General Motors has announced to the public its newly promoted Deborah Wahl, Cadillac CMO, to the role of global CMO.
The new appointment of Wahl’s marks the first time a woman has held the top marketing spot at the Detroit-based auto manufacturing powerhouse. The role has been vacant since 2012, when former global CMO Joel Ewanick was fired over reportedly mishandling the company’s partnership with the soccer team Manchester United.
Wahl who joined Cadillac as CMO in March 2018–previously spent three years as the CMO of McDonald’s before departing in April 2017. Prior to joining the fast-food chain, she held a number of other CMO roles across various industries including at Chrysler and the home construction company PulteGroup. Her wealth of experience in the industry cuts across more than a decade of experience in automotive marketing.
Notably, Wahl was on the 2018 Forbes list of the World’s Most Influential CMOs.
In a staff memo obtained by Automotive News, GM CEO Mary Barra said Wahl’s promotion will be tasked with aligning marketing across all of GM’s brands “while ensuring more effective, efficient and agile customer engagement.”
Speaking further, a company spokesperson said Wahl’s promotion was effective immediately. Melissa Grady, Cadillac’s director of media and performance marketing, will replace Wahl as the brand’s CMO.
A company spokesperson said it was too soon to provide details on a strategy for aligning GM’s brands. However, at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Wahl said she’s starting to “focus more on getting rid of all the extra noise” within marketing and spending more time thinking about business results.
Wahl statement reads: “When I look back on my career, I did all these great things and had all these shiny toys,” she said. “Now I need to focus more on the core fundamentals that have to get done.”
Earlier this year, Wahl led Cadillac’s campaign integration with the 2019 Academy Awards, explaining to Forbes in February that “new vehicles are the point right now.”
Also, at last year’s Forbes CMO Summit, Wahl credited Cadillac’s transformation to its increased focus on female consumers.
“Never before have we had so many launches in consecutive periods,” she said. “And that’s what we need right now because that’s what builds and changes perceptions. We’re pivoting and building because now we have more vehicles to speak about,” she pointed.
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