Garage Team Mazda Announces New Senior Hires

COSTA MESA, Calif., July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Garage Team Mazda (GTM) today announced the addition of three new senior team members to the agency: Steve Chavez (chief creative officer), Joanna Young (chief strategy officer) and Arnel Kasmally (senior vice president, head of customer engagement). These new leaders will strengthen the agency's ability to service Mazda with creativity and innovative solutions.

"WPP is a creative transformation company. As we help Mazda to navigate the increasing complexities of the customer journey and their own brand transformation into the premium space, we evolve our model and enhance our offering and capability," said Michael Buttlar, WPP Mazda global client leader and Garage Team Mazda CEO. "We are confident that Steve, Joanna and Arnel's experience and leadership will help Team Mazda bring the best of WPP to our successful partnership with Mazda."

"The addition of new talent at GTM, our bespoke agency, will further strengthen our overall marketing capabilities," said Dino Bernacchi, Chief Marketing Officer for Mazda North American Operations. "This is especially important as Mazda continues to move towards premium by strengthening our brand, our customer engagements and coordination with our dealer partners,"

About the newest Garage Team Mazda employees:

Steve Chavez – Chief Creative Officer

• Steve Chavez joins Garage Team Mazda as Chief Creative Officer with a wealth of experience in developing award-winning creative for some of the most well-known brands in America, including brands in the automotive sector. Chavez's work has been honored at the ANDY Awards, ADC, Cannes, Clios, D&AD, Epicas, Effies, The One Show and The Webbys, among others. Chavez most recently lead and owned creative agency, North of Sunset, and was previously the Chief Creative Officer for Leo Burnett in Detroit, before joining GTM. At Leo Burnett, Chavez's contributed Buick's, "A Human Kind of Luxury." The campaign targeted a younger, more civic-minded audience and, in one year, doubled excellent opinion scores and became the fastest growing major automotive brand with 85% sales increase for 16 consecutive months. As a result, Buick was recognized by Advertising Age as "One of America's Hottest Brands." He also lead an all-new NCAA promotional platform and media partnership securing rights for Buick as the "Official Sponsor of Human Achievement." Chavez has proven himself as a creative leader and strong storyteller with a long career at top agencies such as Doner, Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy & Mather. Steve has also served as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Southern California.

Arnel Kasmally – Senior Vice President, Head of Customer Engagement

• Kasmally brings a wealth of digital and technology experience as a marketing leader and WPP veteran, previously working at Essence Media, Geometry Global, Y&R and Ogilvy supporting brands such as BMW, MasterCard, American Express, Dell, Nestle, Time Warner, Marriott and Google. He joins GTM from the Mobile Marketing Association, where he was managing director, head of digital. In his new role, Kasmally will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of customer engagement including, technology platforms, social, digital advertising and CRM.

Joanna Young – Chief Strategy Officer

• Young is GTM's first ever chief strategy officer. She comes to the agency with a strong background in marketing, advertising and the automotive and luxury sectors. Young began her career as a strategic planning analyst at Hyundai/Kia in Orange County and then spent 10 years in New York as group planning director at Havas, followed by a stints at Lowe and McGarry Bowen. She joins GTM from Team One, where she served as management director, strategic planning. Young oversaw brand strategy for The Ritz Carlton/St. Regis hotels, PIMCO and Lexus. She has an abundance of experience dealing with prominent luxury and premium brands.

The hiring of Steve Chavez, Arnel Kasmally and Joanna Young completes Garage Team Mazda's ongoing effort to secure proven industry specialist talent to lead Mazda's growth, the successful evolution of the FEEL ALIVE® campaign and Mazda's drive to premium.

About Garage Team Mazda
Founded in 2010, Garage Team Mazda (GTM) is a formidable WPP integrated team agency founded in partnership with Mazda and located in Costa Mesa, Calif. GTM has diverse capabilities in Orange County, ranging from traditional agency services, PR, digital and social, Hispanic, motorsports, retail marketing, data and analytics – and regularly taps in to the vast specialist talent pool within the WPP network. Garage Team Mazda oversees all advertising and marketing for the automotive brand. 

Contact:
Tanya Kohan, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, 657-274-3707
Zach Kadletz, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, 562-552-1977

SOURCE Garage Team Mazda