EXCLUSIVE: Renault's marketing boss Chris Brown has been appointed marketing director at McDonald's New Zealand, after just a year in the role.
Brown will replace Jules Lloyd in the top role, after Lloyd left the company late last year to take on the position as head of thinking at marketing consultancy Think Fusion.
His reporting line will be split between the McDonald's New Zealand managing director and the chief marketing officer across Australia and New Zealand. The chief marketing officer role was filled earlier in the month by ANZ senior marketer Mark Lollback.
A replacement has not yet been found for Brown at Renault, although the automotive company is searching externally for a chief marketer to fill the gap.
Brown has had a significant impact on the French car brand. When he started in December 2010, the company was under-performing in a market dominated by brands like Honda and Volkswagen.
During Brown's brief tenure the car manufacturer and its creative agency BMF parted ways, and shortly after Renault began working with Droga5. Brown also appointed Naked Communications to a strategy project and increased the car manufacturer's ad spend by several million.
However, Brown admitted the company still has a way to go. "It's never nice to feel like you've just started on a journey, and there is potential for Renault to keep growing," he said. "But New Zealand is where I need to be, and you can't say no to McDonald's."
Brown said the challenges for McDonald's in New Zealand are markedly different to those at Renault. "McDonald's is a strong, market-leading brand, so this is a story of continuing growth in a market that is shrinking slightly."
Before Renault, Brown was the marketing manager for car brand Mini. He will step down from his role at Renault at the beginning of March, and will join McDonald's on March 5.
This article first appeared in the 27 January 2012 edition of AdNews. Click here to subscribe for more news, features and opinion.
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