Ford Marketing Head To Join Advertising Agency

DETROIT, March 24, 2004; Reuters reported that the top advertising executive at Ford Motor Co. is swapping out of sheet metal for a job focusing on computers and audio-visual software.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ford said Jan Valentic, its vice president for global marketing, was joining Young & Rubicam Brands, effective April 1.

Valentic, who joined Ford in June 1998, will oversee the Microsoft Corp. account at Young & Rubicam, Ford said.

Valentic, a self-described "gear head," hailed the second-largest U.S. automaker as "one of the greatest brands and businesses in the world" in the statement announcing her departure.

Her roots are squarely in advertising, however, and Young & Rubicam -- the division of WPP where she'll become an executive president -- is the world's second-largest advertising and marketing holding company.

"She got a great opportunity," Ford spokeswoman Paige Johnson said of Valentic's decision to leave the automaker.

"The new job uses the full range of her expertise going back even before Ford," she added.