Good luck! Chrysler hires Lexus' ex-president of marketing
Chrysler has announced that it's hired Deborah Wahl Meyer to be its new vice president and chief marketing officer (CMO), replacing George Murphy, who retired last May. Meyer comes from Toyota, where she's worked since 2001, most recently as the VP of marketing for Lexus. The report from Automotive News pretty much ends there, but we found this article on adage.com that reveals what Meyer may have in store.It appears Ms. Meyer will report directly to Bob Nardelli, the recently appointed CEO of Chrysler. Mr. Nardelli is expected to slash Chrysler's advertising budget just like he did as CEO of Home Depot. Apparently Nardelli views an advertising budget as a deep reservoir of available funds, as another source expects him to trim it further to pay for Chrysler's extremely high warranty costs at the moment.
So it appears Meyer may have one hand tied behind her back when she becomes Chrysler's new CMO. She must have been aware of the situation when she accepted the offer, however, so perhaps she sees hope in Chrysler's new beginning.
[Source: Automotive News, Ad Age]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gardiner Westbound 6:51PM (8/15/2007)
This must have been in the works before Nardelli was appointed. I'll bet she is having serious second thoughts now.
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F451 10:59PM (8/15/2007)
If Chrysler cannot produce a good product, no amount of good marketing will matter.
Don 2:10PM (8/16/2007)
She knew what's up...she's there to do Nardelli's bidding, i.e. slash the advertising budget. I'm assuming they'll use the money for R&D.
atl30309 7:03PM (8/15/2007)
Worked with Meyer when she was at Ford. She is very, very talented and has good street smarts, but she will chafe under Nardelli. I'll bet she is indeed having second thoughts. Murphy, the guy she replaced, was incompetent at Ford and likely so at Chrysler in my opinion.
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1337 7:05PM (8/15/2007)
If Lexus is any indication, Meyer will do well. However, it seems a bit odd of Nardelli when advertising is the only thing that would compel a customer to enter a showroom full of mediocre Chrysler cars.
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geo.stewart 7:15PM (8/15/2007)
the interesting thing is, there is nothing that stands out about lexus marketing, other than the red ribbon christmas event thats replayed every year.
wait, they did the champagne glasses and the ball bearing on the gap lines.
Red Ribbon Chrysler event vs. "IS that a Hemi" campaign?
Neither gets me in the door but I 'll actually get a chuckle out of the Hemi.
Jeff 7:52PM (8/15/2007)
@geo.stewart
The thing with marketing is that it is more than just television advertisements. It's about being able to deliver a message about your product to its consumers regardless of what the product might be.
The fact that Lexus' marketing department has been able to convince people that high priced Toyotas are luxury vehicles is a testament to how powerful marketing really is.
However I'm not sure how effective Meyers will be considering they will be cutting her marketing budget. I don't recall correctly but I think Lexus had a pretty big marketing budget.
geo.stewart 8:18PM (8/15/2007)
thats the thing though. The advertising campaigns (print, radio, TV, internet) did not relay any new message over her time there.
Now the fact that they dumped tons of money into magazines in order to get good write ups, that probably deserves a Mastercard commerical. Dont think she'll get that from Nardelli. Dont think she will get the good product either.
Luckily she bailed before she had to market that F-version of the IS350.
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Val 8:57PM (8/15/2007)
A small correction there: IS350 has a 3.5L V6 engine, while the IS-F will have a V8. If they can get rid of the ridiculous aero package and eye-hurting paintjob, it will look pretty decent, and with the experience from developing the LA-F (or whatever it was called) it should drive qute will... ofcourse, that's assuming that the LA-F actually is as fast and stable as it looked in the spy videos.
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wally 9:37PM (8/15/2007)
Apparently Nardelli views an advertising budget as a deep reservoir of available funds, as another source expects him to trim it further to pay for Chrysler's extremely high warranty costs at the moment. !!!!!!!!!!!!
Those warranty cost were all of DCX's including commercial trucks (Fuso), Merc,Maybach Orion,in other word all of DCX!!!!
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P to the C 10:00PM (8/15/2007)
The thing about marketing is that it has nothing to do with product. A marketers job is to spin a lifestyle, making you feel that your identity is somehow defined by the products you consume. See Coke, Nike, Land Rover, A&F, Apple, etc. That's why marketers are about as respected as lawyers and politicians. Fortunately the American consumer is so image conscious that a good lifestyle spin artist can make all the difference in the world.
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Greeny 11:15PM (8/15/2007)
Please don't go to the five point star logo again... It reminds us so much of the "K" cars back in the 70's and that was a time that I think nobody wants to relive again !
Please keep the current Chrysler logo, its great ! !
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Mal Fuller 9:28AM (8/16/2007)
K-Cars went on sale for the 1981 model year and helped to save Chrysler. I don't know what you recall from the 1970s, but it isn't the K-Cars.
Louis Duran 12:30AM (8/16/2007)
Someone once said; "Half my advertising budget is wasted. I just don't know which half". Nardelli believes he's smarter than most, so I am sure he'll make the right decisions based on his gut feel. :-)
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Greg A. 1:56AM (8/16/2007)
The open house event during which attendees could enter to win one of eleventeen (or however many) new Chrysler vehicles was last night and I realized that there was no advertising of this event (not that I saw or heard, anyway). Maybe they were counting on blogs like this one to get the word out?
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Richard Warren 6:52AM (8/16/2007)
"Please don't go to the five point star logo again... It reminds us so much of the "K" cars back in the 70's and that was a time that I think nobody wants to relive again !"
Also reminds of 413, 426, first 5 year warranty in industry, stock car wins and drag racing wins. You need to look a little further back than the 80's. It was first used in 1962.
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icu812ru469 8:10AM (8/16/2007)
Was Meyer with Lexus from inception, or join midstream? For makers like Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, they're almost cars that sell themselves. Marketing is not as big with them as say PR is. For Chrysler, marketing AND PR will be very important, so she'll have her work cut out for her. If she can turn Chrysler around, she'll be the best thing since sliced bread... if not, she'll be just another has-been stinker that's gone to Chrysler and failed.
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sw 9:53AM (8/16/2007)
I hate to sound negative really but I can imagine this scenario playing out in the future.
"What? Nardelli cut off my advertising dollars and now I can't really do my job anymore! Well, that's ok, I'll just take my millions on my way out the door 5 years from now."
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Rocket Punch 12:34PM (8/16/2007)
I like cowgirls, especially when they are reversed.
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