Podcast Summary: The CPG Guys – Building Shopper Loyalty in an Omnichannel World with Hy-Vee CMO Kathryn Mazza

Introduction

In the June 11, 2025 episode of The CPG Guys, hosts Sree Rajagopalan and Peter V.S. Bond engage in an insightful conversation with Catherine Mazza, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and President of Red Media at Hy-Vee. This episode delves into the strategies Hy-Vee employs to foster shopper loyalty in an increasingly omnichannel marketplace, exploring leadership philosophies, retail media integration, customer service excellence, and future visions for consumer engagement.

Guest Introduction

Catherine Mazza's Career Journey

Catherine Mazza introduces herself as the CMO and President of Red Media at Hy-Vee, bringing a wealth of experience from her previous role at Dick's Sporting Goods. Her transition from an accounting background to a marketing leadership position underscores her versatile expertise. Catherine shares, “My accounting background has always served me well through all of my roles, including where I'm at” (07:37).

Leadership Lessons

Passion, Partnerships, and Change Management

Catherine emphasizes the core elements of her leadership style, highlighting passion, strong partnerships, and adept change management. She states, “If you don't have passion around what you're doing, you might as well go home because you're just not going to do your best work” (04:17). Building robust internal and external relationships allows for smoother collaborations and overcoming hurdles. Additionally, her extensive experience at Dick's Sporting Goods taught her the critical importance of navigating change effectively, especially when running a startup retail media network within a large-scale retailer.

Mentorship and Professional Growth

Catherine's Mentors and Giving Back

Throughout her career, Catherine benefited from strong mentorship, which played a pivotal role in her advancement to VP and subsequently to CMO. She acknowledges her former CMO at Dick's for guiding her through executive development courses that prepared her for higher-level responsibilities. At Hy-Vee, Catherine continues this tradition by mentoring others, fostering a culture of growth and continuous learning.

Daily Role as CMO

Balancing Brand, Loyalty, and Media Strategies

A typical day for Catherine starts with reviewing sales data and upcoming events to stay grounded in the company's immediate priorities. She then shifts focus to Red Media, overseeing campaign launches and ensuring revenue targets are met. Catherine outlines her strategic focus areas for the coming year:

1. Brand Development – Reinforcing Hy-Vee’s brand story and quality customer service.
2. Loyalty Programs – Expanding the Fuel Perks loyalty program to enhance customer retention.
3. Media Planning and Measurement – Transitioning to a new media agency of record to better measure campaign effectiveness (14:21).

Customer Service Excellence

Hy-Vee's Commitment to a Superior Shopping Experience

Catherine elaborates on Hy-Vee's commitment to exceptional customer service, encapsulated in their tagline, “A helpful smile in every aisle.” She elaborates, “When somebody is looking for something at Hy-Vee, the expectation is, is that you don't just tell them, hey, it's over on aisle six. No, you take them and you walk them over to the actual product” (17:08). This hands-on approach extends to their E-commerce platform, ensuring personalized and seamless experiences both online and in-store.

E-Commerce Integration and Retail Media

Full-Funnel Marketing and Digital Enhancements

Catherine discusses how Red Media integrates with Hy-Vee’s E-commerce and in-store experiences to create a cohesive full-funnel marketing strategy. She highlights their partnership with Instacart Carrot Ads platform, enabling sophisticated ad formats like shoppable videos and dynamic content personalization. Catherine explains, “We make sure that we're not just selling individual digital tactics for brands... but when a supplier has a new product, it's on display in store, on the website, and promoted across all digital channels” (23:09).

Challenges in Retail Media

Navigating Market Proliferation and Measurement Gaps

Addressing industry-wide challenges, Catherine identifies the overwhelming number of retail media networks and the difficulty suppliers face in navigating them. She emphasizes the need for networks to offer self-service access to data and robust reporting frameworks to demonstrate clear ROI. Catherine suggests that smaller networks could benefit from forming consortiums to enhance their data capabilities and reach (24:11).

Measurement and ROI

Optimizing Campaign Performance through Continuous Learning

The conversation shifts to the importance of tailored ROI metrics aligned with specific campaign goals. Catherine advocates for clear communication of objectives, whether for brand awareness or direct conversion. She emphasizes mid-campaign optimizations and post-campaign wrap reports to ensure continuous improvement: “Every single campaign should actually run better than the last campaign because you should be doing continuously learning through it” (28:48).

Leveraging First-Party Data and Personalization

Enhancing Consumer Engagement through Data-Driven Insights

Catherine outlines how Hy-Vee utilizes first-party data to drive personalized marketing efforts. By partnering with Mercury as their identity spine, they can create custom audience segments and push targeted campaigns across various media platforms. This approach ensures that advertising content remains relevant and engaging to consumers, thereby enhancing the overall shopping experience (32:38).

Future Vision: Experiential Retail Media

Innovating In-Store Experiences and Community Engagement

Looking ahead, Catherine shares her vision for the future of consumer engagement at Hy-Vee, focusing on experiential retail media. She is keen on integrating in-store demos, sampling events, and community partnerships to create memorable shopping experiences. Catherine believes that while digital and in-store media are important, fostering direct interactions with customers will set Hy-Vee apart: “We want to make sure our customers, when they do come in store, they have the most amazing experience ever” (42:05).

Conclusion

The episode concludes with the hosts expressing their gratitude to Catherine for her valuable insights and contributions. They tease future discussions and collaborations, highlighting the ongoing evolution of retail media and shopper loyalty strategies.

Notable Quotes

• Catherine Mazza (04:17): “If you don't have passion around what you're doing, you might as well go home because you're just not going to do your best work.”

• Peter V.S. Bond (24:11): “Some of the smaller networks could certainly join together and join forces because you know an opportunity that regional grocers do have is their customers are extremely loyal to them.”

• Catherine Mazza (28:48): “Every single campaign should actually run better than the last campaign because you should be doing continuously learning through it.”

• Catherine Mazza (42:05): “We want to make sure our customers, when they do come in store, they have the most amazing experience ever.”

Key Takeaways

1. Leadership and Passion: Effective leadership in the CPG and retail media space is driven by passion, strong partnerships, and the ability to manage and adapt to change.

2. Customer-Centric Strategies: Hy-Vee prioritizes exceptional customer service and personalized experiences both online and in-store to build and maintain shopper loyalty.

3. Integrated Retail Media: A full-funnel marketing approach that seamlessly integrates digital and in-store strategies enhances ROI and provides a cohesive brand experience.

4. Data-Driven Personalization: Leveraging first-party data allows for targeted and personalized marketing efforts, ensuring relevance and engagement with consumers.

5. Future of Retail Media: Emphasizing experiential retail media and community engagement will play a crucial role in creating memorable shopping experiences and fostering deeper customer connections.

This episode offers valuable insights for brands and retailers aiming to navigate the complexities of an omnichannel world, emphasizing the importance of integrated strategies, data utilization, and exceptional customer service in building lasting shopper loyalty.