Mitch Lee has been hired as Vice President of Marketing, and Manas Bhat has been promoted to Vice President of Data Science & Analytics
Westlake Village, CA – Guitar Center, the world’s largest musical instrument retailer, announces two new key appointments to its Marketing and Data Science & Analytics teams: Mitch Lee has been hired as Vice President of Marketing, and Guitar Center veteran Manas Bhat has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Data Science & Analytics. The announcements represent Guitar Center’s ongoing growth and its endeavors to seek out and promote top talent from both within and outside the organization.
Mitch Lee, new to the Guitar Center organization, brings expert knowledge and experience in marketing strategy, advertising, media, omni-channel retail marketing, and innovation. His experience includes working with brands such as Ancestry, Audi, Google, eBay, Motorola and Sears. He has previously led strategic efforts designed to drive customer engagement and revenue growth. In his new role as Vice President of Marketing, Mitch will champion Guitar Center’s omni-channel, retail services, category, vendor and events marketing strategies as well as media, marketing performance and consumer insights. He will help to drive Guitar Center’s retail marketing, with the goal of acquiring new customers and strengthening customer relations and will help to build a “best in class” omni-channel marketing strategy. He reports directly to Guitar Center’s SVP, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Jeannine D’Addario.
“Guitar Center continues to seek out the very best talent to assemble a top-tier marketing department with an expanded skill set to keep our brand at the forefront, and Mitch Lee is a great example of this,” said Jeannine D’Addario, SVP, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Guitar Center. “His experience with top brands puts him in a unique position to contribute to our marketing efforts with nuance and effectiveness, and we are excited to work with him as a key member of the team.”
Additionally, Manas Bhat has been with the Guitar Center organization since 2011 and brings over 15 years of global experience to his new role as Vice President of Data Science & Analytics. He will lead a team in supporting GC’s Product, Sales, Leadership, and Marketing divisions with predictive algorithms by analyzing both internal and externally procured data. Manas began his tenure at Guitar Center as Analyst for Strategic Planning and Analytics, propelled his career steadily to become the Director of Strategic Planning and, most recently, Director of Data Science and Analytics. A 2017 Guitar Center President’s Award recipient, Manas has contributed to the growth of the company and attributes his success at GC to “always being in learning mode and never hesitating to take risks and try out new roles within the organization.” Bhat earned his MBA from UC Irvine. He reports to Senior Vice President & Chief Data Officer Todd Lyche.
Photo caption 1: Mitch Lee, Guitar Center Vice President of Marketing
Photo caption 2: Manas Bhat, Vice President of Data Science & Analytics
