Jeff Jones (executive)
Jeff Jones | |
---|---|
Born | Jeffrey J. Jones II 1967 (age 56–57) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Business executive |
Known for | |
Notes | |
Jeffrey J. Jones II (born 1967) is an American business executive. He is president and chief executive officer of H&R Block, and formerly held executive posts with Target Corporation, Uber and Gap Inc.
Early life
[edit]Jeff Jones is an alumnus of Fork Union Military Academy.[3] In 1990, he graduated from the University of Dayton with a Bachelor of Arts in communication.[4]
Career
[edit]At The Gap, Inc., Jones was executive vice president and chief marketing officer. He led the company's global marketing strategy in addition to store redesign and experience, and consumer communications.[5] Jones led a move toward Web-based marketing and helped create partnerships with iTunes, Kodak and Borders Books.[6] Jones is also noted for tapping Sarah Jessica Parker to promote The Gap's fashion.[7] Jones also worked for The Coca-Cola Company, where he was global account director.[8][9][10]
In addition, Jones worked for the advertising agency Leo Burnett Company, Inc., where he performed work for clients including General Motors Company, MillerCoors, and Procter & Gamble Co. and founded a tech-focused subsidiary called LB Works.[10][11][12] He also worked for McKinney, a Durham, North Carolina-based advertising agency where he was a partner and president, and served on its board.[10][12][13] At McKinney, Jones instituted a 10-percent rule, which stipulated that members of his team spend one-tenth of their time focused on non-client projects.[7]
Target
[edit]Jones left McKinney for Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Target in 2012.[14] At Target, Jones was executive vice president and chief marketing officer.[11] Jones is credited with modernizing Target's brand.[14] He helped drive the brand's positioning through a number of campaigns and partnerships, such as The Holiday Odyssey adventure and musical events including the rollout of Target's exclusive edition of Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience and live music video commercial from Gwen Stefani during the Grammy Awards.[15][16] He created Falling for You, a three-part short film starring Kristen Bell,[16] integrated the Target/Neiman Marcus collection into the plot of an episode of ABC's Revenge, and oversaw the campaign to promote Timberlake's album across radio, TV, Web, and social media.[16] Target underwent several struggles during Jones' tenure. He helped the retailer recover from a data breach in 2013. The data breach, which occurred shortly before Christmas, led to CEO Gregg Steinhafel's resignation.[9][17] The company also underwent a failed expansion into Canada.[18]
At Target, Jones stressed the need for content creation as a form of marketing and brand building.[10] Progressive Grocer called Jones the "architect of Target’s on-demand shopping experience".[5] He helped launch the savings app Cartwheel[19] and oversaw the extension of naming rights for the Target Center in Minneapolis.[20] HuffPost named Jones on its list of Top Social CMOs of Fortune 250 Companies on Twitter in 2013, The Wall Street Journal listed Jones on its 5 CMOs to Watch in 2015, and Mass Market Retailer awarded Jones as the 2015 Marketer of the Year.[5] Jones left Target in 2016 to join Uber.[18]
Uber
[edit]Jones first met Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in February 2016 at the TED conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[21] The two discussed ways that Uber could improve its reputation.[22] Jones left Target on September 9, 2016, to become the president of Uber.[15] In that role, Jones was in charge of the company's marketing and operations.[15] He was also tasked with improving Uber's reputation amid fast growth and increased scrutiny.[18] While at Uber, Jones was named one of Ad Age's 2016 Power Players.[23] Jones worked at Uber for six months before leaving the company in March 2017.[17][9] He was among several top executives to leave Uber during a period when the company faced numerous controversies, including sexual harassment in the workplace.[14] At the time, he was the highest-ranking departure.[18] Jones released a statement upon his departure: "It is now clear, however, that the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no longer continue as president of the ride sharing business".[17]
H&R Block
[edit]Jones took his first chief executive post when became president and CEO of H&R Block, a Kansas City, Missouri-based tax preparer, on October 9, 2017.[14][17] He replaced Tom Gerke, who was interim CEO following the retirement of former CEO Bill Cobb.[14][9] Jones is responsible for growing the company to better compete with TurboTax by Intuit and other online tax preparers.[17] He has said he sees H&R Block as a financial services company and a retail company, and aims to grow the company by diversifying its services.[9][17] He sits on H&R Block's board of directors.[24]
Other roles
[edit]Jones is on the board of directors of Advance Auto Parts.[25] He is a former member of the board of directors of the Association of National Advertisers and an advisor to Zoove Corp.[26] In 2017, he joined media startup Brit + Co as an advisor.[27]
Personal life
[edit]Jones and his wife, Margaret, have two daughters.[3] After being hired as CEO of H&R Block, Jones said he would move his family to Kansas City, Missouri.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ "Biography Jeffrey J. Jones II". H&R Block.
- ^ "Executive profile". Boardroom Insider. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Parkersburg Catholic celebrates 62nd annual commencement". Marietta Times. 5 June 2017.
- ^ Filby, Max (22 March 2017). "Uber president who resigned this week is a 1990 UD grad". Dayton Daily News.
- ^ a b c "Target suffers Uber loss of CMO Jeff Jones". Progressive Grocer. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Baar, Aaron (11 April 2006). "McKinney names new president". Adweek.
- ^ a b Thomas Lee (2014). Rebuilding Empires. Macmillan. p. 143. ISBN 9781137279330. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Josh Steimle (2016). Chief Marketing Officers at Work. Apress. p. 289. ISBN 9781484219317. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Dornbrook, James; Kaberline, Brian (22 August 2017). "H&R Block names former Uber president as its new CEO". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d Barrett, Steve (1 February 2013). "Target marketing". PRWeek. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ a b Needham, Vicki (22 August 2017). "Jeff Jones named CEO of H&R Block". The Hill.
- ^ a b Czarnecki, Sean (22 August 2017). "H&R Block hires former Target CMO Jeff Jones as CEO". PRWeek. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ "Havas sells McKinney to its management team". Campaignlive.com. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "H&R Block names former Uber executive Jeff Jones as CEO". Reuters. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ a b c Pasquarelli, Adrianne (30 August 2016). "Jeff Jones leaves Target for Uber". Ad Age.
- ^ a b c Lee, Thomas (28 April 2013). "One year into the job, Target marketing chief already leaves his mark". Star Tribune.
- ^ a b c d e f g Davis, Mark (22 August 2017). "H&R Block taps former Uber president Jeff Jones as CEO". The Kansas City Star.
- ^ a b c d Kumar, Kavita (22 August 2017). "Former Target and Uber exec Jeff Jones named CEO of H&R Block". Star Tribune.
- ^ Lombardo, Cara (22 August 2017). "H&R Block names Jeffrey Jones president, CEO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ Halter, Nick (30 August 2016). "Target Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Jones picked up by Uber". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ Swisher, Kara; Bhuiyan, Johana (19 March 2017). "Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting, citing differences over 'beliefs and approach to leadership'". Recode. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ O'Brien, Sara Ashley (30 August 2016). "Uber snags Target exec Jeff Jones". CNN. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ "Power Players: Jeff Jones". Ad Age. 2016.
- ^ "H&R Block". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ "Board of Directors Profiles". Advance Auto Parts. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- ^ Monllos, Kristina (20 October 2016). "CMOs are daring each other to foster the next generation of marketing talent". Adweek.
- ^ Roof, Katie (18 May 2017). "Brit + Co raises $15 million to grow its media and merchandise businesses". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 January 2018.