Will Hamp's PepsiCo tenure help Toyota produce better cupholders?
In the game of musical chairs among top automotive PR executives, an old and once-familiar name has landed a new seat.
Julie Hamp, once a senior public relations manager at General Motors – who unexpectedly left Detroit for the soft drink and snack industry – is making her return. But this time Hamp will be back as the U.S. communications chief for Japanese giant Toyota.
She will replace the retiring Jim Wiseman who spent 23 years at Toyota. Wiseman himself assumed the top communications post with the Asian maker less than two years earlier, right as Toyota suffered one of its most critical setbacks during a half century in the American marketplace. The maker’s problems with quality and safety lapses were followed by last year’s product shortages resulting from the March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
Hamp will start June 25, re-starting her automotive career even as Toyota begins rebuilding from its recent problems. The maker also is in the midst of an extensive new product roll-out, including the next-generation Toyota Avalon – which is the first example of its new-found emphasis on more appealing design.
A graduate of Michigan’s Ferris State University with a post-graduate degree from the Harvard Business School, Hamp was a fast-rising executive within the vast GM PR ranks. Many considered her on a path that might position her to take over the company’s global communications operations when, in a surprise move, she decided to shift gears.
In 2007, Hamp landed as Senior Vice President of Consumer Relations and the Chief Communications Officer of Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo, reporting directly to the snack and soft drink giant’s CEO. Hamp was directly charged with overseeing Pepsi’s sustainable growth program, Performance with Purpose.
That might help her in her new job considering Toyota’s long-standing position as a leader in the automotive “green space.”
In her new post, Hamp will oversee communications for Toyota throughout North America. She will be based in Torrance, California and report to Toyota Motor Sales USA CEO Jim Lentz.
“Julie is a proven communications leader with a wealth of knowledge and experience both inside and outside the automotive industry,” Lentz said. “We are thrilled to have her leading our communications and public relations efforts.”