CMO Moves May Summary

May was a busy month last year for CMO appointments.

This year, however, it appears comparatively flat compared to the first-quarter surge of CMO hires.

This month, 24 new CMOs were announced, with a perfect gender balance of 12 women and 12 men. 3 were promoted from within, and 21 were external hires. 7 of these new CMOs are stepping into the role for the very first time, marking an important career milestone.

California continues to lead the way with 5 new CMOs. New York closely follows with 4, and Texas with 3. Industries that hired the most CMOs include Software Development (7), Restaurants (2), and Spectator Sports (2).

Gap

Gap, the fashion brand that has struggled in recent years with cultural relevance and profitability, is on a journey of recovery.

Since former Mattel executive Richard Dickson took the helm in August, financial rigor and operational discipline have been top of his mind. His focus in these areas has paid off.

Just yesterday, Gap announced another sizable earnings beat in Q1, as sales grew at all four of its brands: Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, and Old Navy. Gap shares spiked more than 20% in extended trading.

Dickson is a marketing guru who engineered the revival of Mattel’s Barbie brand.

In December last year, when addressing an industry conference in Oxfordshire, U.K., Dickson, who was four months into his role as Gap CEO, shared his audit with the audience:

Earlier this month, the Gap brand named former PepsiCo marketer Fabiola Torres the new Global Chief Marketing Officer.

Torres has worked for some of the most prestigious consumer brands, including Nike, Apple, and most recently PepsiCo, where she served as CMO for the energy drinks segment and Hispanic business unit.

Torres is the latest among the many senior hires the company announced this year. In January, the company named Eric Chan as Chief Business and Strategy Officer and Amy Thompson as Chief People Officer.

In February, American fashion designer Zac Posen was appointed as the EVP and Creative Director of Gap Inc. and Chief Creative Officer of Old Navy. Positioning Gap brands back into the center of culture is clearly Dickson’s priority.

Earlier this month, after a four-month review, Dickson retained Omnicom Media Group as the company’s cross-brand media agency of record.

In addition to the new media AOR, Dickson also announced a Marketing Shared Services organization that will standardize key media functions, including shared media services, marketing intelligence, and marketing enablement, reporting directly to himself. The leader of the team is yet to be determined.

Just three days ago, a new job popped up on Gap’s career site for a San Francisco-based role: Head of Consumer Loyalty, to consolidate their loyalty offering across the brands, offering a base salary of up to $360K.

Lots are happening at Gap Inc. It may be a great time to join the league!

Johnson Controls

Founded almost 140 years ago by the inventor of the electric thermostat, Johnson Controls is a massive international conglomerate employing over 100,000 people worldwide. The company provides heating and cooling systems, security and fire safety equipment, and energy efficiency solutions for residential and commercial buildings, including data centers.

If you live in the US, you may find your house is equipped with Johnson Controls' York or Coleman HVAC or furnace system.

Earlier this month, Johnson Controls appointed Chris Bontempo as VP and CMO. Bontempo will be responsible for marketing strategies across the enterprise to drive demand generation and enhance brand equity.

Bontempo joins Johnson Controls from IBM, where he worked for nearly 20 years, most recently as chief marketing and communications officer, Americas. For many years, he led key aspects of IBM's marketing across the United States, Canada, and Latin America markets.

Johnson Controls has gone through a lot of restructuring. In 2015, it sold its Global Workplace Solutions to CBRE Group. In 2016, the automotive seating and interiors business was spun off into a new company called Adient. The Power Solutions business unit, which designs and manufactures automotive batteries, was sold in 2019 to Brookfield Business Partners. In May 2021, the company acquired Silent-Aire, a Canadian firm specializing in data center cooling systems. That same year, Johnson Controls announced that it picked Ava Robotics to power its new 'Tyco Security Robot'.

(CMO ladder is bullish on data center cooling tech with the rising power demands wrought by AI chips creating heat and robotics because robots are cool)

With the appointment of a seasoned B2B marketer from IBM as its new marketing chief, it is easy to see where they are heading. As a leading provider of AI-powered building management solutions and data center cooling and security systems, Johnson Controls is poised to benefit from the rise of data centers and commercial plants.

Bontempo will report to Chairman and CEO George Oliver and serve on the Johnson Controls executive team.

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