Toys R Us loses marketing chief to LeapFrog

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Educational toymaker LeapFrog Enterprises Inc named Toys R Us executive Greg Ahearn as its chief marketing officer effectively immediately, just months before the all-important holiday selling season.

Ahearn was most recently the chief marketing officer of Toys R Us, the world's largest specialty toy retailer. He has also worked at toymakers Hasbro Inc and Mattel Inc.

In his new position, Ahearn will be in charge of the LeapFrog brand globally with responsibilities including product marketing, licensing, content development and public relations. He will report directly to LeapFrog CEO John Barbour.

Peter Reiner, senior vice president of marketing at Toys R Us' U.S. division, who previously reported to Ahearn, is now leading the marketing function at the retailer, company spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh said in an e-mail to Reuters.

The holiday season is very important to toy companies as many of them make more than one-third of their annual sales in the key buying season.

Ahearn is the latest high-profile executive to leave Toys R Us. Neil Friedman, president of U.S. operations for Toys R Us, resigned in February, less than a year after he joined the company.

Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Derby and Chief Merchandising Officer Karen Dodge also left Toys R Us earlier this year, following a lackluster 2011 holiday season. Two other senior vice presidents in merchandising have also departed, led by CEO Gerald "Jerry" Storch.

Toys R Us, based in Wayne, New Jersey, filed its IPO plans with regulators in May 2010, but has yet to go public.