Granado named head of new marketing directorate

Hector Granado, former East Area director for the Defense Commissary Agency, is now director of the newly formed marketing directorate.

In his new assignment, Granado oversees all marketing program resources related to pricing; resets and planograms; promotions and patron awareness; branding; consumer advocacy; social media; nutrition, health and well-being; store layout and merchandising; marketing; and promotions. His appointment and the formation of the new directorate were effective as of Oct. 15.

Because of the agency’s ongoing transformation efforts, the marketing directorate joins the sales directorate under Chris Burns’ Business Transformation Office.

Under Granado’s leadership the new marketing directorate is expected to strengthen the ties that bind DeCA’s sales, store operations and marketing functions with its industry and exchange partners, which in turn will help the agency and the entire DID resale community boost patron sales, Burns said.

“Hector has years of valuable experience coming from the store operations side, and he’s also spent the past year working directly with the transformation team, where he helped us lay the foundation for ground-breaking changes such as the introduction of commissary store brands and our transition from selling products at cost to variable pricing.

“I’m confident Hector is the right person in the right place at the right time to help us reinforce our connections with industry, the exchanges and our patrons.”  

Whether it’s working with category managers in sales, store operations, industry and exchange partners or commissary patrons, Granado feels the marketing directorate is ready to be the support element for everyone so that all the elements work together.

“The marketing directorate is really more of a support team,” Granado said. “We are here to support our category managers as they look to influence sales, we are here to reach out to our patrons through social media and marketing, and we are also reaching out to store operations through promotions and resets.

“The biggest message I have for our industry and military resale partners is that we’re open for business. I want to work with industry and the exchanges to generate some really exciting promotions. Our promotions team will be the hub of our connection with industry.”

Ultimately, Granado views the marketing directorate as an engine to help the agency increase foot traffic in the stores.

“Our staff will continue to work with our industry and exchange partners to increase the effectiveness of our sales campaigns and special events,” he said. “This restructuring of our marketing effort will help stores by raising our ability to convince more customers to use their commissary benefit. In the process, we show the strength of the benefit through increased sales.”

Before his newest assignment, Granado had served as the East Area director overseeing 48 commissaries in 13 states from New England to the mid-Atlantic, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

His commissary career began in 1983 as an enlisted man in the U.S. Air Force. After four years in uniform, Granado became a government civilian with the Air Force Commissary Service. He subsequently served in a variety of headquarters, zone and store-level leadership positions. With DeCA, his headquarters-level assignments included service as the agency’s chief of Workforce of the Future, chief of standardization and chief of store operations.

Granado’s awards and honors include DeCA’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the agency’s Superior Civilian Service Award.

To access Granado’s complete bio, follow this link.