MINNEAPOLIS, June 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- General Mills
(NYSE: GIS) today announced that Ivan
Pollard has been named global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO),
effective July 10, 2017. Pollard will
report to Jeff Harmening, Chief
Executive Officer and be accountable for establishing the company's
first global marketing and media planning function responsible for
marketing strategies, connections planning, and building
organizational capabilities globally.
Pollard was most recently senior vice president, strategic
marketing for Coca-Cola North America. During his time at
Coca-Cola, Pollard was responsible for developing strategies to
more effectively deploy a more than $2
billion global media spend. In the North American Coca-Cola
business, Pollard instituted new data driven approaches to
connections planning, management of digital platforms, media,
sponsorships, and content creation.
"Ivan's diverse global experience brings us a fresh perspective
on our brands and a deep understanding of how to operationalize
integrated, modern marketing in the digital age," said Jeff Harmening, CEO of General Mills. "We
have tremendous opportunities to unlock global growth by improving
the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and our teams are eager
to build on the work they have started."
Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Pollard was a global partner in
Naked Communications, the world's largest connections planning
company, and had leading roles in global agencies such as BMP [now
DDB Needham], and Wieden+Kennedy. Pollard was a founding
partner of Unity which later merged with the Ingram
Partnership.
"I was drawn to General Mills by their beloved brands and the
quality of their marketing talent, but I decided to join because of
the good I see them doing in the world and the untapped
opportunities I see for business growth. I'm excited to be part of
their next chapter," said Pollard.
From England, Pollard holds a
Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Nottingham.
About General Mills
General Mills is a leading global food company that serves the
world by making food people love. Its brands include
Cheerios, Annie's, Yoplait, Nature
Valley, Fiber One, Haagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El
Paso, Wanchai Ferry,
Yoki and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills
generated fiscal 2016 consolidated net sales of US $16.6 billion, as well as another US $1.0 billion from its proportionate share of
joint-venture net sales.
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SOURCE General Mills