Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:01pm IST
* Spokesman: Ewanick failed to meet expectations GM has foremployees
* Head of US sales & service Batey appointed as interimreplacement
* Ewanick declines to comment
NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) – General Motors Co ousted its global marketing chief Joel Ewanick a little morethan two years after he joined the company to lead an overhaulof its marketing strategy.
A source with knowledge of the matter said Ewanick failed toproperly report financial details about a recent sponsorshipdeal between GM’s mass-market Chevrolet brand and the world’smost popular soccer club, Manchester United.
When asked about the source’s observations on thesponsorship deal, Ewanick, 52, said in an email that he couldnot comment. GM signed on as the soccer club’s automotivesponsor in a five-year deal announced in may.
The largest U.S. automaker said on Sunday that Ewanick’sdeparture was effective immediately. he will be replaced on aninterim basis by Alan Batey, the head of U.S. sales and service.
“He failed to meet the expectations that the company has forits employees,” GM spokesman Greg Martin said. he declined toelaborate.
Ewanick was named vice president and head of GM’s U.S.marketing in may 2010, about seven months before the automaker’sblockbuster initial public offering in November of that year.
“It has been a privilege & honor to work with the GM Teamand to be a small part of Detroit’s turnaround,” Ewanick said onTwitter. “I wish everyone at GM all the best.”
The first major effort under his watch was the “Chevy RunsDeep” campaign that launched at the start of the Major LeagueBaseball’s World Series in 2010. he was promoted to global chiefmarketing officer in December 2010.
One of the television ads that ran after GM’s IPO shows aboxer being knocked down in slow motion, a failed rocket launchand a motorcycle crash. the tagline reads: “We all fall down.thank you for helping us get back up.” the ad hinted at theautomaker’s 2009 bankruptcy and federal bailout. GM is 26percent owned by the U.S. government.
Ewanick joined GM from Nissan North America, where he servedbriefly as vice president and chief marketing officer.
Before that, he spent three years as vice president ofmarketing for Hyundai Motor America, where he helped power salesand market share gains for Hyundai in 2009 during a crushingslump in industry-wide sales. Ewanick pushed Hyundai intoadvertising at events like the Super Bowl and the Academy Awardsjust as other automakers, including GM, were pulling back.
In an official company biography, GM said Ewanick “wasresponsible for improving the positioning of the Chevrolet,Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands and consumer consideration of GMvehicles in the United States.”
Ewanick pulled GM’s paid advertising from Facebook earlierthis year and announced recently that the automaker would not beadvertising during the Super Bowl in 2013. Both moves wereregarded as controversial within and outside of GM. However,earlier this month, sources said GM and Facebook executives wereback in discussions.
Under Ewanick, GM also consolidated its global advertisingand marketing, in a move intended to save the company about $2billion over the next five years.
Source:
http://epou.net/?p=44682
via The News from http://onsuperbowlcommercials.blogspot.com