Polachi Lands Marketing Leader for Visual IQ
April 26, 2017 – Executive search firm Polachi Inc. has placed Wayne St. Amand as chief marketing officer (CMO) of Visual IQ Inc. In his role new role, he will be responsible for driving business expansion through the company’s global marketing and training efforts.
Mr. St. Amand is a veteran marketing leader with a track record of significantly accelerating the growth trajectory and valuation of technology businesses. Previously, he served as CMO of Brand Networks. He also held marketing roles at Nasuni, Crimson Hexagon, ExaGrid Systems, and Ontegrity.
“Earlier in his career, Wayne led successful communications campaigns for a number of well-known technology companies. His specialty in social media analytics is a great asset for Visual IQ Management’s marketing platform,” said search firm partner Charley Polachi, who spearheaded the assignment.
Visual IQ is a marketing intelligence software provider. Its IQ Intelligence suite combines audience data with attributed measurement in a single platform, providing marketing and advertising performance insights based on audience segment and the inter- and intra-channel optimization recommendations needed to drive business goals and maximize return.
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Polachi is a provider of access executive search services to technology, clean technology, private equity and venture capital companies. The firm recruits executive leaders for a company roster that includes Aspen Technology; Bottomline Technologies; Attunity; Cognizant Technologies; MAM Software; Trillium Software/Harte Hanks; FleetMatics; Lionbridge; Sparta Systems; Sevcon; Epsilon; Cognex; Plug Power; Mediamorph; Witricity; BlueConic; Perkins School; Knoa; and Visual IQ; among others.
Chief Marketing Officers
As business becomes more global and complex, and power shifts from producers of goods and services to consumers, a CMOs responsibility of planning and coordinating an organization’s marketing activities has become much more challenging, according to recruiters specializing in the function.
“Recruiting CMOs is always a challenge,” said Mr. Polachi. “Over the last 20 years, I have come to realize that it is more challenging than recruiting CEOs for technology companies due to market constraints.”
Current business landscape demands have increased the contribution from chief marketing officers, the latest research report from Forrester and Heidrick & Struggles reveals. The survey found that CMOs are building strong relationships with the head of product and research & development to prepare the organization for digital disruption.
With that said, companies continue to use executive search firms to fill this important C-level position. Here’s a look at a few recent assignments taken from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
- PFM Executive Search has placed Paul Hawes as chief marketing officer of destination marketing organization Tourism Victoria. Mr. Hawes has more than 22 years of progressive tourism marketing and sales experience, and arrived in Canada after leading Destination New South Wales (Australia) to successfully expand its presence in the European market.
- Caldwell Partners International recruited Ann Sung Ruckstuhl as chief marketing officer of publicly traded technology company Unisys Corporation. Jim Bethmann, managing partner and co-leader of the firm’s TMT & IT services and information security practices, led the search. Most recently, Ms. Ruckstuhl was CMO at SOASTA.
- HVS Executive Search recruited Mark Mears as CMO of Slim Chickens, a franchise restaurant operator with more than 40 locations in 10 states. CEO Court Williams led the search along with vice president Bill Conn.Previously, he served as chief marketing officer for Noodles & Company.
- BSG Team Ventures placed Robert Birdsong as chief marketing officer at Human Capital Institute (HCI). Mr. Birdsong was previously with CEB Global where he developed and led marketing strategy to achieve product positioning, brand awareness and lead generation for CEB’s talent management solutions.
- DHR International tapped Andy Donkin as chief marketing officer of Under Armour. Carlos Cata, a DHR managing partner in charge of the firm’s global CMO practice, and retail and consumer sector managing partner Frank Spencer, along with partner Julie Eakers, led the search. Mr. Donkin joins Under Armour from Amazon, where he served as head of worldwide mass and brand marketing.
- Calibre One recently recruited Jo Scarlett as chief marketing officer of PA Consulting Group. She joins from BT, where she was chief digital and marketing officer of the company’s global services division, leading an integrated marketing and communications function to support BT’s business in more than 180 countries around the world.
- Pi Executive recruited Angelique Bellmer Krembs as chief marketing officer of News America Marketing (NAM), a marketer and influencer for online and offline shoppers in the U.S. and Canada. Ms. Bellmer Krembs brings with her 22 years of expertise from PepsiCo, where she was known for leading iconic brands, including Pepsi, Mountain Dew and SoBe.
- Hanold Associates placed David Sarjantson as chief marketing officer at Denver-based Fortis Private Bank. Formerly with Microsoft as director of search engagement and relationship marketing, Mr. Sarjantson has extensive marketing experience in both transformative and growth environments.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media