Vurpillat Appointed Pontiac Aztek Brand Manager
FOR RELEASE: May 31, 2001Vurpillat Appointed Pontiac Aztek Brand Manager
DETROIT --Pontiac-GMC General Manager Lynn C. Myers today announced the appointment of James R. Vurpillat as brand manager for the Pontiac Aztek, effective June 1, 2001. In his new role, Vurpillat will be responsible for positioning the Aztek in the market, developing advertising and promotions, establishing price positioning and building brand equity.
Vurpillat replaces Don Butler, who was named executive director of OnStar Virtual Advisor, also effective June 1. John Gatt, brand manager for the Oldsmobile Aurora, will take on the additional responsibility of managing the Oldsmobile Bravada.
Vurpillat, 35, began his General Motors career in 1989, working as a marketing specialist at the Inland Division in Dayton, Ohio. He was named assistant brand manager, marketing for the Pontiac Grand Prix in 1996. He took on a similar role at Oldsmobile Division in 1999 when he became assistant brand manager, marketing for the Oldsmobile Aurora. In 2000 he was appointed brand manager for the Oldsmobile Bravada. In that assignment he was also responsible for overseeing the division's relationship with the Indy racing league and the PGA of America. Vurpillat has a bachelor-of-science degree in marketing and an MBA in business from the University of Dayton, Ohio. He is a native of Flossmoor, Ill.
Don Butler served as brand manager for the Pontiac Aztek since July, 1997 when that sport recreation vehicle was still in the development stage and his title was brand manager of "future vans." A native of Columbia, Miss., Butler was born on Dec. 4, 1963. He received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from GMI in 1986 and his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990. His General Motors career began as a college cooperative student at Pontiac Engineering in 1981.
In 1985 Butler became a design engineer for the Corvette Electrical Systems Group at the former Chevrolet-Pontiac-GM of Canada in Warren, Mich. Four years later he became a systems engineer for Advanced Vehicle Engineering in Pontiac, Mich. In 1990 he was named market analyst for GM Marketing and Product Planning.
He returned to Pontiac in 1992 when he was appointed zone marketing manager for the Detroit Zone. The following year he moved to Pontiac Central Office as market planner of the Grand Am. In 1994 Butler was named brand planning manager of the Grand Am. He then became assistant brand manager-product for the Grand Am in 1996. Prior to that, he was a manufacturing systems manager at Lansing Auto Division (LAD) since 1995. Butler was named brand manager - future vans on July 1, 1997.