KBB Grows OEM Advertising, Business Development Team
Kelley Blue Book has broadened its OEM advertising and business development team throughout the country, promoting one executive to serve in a vice presidential role while also hiring on some additional leaders for the company’s Detroit office.
KBB promoted Susan Makuch Brown to serve as vice president of OEM advertising and business development, as Robin Cooper — who held the post for a decade — recently retired.
Brown’s previous position was director of OEM advertising — East, working in the Detroit office.
In another promotion, Tim Hand, who had been director of OEM advertising — West, was named senior director of OEM sales and business development. He worked in his previous post for almost 10 years in the company’s Irvine, Calif., headquarters.
KBB also brought in some new hires for its Detroit office, signing on Shane Kay — who had been senior vice president and digital negotiation director at Mindshare Team Detroit (Ford’s agency) — and Doug Weiland, who was vice president and media director for Starcom, where he headed up General Motors’ digital advertising team.
Kay and Weiland will serve as directors of advertising and business development at KBB.
Continuing along, Jinar Han-Bombard has been hired as sales manager and Erin Wrobleski has been named associate sales manager. These two will both be in Detroit.
Bombard’s most recent post was at Scripps Network Interactive serving as an account executive. Wrobleski’s prior position was as an account executive at Tribune Broadcasting — a Fox Affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich.
In its Detroit office, KBB also hired Colleen O’Keefe as account manager. Her most recent position was in product development for AutoWeek.
“With the recent promotions and new hires to Kelley Blue Book’s OEM advertising and business development department, we are growing our world-class team to better support OEMs who want to partner with us on kbb.com,” stated Leo Drew, KBB’s executive vice president of OEM/partner sales & strategy.
“Now, more than ever before, we are in a great position to support the goals of OEMs, and successfully deliver their messaging and information to in-market car shoppers on Kelley Blue Book’s Kbb.com,” Drew added.