McDonald’s has poached the CommunicationsCouncil CEO Margaret Zabel. Zabel will take on a newly created VP of marketing role at the food chain and will have a remit for innovation and insight.
Her appointment follows the appointment of Bronwyn Powell last month as senior director of marketing to replace Madeleine Fitzpatrick who left the fast food business in July.
Zabel told AdNews that the opportunity was “unexpected” but too good to turn down. She added that the experience at the organisational will hopefully make her a “better client”.
She has spent three years at the CommsCouncil and has previous experience in both client side and agency side roles. She will continue at CommsCouncil until the end of the year and start with McDonald's in January 2015.
Sudeep Gohil, chair of The Communications Council board, said: “On behalf of our national board and members, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Margaret for her vision, commitment and leadership over the past three years. Her dedication to promoting the value of agencies and raising professional standards has led to some fantastic achievements – the recent delivery of world-class IPA courses to the Australian market is a great example of that. This is an exciting next step for Margaret. We wish her the best and look forward to working with her in a new capacity in the future.”
In a statement, Zabel said: “It has been a privilege to lead The Communications Council and work with our Chair Sudeep Gohil and the Board. It is an important organisation for both members and the industry as it helps establish professional standards, best practice and an effective self-regulatory system. It likewise is important in establishing continuous professional standards for the industry and the partnership with the IPA lays the foundations on a global level. I am grateful to have built a deeper understanding of marketing communications working with advertising agencies and production companies and plan to contribute ongoing to the betterment of our industry.”
Mark Lollback, chief marketing officer at McDonald’s ANZ said: ‘’Margaret joins McDonald’s with a proven track record of developing marketing strategies based on deep customer and consumer insights. Her strong commercial acumen and success in identifying the essence of brands and communicating effectively to targeted consumers makes her a valuable addition to the McDonald’s business.’’
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