Dive Brief:
- Hyundai Motor America has restructured its marketing department by creating divisions focused on creative and performance, per a press release.
- Angela Zepeda, who has served as Hyundai's chief marketing officer for nearly five years, will oversee social, creative, experiential and multicultural marketing as chief creative officer. Sean Gilpin will serve as vice president for marketing performance and retain his current role as vice president for global sales marketing.
- The restructuring is intended to help the automaker address evolving consumer buying behavior and allow for improved creation of marketing programs based on data and sales performance.
Dive Insight:
Hyundai's restructuring of its marketing department into separate creative and performance divisions — and seemingly sunsetting a chief marketer position that oversees both functions — represents another way the CMO role is evolving. For years, companies including Starbucks and General Mills have worked to modernize the role to better address needs across brand building, digital advertising, sales growth and consumer experience. For Hyundai, the move is billed as a way to better address changing consumer needs.
“From EVs and hybrids to technology innovations, the market is filled with noise and information that can be confusing to customers and sometimes distract from the core brand message,” Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker said in the press release. “This restructure will allow us to build marketing programs around data and sales performance that will help propel us to the forefront of the industry.”
Hyundai's new marketing divisions will focus on creative and performance functions, respectively. Longtime CMO Zepeda will handle creative functions while Gilpin will be responsible for media buying, tier two marketing, marketing financial management and customer communications, including customer relationship management, consumer website and digital retail solutions. Both will report to Parker.
While Zepeda and her team will continue to produce and develop creative content across channels, the performance team will work to bring together marketing and sales performance by analyzing placement, volume and quantitative effectiveness of marketing.
Under Zepeda, Hyundai has been an active advertiser as the automaker has worked to engage younger car buyers through different channels. A recent campaign timed to the Olympics promotes the Tucson, IONIQ 5, Santa Fe and Palisade SUV models but does not push a sales message. Previous efforts have included a presence on Reddit, a partnership with Disney and a focus on sneaker culture.
Parent Hyundai Motor Co. last week reported its highest ever quarterly revenue in company history, a figure boosted by solid sales in North America. While sales of fully electric models declined, demand for hybrid models continued to grow.
