VW brand hires Google exec to head marketing

BERLIN — Volkswagen passenger cars brand named Nelly Kennedy as its new chief marketing officer.

Kennedy is currently senior global brand marketing director for Google in California, which she joined in April 2015. She will take over the role at VW in mid-February, succeeding Jochen Sengpiehl, who has moved to Volkswagen China.

Kennedy will be responsible for turning the automaker “back into a true people’s brand,” VW brand boss Thomas Schaefer said in a statement. 

VW brand sales and marketing chief Imelda Labbe said Kennedy’s expertise will make a “decisive contribution” to giving VW a clear brand profile in all regions and to turning the brand back into a “genuine love brand.”

Before joining Google, Kennedy was Conde Nast International’s digital director from 2013-2015.

She has also held multiple senior global marketing posts with sportswear brand Adidas, where she spent more than a decade, beginning as a global lifestyle PR lead, and ending as global vice president, digital and relationship marketing.

Prior to entering the business world, Kennedy studied public relations at the University of Vienna. She also holds a postgraduate degree in international marketing from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kennedy’s appointment is part of a wider August reorganization of VW Group’s management under the automaker’s new CEO Oliver Blume.
 
Blume said the changes will give group brands more business responsibility.