Name: Bob Stuart
Title: Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing
Company, city: Hertz; Naples, Fla.
Number of employees: 44,000
Recent project: The Dollar Thrifty integration and a major rebranding initiative
First job: I was a busboy at Ponderosa Steak House.
Little-known fact about you: My family changed our last name in 1952, from Cicone to Stuart.
Your Business
Essential business philosophy: Understand your strengths and weaknesses, leverage your strengths and bring in the right expertise for areas where you need help. Building a team of top talent is critical.
Best way to keep a competitive edge: Continuously innovate, invest in people and experiment with new approaches. Attracting and retaining the right talent and committing to ongoing learning are essential to staying ahead.
Yardstick of success: Externally, we measure success by market share and profit growth. Internally, success is seeing our people advance, earn recognition and perform at their best.
Bob Stuart as a Traveler
Most important items when traveling: My iPhone, iPad, chargers and music.
How I spend time on board: I use flight time to work and catch up on email, and I also relish the chance to read uninterrupted.
Favorite restaurant: The most memorable meal I’ve had was at Guy Savoy in Paris. Meeting him and experiencing his cooking was extraordinary.
Favorite destination: Las Vegas.
About Hertz
Tell our readers about the Hertz 24/7 and Hertz Dream Cars initiatives.
Hertz 24/7 gives travelers full control with self-service pickup at neighborhood locations, airports and office areas, any time of day. A patented touchpad on the windshield provides secure access, and rental options include hourly, daily or weekly plans with Bluetooth connectivity, concierge services, fuel and insurance included.
Hertz Dream Cars was developed from customer feedback and market research. Starting with a selection of high-end vehicles, we are expanding the fleet to include brands such as BMW and Jaguar. At select locations, customers can rent luxury and exotic cars — Porsche, Mercedes, Tesla, Aston Martin and others — paired with White Glove service that may include pickup or delivery and a personalized walkthrough of the vehicle’s features.
What Hertz amenities make business travel easier?
Hertz offers advanced navigation and trip-planning tools, including our proprietary Hertz Neverlost system with online trip planning. Travelers can plan an entire itinerary, send directions to the car or save them to a USB drive so navigation is ready on arrival. The system also displays local events and city guides to help with on-the-ground planning.
Gold members receive a “carfirmation” via text or email when their flight lands, and customers can upgrade or swap vehicles from a mobile device and receive electronic receipts at the end of their rental.
Major airport locations such as Los Angeles, San Diego and Newark feature “Road Trip by Hertz” stores offering snacks, drinks, apparel, FedEx services and charging stations. We plan to expand these retail-style locations to our top 60 airports worldwide.
What benefits does the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program offer?
Gold Plus Rewards is designed to reward loyal customers with clear value. Members earn one point for each qualifying dollar spent. Points do not expire, and there are no blackout dates thanks to our AnyDay Rewards option, which allows members to redeem during peak periods.
Rewards can be redeemed across a broad range of vehicles and destinations, from convertibles and luxury cars to fuel-efficient models in our Green Traveler Collection. North American members can redeem points in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, with additional destinations planned.
Membership also provides service benefits such as counter bypass, expedited service and preferred options like Gold Choice, Mobile Gold Alerts and eReturn. We recently lowered the number of rentals required to achieve elite status to make it easier for loyal customers to reach higher tiers.