Nokia has appointed a consumer marketing specialist, Jerri DeVard, to the newly created post of chief marketing officer (CMO).
DeVard, who currently runs her own marketing company, has 25 years of marketing experience with consumer brands including Verizon, Citigroup and Revlon, and helped raise funds for US President Barack Obama’s election campaign in 2008“Her expertise encompasses brand management and multi-cultural marketing, with a strong foundation on direct marketing and e-commerce,” the company states.
It is the first major appointment by new CEO Stephen Elop, who said DeVard’s background in consumer businesses “will be a great boost to increasing consumer focus and will bring fresh thinking as we strive for a clearer value proposition.”
DeVard, who will also be an executive vice president, will report to Niklas Savander, executive vice president and head of Nokia's markets unit when she takes up the post on January 1.
She will head the newly-formed marketing and communications organization, combining all of Nokia's marketing, brand management and communications.