Rick Gomez is Target's chief marketing officer

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New York • Target says it is promoting Rick Gomez to executive vice president and chief marketing officer as the Minneapolis discounter looks to reverse traffic declines at its stores.

Gomez, who joined Target in 2013 as senior vice president of marketing, succeeds Jeff Jones effective Jan. 29. Jones left last August to take a job at ride-hailing company Uber.

Target said Thursday Gomez will be responsible for bolstering Target's brand position and integrating all of its marketing programs as it increasingly competes with online king Amazon.com. He will report to CEO and Chairman Brian Cornell.

The move comes as Target cut its fourth-quarter profit and sales outlook earlier this week as its surging online business wasn't enough to offset sluggish holiday traffic and weak sales in its stores.