Hyundai hires Subaru’s veteran to manage their US marketing department

Hyundai announced the appointment of Dean Evans -known for his work in brand building and implementing innovative digital marketing programs to drive demand- as its U.S. CMO, ending a nine-month vacancy on this position. The move comes six weeks after Hyundai wrote a big check to replace General Motors as sponsor of the National Football League. Now is Evans turn to help sharpen Hyundai’s message for that stage. “Dean has a remarkable background, which will prove invaluable to Hyundai as our company moves forward in the ever-changing auto market” said Dave Zuchowski, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, in a statement. Evans served as CMO of Subaru until 2014. There he developed a TV campaign built around the company’s support of charitable causes, where one featured families of dogs traveling in Subarus and pitched the vehicles as dogs approved. However, Evans was known as a digital specialist who focused on online advertising, increasing the share of Subaru’s marketing budget spent on digital to 25% from 15%.Evans appointment comes at a crucial time for the automotive, which has been struggling to reach the growth rates it enjoyed in 2010 and 2011, due to constraints on production capacity, heavier competition and a product lineup that skews toward cars rather than pickups and crossovers.