MBUSA's General Manager Of Marketing Communications Moving To Audi

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on May 25, 2006 at 12:55 PM CST

Audi of America is reporting today that they have appointed MBUSA's  
Scott Keogh as the company's Chief Marketing Officer, a newly formed  
position designed to oversee all marketing strategy and department  
responsibilities as well as lead the company's marketing effort to  
further expand Audi's position in the U.S.

According to Johan de Nysschen, executive vice president in charge of  
Audi of America:  "Audi is experiencing strong growth in this market,  
and the strengthening of our Management Team is an important element  
in continuing this success.  Scott will guide our marketing  
organization to focus on building our brand image across multiple  
customer touch points."

Before taking on the new role, Scott served as MBUSA's general  
manager of marketing communications, which included both brand and  
product positioning.  Other positions held while working for MBUSA  
included general manager of Smart USA as well as general manager of  
corporate communications.

So what's up first on Audi's docket? In a recent interview given  
exclusively to eMercedesBenz, Scott outlined his new plans:  
"Obviously the first task is to expand Audi's market share here in  
the United States.  To do so, I, along with my dedicated marketing  
team, will develop a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle lineup  
separate from Audi and release it in every country except the U.S.   
In ten to fifteen years, when I believe the American market would be  
more receptive to such environmentally-friendly vehicles, my team and  
I will then work to create an effective marketing campaign  
highlighting the benefits of the new brand... but wait, it gets  
better.   After completing the afore-mentioned task, rather than  
actually releasing the new brand, our next step will be to delay its  
launch an additional five years;  this will allow us to accurately  
assess whether bringing a new vehicle lineup to this country would  
really be in the company's best interest, while ultimately increasing  
consumer desire for the product.

Brilliant, isn't it?

Expect to see Audi's mini-car lineup tenatively hitting U.S.  
dealerships sometime in 2026... wait - I better make it 2030, just to  
be on the safe side.

Of course, we'll be sure to put out a number of newly-developed 15  
passenger ultra-extended SUV's in the meantime, to keep the American  
public happy during our 30 year new vehicle implementation plan."

---

As you've probably already figured out, the previous interview didn't  
take place; however, judging by what he accomplished while heading up  
smart USA, I hope for Audi's sake he's made some revisions to his  
less-than-agressive former marketing campaigns.

For more info, keep scrolling for the full press release.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


Audi Appoints Marketing Executive For New 'Chief Marketing Officer'  
Role in United States

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 24
As part of the company's continuing transformation, Audi of America  
announced today the appointment of Scott Keogh as Chief Marketing  
Officer, a newly formed position designed to oversee all marketing  
strategy and department responsibilities, as well as lead the  
company's marketing effort to further elevate the positioning of the  
Audi brand in the United States. The new position, which reports to  
Johan de Nysschen, executive vice president, is the latest addition  
to the Audi management team.

"Audi is experiencing strong growth in this market, and the  
strengthening of our Management Team is an important element in  
continuing this success," said Johan de Nysschen, executive vice  
president in charge of Audi of America. "Scott will guide our  
marketing organization to focus on building our brand image across  
multiple customer touch points."

Prior to joining Audi, Keogh, 37, worked at Mercedes-Benz USA for  
more than a decade. Most recently, Keogh was general manager,  
marketing communications, where he was responsible for developing all  
strategic marketing communications plans, including brand and product  
positioning. Previous positions at Mercedes-Benz included general  
manager, Smart USA where Keogh was responsible for sales, marketing,  
product planning and retail development for the new automotive brand.  
Prior to leading Smart USA, Keogh was responsible for corporate  
communications for MBUSA.

Keogh has a Bachelor of Arts from Hobart and William Smith Colleges  
in upstate New York.

For more Mercedes-Benz news and information, visit  
www.eMercedesBenz.com.