This week in leadership updates, former Office Depot and ADT chief marketing officer Jerri DeVard creates the Black Executive CMO Alliance, Prudential Financial taps Richard Parkinson as chief brand officer, Grand Hyatt Vail names Danielle Boyles as director of sales and marketing, a new study highlights a steady “CMO succession crisis,” J.Crew appoints Derek Yarbrough as chief marketing officer and more.

Jerri DeVard Debuts The Black Executive CMO Alliance

Jerri DeVard, previous chief customer officer of Office Depot and current Under Armour board member, has founded an organization called the Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA) that aims to reduce the corporate diversity gap.

As of 2020, black talent makes up just three percent of the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) chief marketing officers.

BECA comprises 26 black executives from companies including Unilever, Netflix, Adidas and Peloton, reports Morning Brew. DeVard says that BECA is compiling a database of young marketing professionals who have the skills and background to succeed in the industry and that “BECA will challenge the corporate diversity gap and change the census by mentoring and building the pipeline of talented Black executives who will follow in our footsteps.”

Prudential Financial Appoints Richard Parkinson As Chief Brand Officer

Prudential Financial has named Richard Parkinson as chief brand officer, effective May 10.

Parkinson joins Prudential from Archetype, formerly Text100, where he served as global creative director for nearly seven years.

Grand Hyatt Vail Hires Danielle Boyles As Director Of Sales And Marketing

Danielle Boyles has been named director of sales and marketing at Grand Hyatt Vail, reports HospitalityNet.

Prior to Grand Hyatt, Boyles worked as chief sales officer at ConferenceDirect for a year and as director of sales and marketing for Hyatt Regency.

New Study Highlights Rise In CMO Appointments During 2020

CMO appointments increased 25 percent in 2020, according to a study from Russell Reynolds Associates, as reported by Marketing Dive. 

Though 45 percent of CMO appointments were women last year, that figure represents a five percentage point drop from the previous six months, compared with 27 percent of other C-suite level jobs that were filled by women. 

Meanwhile, men comprised 92 percent of chief revenue officers, 86 percent of chief commercial officers and 84 percent of chief sales officers.

Additionally, RRA’s analysis found that 84 percent of CMOs were hired externally, a five percent increase that signals a persistent “CMO succession crisis”

J.Crew Hires Derek Yarbrough As Chief Marketing Officer

Derek Yarbrough has been appointed J.Crew’s new CMO, according to a press release.

Yarborough joins J.Crew from Madewell, where he serves and will continue to serve as CMO.

In addition, J.Crew Group has added the following members to its board: Frits Dirk van Paasschen, a current board member of Williams-Sonoma and Royal DSM; Anna Fieler, the founder of Madison Park Ventures and a Shake Shack board member; and Nadia Rawlinson, the chief people officer at Slack. 

Activision Blizzard Appoints Fernando Machado As Chief Marketing Officer

Fernando Machado has left his post as global CMO of Restaurant Brands International to join Activision Blizzard as the company’s new CMO.

Machado was Burger King’s global CMO for about six years before joining the burger chain’s parent company.

VillageMD Names Ellen Donahue-Dalton As Its First Chief Marketing Officer

VillageMD has appointed Ellen Donahue-Dalton as CMO.

Previously, Donahue-Dalton worked at Medecision as chief marketing and experience officer.

Zendesk Taps Alex Constantinople As Chief Marketing Officer

Alex Constantinople has been named Zendesk’s new CMO.

Constantinople previously served as chief executive of Outcast for just under a decade.

ViacomCBS Hires Jason White as MTV Chief Marketing Officer

ViacomCBS has announced the appointment of Jason White to CMO of MTV Entertainment Group, reports Adweek.

White served as executive vice president, global head of marketing for Beats by Dr. Dre before taking on the role of CMO at Cura Cannabis Solutions.