and in China.

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