Nokia has appointed Jerri DeVard as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, a new role that comes into effect as of January 1.
DeVard is a 25-year marketing vet, with relevant experience in the telecom industry – she served as Senior Vice President for Marketing and Brand Management at Verizon from 2003 to 2007.
DeVard started her own marketing consultancy agency, called DeVard Marketing Group and based in New York. As a Principal at the firm, she provided counsel to Microsoft, among other consumer-focused companies. I mention that, of course, because Nokia’s new CEO, Stephen Elop, hails from the Redmond software company.
DeVard will join Nokia’s Group Executive Board and report to Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President and head of Nokia’s Markets unit.
Prior to Verizon, DeVard served as Chief Marketing Officer for Citigroup’s e-consumer business and before that held senior marketing positions in Revlon and Harrah’s Entertainment.
She holds a degree in Economics from Spelman College and an MBA in Marketing from Clark Atlanta University.
On a sidenote: DeVard has also applied her experience in fund-raising efforts as part of the Barack Obama presidential campaign.