Barely two months after we learned that General Motors was yanking nearly $10 million worth of Facebook ads, the man behind that decision is no longer working for the company.
Joel Ewanick, GM’s marketing chief, has resigned his position effective immediately. The 52-year-old worked with GM for two years, and had only been CMO since December 2010.
A few days before Facebook went public, GM rather publicly pulled all of their paid ads from Facebook, basically saying that Facebook advertising doesn’t work. “GM is definitely reassessing our advertising on Facebook, although the content is effective and important,” said Ewanick. Although it seemed like a giant slap in the face to Facebook right before their IPO, we learned that Ewanick wasn’t singling out the social network. In fact, he had also chosen to forgo the Super Bowl in 2013.
So, Ewanick was making big moves, but it doesn’t appear that they payed off. According to those familiar with the matter, it wasn’t the Facebook deal that led to his departure, however.
“[H]e was being removed for failing to properly vet the financial details of a European soccer sponsorship deal that he struck recently,” according to Forbes.
It has been a privilege & honor to work with the GM Team and to be a small part of Detroit’s turnaround. I wish everyone at GM all the best
GM has said that Alan Batey, current VP of U.S. and service, will be the interim Marketing Chief.