Tesco’s most senior marketer Emma Botton has stepped down from her role at the UK’s biggest supermarket, less than one year after taking over from chief customer officer Alessandra Bellini.
According to an internal memo which was shared with Marketing Week, it is not clear whether Botton will be directly replaced or whether Tesco’s marketing team will be facing its second restructure in less than 12 months.
As the retailer’s group customer director, Botton had been with Tesco for eight years, joining the team as marketing communications director in 2016.
She was most recently working as group brand, proposition and marketing communications director before being promoted during the organisational reshuffle that followed Bellini’s resignation in September 2023.
In the memo, chief commercial officer Ashwin Prasad said Botton had played a “key role” in rebuilding Tesco’s brand as part of its turnaround.
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Prasad’s memo also paid tribute to some of Botton’s most notable work with the retailer, most notably its ‘Food Love Stories’ campaign, which she played a key role in developing as part of an ongoing creative partnership with BBH.
It also highlighted that Botton had played a “critical” role in developing the Aldi Price Match initiative and setting out member discounts across Clubcard Prices as well as a host of behind-the-scenes work across content creation and media planning.
Botton described her time at Tesco as a “brilliant gig” in the memo.
“I’ve always believed in the power of putting the customer at the heart of the conversation as the essential catalyst for growth and creative solutions and I’m so proud of the work I’ve contributed to,” she said.
“After eight years, I want to progress in a new direction. I’m excited about what the future holds and the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Prasad also said he would “share more information shortly” regarding Tesco’s plans for its ongoing customer marketing agenda.
