GM hires CVS executive Norm de Greve as marketing chief

General Motors has hired CVS Chief Marketing Officer Norm de Greve as its top marketer, replacing Deborah Wahl, who parted ways with the automaker in March. De Greve will serve as GM’s senior VP and CMO beginning July 31, reporting to GM President Mark Reuss.

“Norm is an experienced marketing leader with a proven track record of building brands and supporting business growth in a digital world,” Reuss said in a statement Tuesday. “His broad background, including time spent at Digitas working with GM, is the perfect fit as we continue our technology-driven transformation.”

At CVS since 2015, de Greve has been known as a champion of purpose-related marketing. He joined the drugstore chain shortly after it announced it would no longer sell tobacco-related products in 2014. It was the first retailer to make such a change to its product lineup. 

Afterward, de Greve shepherded the chain through its marketing regarding the stance, including its 2019 announcement that it will no longer work with ad agencies that count a tobacco brand as a client. De Greve also spearheaded a host of initiatives, including the retailer’s Beauty Mark campaign to only show non-altered imagery in its marketing. More recently, CVS tackled image insecurity among young adults due to influencers and social media with a “Role Model” campaign.

Two years ago, CVS hired Michelle Peluso from IBM as chief customer officer, overseeing marketing.

In its announcement, GM praised de Greve for transforming CVS “from America’s corner drug store to the largest consumer health care company in the country, moving it to sixth place on the Fortune 500.” 

Wahl left GM after a five-year tenure, including serving as global CMO beginning in 2019. While Wahl had extensive automotive experience before coming to GM, de Greve is more of an outsider — although he did spend multiple years working on digital marketing for GM while employed by Digitas, where he worked from 2001 to 2014, as pointed out in GM’s announcement.

Like most automakers, GM is dealing with rapid changes in the automotive industry, including making massive investments in electric vehicles while managing economic conditions including rising interest rates. GM was able to maintain its position as U.S. sales leader at the year’s mid-point, according to Automotive News, as it widened its lead over second-place Toyota.