HP Hires Former Sears Exec To Handle PSG Strategy, Marketing

HP has hired a former Sears marketing executive to handle strategy and marketing for its Personal Systems Group in a move that could signal either increasing competition against companies like Acer or a new emphasis on the worldwide retail market.

Hewlett-Packard on Friday said that former Sears executive Richard Gerstein will join the company in mid-May as its new senior vice president of strategy and worldwide marketing for HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG).

Gerstein previously served as president of marketing at Sears Holding Corp., and before that was the chief marketing officer of the Sears brand, HP said.

While at Sears, Gerstein headed that company's brand positioning and advertising, and built teams to handle customer relationship management, customer loyalty, digital and social media, and program analytics, HP said.

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HP's Personal Systems Group is a $42 billion business that includes personal computers, mobile devices, technical workstations, personal storage solutions, and Internet services.

The decision to hire Gerstein could be related to a strategy to compete against Acer, said Stephen Allen, president of Integrated Technology Systems, a New York-based SMB solution provider and HP partner.

Taiwan-based Acer is HP's closest PC competitor. IDC earlier this month reported that Acer was the world's second-largest PC vendor after HP, edging out the traditional number two vendor, Dell.

Acer's 42.5 percent growth rate in desktop and mobile PC sales in the first quarter compared to the same period of last year was faster than any of the other top vendors with the exception of Lenovo, number four on the list, IDC said.

Next: HP Feeling Acer Branding Pressure?

Allen said HP may be feeling branding and retail pressure from Acer, which followed HP's strategy of acquiring Compaq to build a large retail presence with two significant branded PC vendor purchases of its own.

Acer in 2007 acquired Gateway for $710 million. It followed up that acquisition in early 2008 by purchasing Packard Bell, a company with a strong retail presence in Europe, in part in order to prevent rival Lenovo from acquiring that company.

"Retail stores are careful of their shelf strategy," Allen said. "So if Acer is getting better in retail, it's conceivable that HP is looking in their rearview mirror and seeing it filled with Acer."

HP could also be looking at its worldwide PC strategy and eyeing Gerstein's "golden Rolodex," Allen said.

"As a worldwide brand manager at Sears, he may have a lot of relationships with companies in the Far East," he said. "HP could be looking for him to help HP do such things as use 3Com to compete in places like China against companies like Huawei."

Gerstein in his new role is succeeding Satjiv Chahil, who earlier this year announced plans to retire and who will continue to maintain a consulting relationship with HP.

HP was unavailable to comment on the hiring of Gerstein.