MINNEAPOLIS — Ivan Pollard has been named global chief marketing officer for General Mills, Inc., effective July 10. Mr. Pollard’s appointment is part of a new global organizational structure unveiled in December 2016 by General Mills to streamline the company’s leadership, maximize global scale and increase operational agility.
In his new role, Mr. Pollard will be responsible for establishing the company’s first global marketing and media planning function as well as for marketing strategies, connections planning, and building organizational capabilities globally. He will report to Jeff Harmening, chief executive officer.
Mr. Pollard most recently was senior vice-president of strategic marketing for Coca-Cola North America. While at Coca-Cola, he instituted new data driven approaches to connections planning, management of digital platforms, media, sponsorships and content creation.
Prior to joining Coca-Cola, he was a global partner in Naked Communications and earlier held positions at global agencies such as BMP (now DDB Needham) and Wieden+Kennedy.
He received a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of Nottingham.
“Ivan’s diverse global experience brings us a fresh perspective on our brands and a deep understanding of how to operationalize integrated, modern marketing in the digital age,” Mr. Harmening said. “We have tremendous opportunities to unlock global growth by improving the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and our teams are eager to build on the work they have started.”
