RIS parent companyEnsembleIQ has tapped previous Wall Street Journal employee Craig Lowe for its newly created position: senior vice president of membership and subscriptions. Lowe will be responsible for the overall strategy and delivery of new enterprise membership and subscriptions initiatives across the company’s grocery, drug, convenience, retail technology, and consumer goods channels. 

Lowe brings vast international membership and subscription expertise from across both the business to business information services marketplace and consumer media. He created paid subscriptions and membership programs, transformed a conferences business, and led controlled circulation and news trade sales and marketing initiatives. 

He was most recently vice president, global audience marketing at Dow Jones, where he was responsible for delivering audiences for the Wall Street Journal’s global events business, and developing membership growth strategies for all WSJ Professional membership propositions. Earlier in his career, Lowe was with BMI Research, Espicom Business Intelligence, Saga Publishing Ltd, Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc, and Centaur Media Plc. 

“Today we have two high-value membership products — Path to Purchase Institute and Restaurant Technology Network. By bringing Craig into EnsembleIQ, our goal is to create new, innovative membership and subscription experiences that leverage our actionable intelligence and connections across key retail channels,” said Jennifer Litterick, CEO of EnsembleIQ. “Craig will provide strategic leadership to ensure that we are tailoring our solutions to fulfill the needs of our business decision maker audiences and new constituencies seeking to grow their businesses.” 

EnsembleIQ is a North American business intelligence company delivering insightful information and actionable connections throughout the entire path to purchase in retail, retail technology, consumer goods, healthcare, and hospitality. To learn more about EnsembleIQ, visit ensembleiq.com.

Valvoline Inc., a global retailer in vehicle care, has named Lori Flees as the president of its Retail Services business segment reporting directly to CEO Sam Mitchell. Flees joins Valvoline after nearly a decade with Walmart where she most recently held the position of senior vice president and chief operating officer of its health and wellness division.

"Lori is an exceptional business leader, and we are excited to welcome her to Valvoline," said Mitchell. "As we continue to invest in our industry-leading automotive service network, Lori's experiences in strategy, innovation and applying technology in the retail space will be a great fit for our Valvoline Instant Oil Change operations."

As president of Valvoline Retail Services, Flees will be leading its fast-growing business segment, which includes more than 1,600 locations across the U.S. and Canada with a team of nearly 9,000 employees.

"I am excited to join the Valvoline team," said Flees. "I'm impressed by the strong growth track record driven by an unwavering focus on delivering a consistently high quality, quick and friendly experience to customers every day."

Flees joined Walmart in 2014 as the SVP, Corporate Strategy. In addition to developing the company's strategy, she was responsible for all acquisition and integration activities, including Jet.com, Bonobos, Moosejaw.com and Shoes.com. She was then promoted to SVP, Next Generation Retail & Principal, Store No 8. In that role, she led the incubation of next generation retail capabilities leveraging emerging technologies and managing all strategic partnerships (including Google and Microsoft), as well as launching several joint venture partnerships. In her last role, she oversaw all aspects of the Health & Wellness business across more than 4,800 locations, including the COVID vaccination operations focusing on protecting both customers and associates.

Prior to her leadership experience at Walmart, Flees spent 17 years at Bain & Company Inc., where she did a variety of work in consumer services, CPG, engineering and construction, industrial manufacturing and oil and gas. She has extensive experience in M&A, corporate strategy, and performance improvement, including experience developing growth strategies for retailers with a combination of company-owned and franchised stores. Early in her career, Flees worked at Intel and at General Motors.

"With 15 straight years of same-store sales growth," Mitchell continued, "Lori will be leading a talented and dedicated Retail Services team into our next phase of growth."

Flees begins her role at Valvoline on April 11, 2022.

RIS parent company EnsembleIQ has named Joe Territo executive vice president of content and communications. In his new role, Territo is responsible for communications strategy and execution, including public relations and marketing. He will continue leading collaboration among EnsembleIQ brands and shared services teams to develop new and innovative products and content optimization practices, resulting in audience engagement growth helping customers to connect with business professionals.

Territo joined EnsembleIQ in 2019 as senior vice president of content to develop and execute a cohesive content strategy driving valuable digital behaviors. His work has increased audience engagement with EnsembleIQ offerings, and the offerings of its customers. He also served as brand director of EnsembleIQ’s Path to Purchase IQ before being promoted in 2021 to executive vice president of content. In that role, Territo most recently partnered with multiple EnsembleIQ brands to lead development of a series of innovative hybrid video and podcast experiences delivering actionable business insights.

Jennifer Litterick, chief executive officer of EnsembleIQ, said Joe has made a powerful impact on mobilizing teams across the organization to drive engagement and increase the value of its products. 

“His oversight is now expanding to lead communications efforts that will enhance awareness of EnsembleIQ’s business intelligence offerings across all the industries and segments we serve throughout the entire path to purchase,” she said. 

Prior to EnsembleIQ, Territo served as chief content officer of business information services provider Penton, playing a leading role in the company’s digital transformation prior to it being acquired by Informa for $1.6 billion. 

Territo’s previous experiences include serving as VP of content at the Newhouse family’s Advance Local, and executive producer with Time Inc. new Media, where he managed design and production of digital content with Time, Money, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and People.

Territo started his career as a news reporter for Advance’s Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey, and shifted his responsibility to help lead the launch of the company’s first local news website, NJ.com.