Ford Motor Co. reached outside the auto industry for its next global chief marketing officer, installing former eBay North American CMO Suzy Deering in the position.
Deering, 51, left eBay in mid-October after five years. She joined the online marketplace after being CEO of Atlanta ad agency Moxie. Before that, she logged time in marketing roles at Home Depot and Verizon. Deering lacks significant experience in automotive, according to her LinkedIn page, making her selection unusual for an industry that tends to hire top marketing leaders from within.
Her selection signals that Ford wants to continue to bolster its tech chops as it increasingly competes with Silicon Valley companies such as Tesla, Uber and Lyft. In a Tuesday statement, Ford described Deering as “accomplished at using technology, data and analytics to anticipate customer needs and fulfill them with human-centered products and services.”
“Technology will be a powerful part…