New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Yamaha Corporation of
America (YCA) announced that Michelle Guzman has joined the company as director of Studio 60, the company's in-house creative agency for Yamaha musical instruments and audio/visual products. Guzman reports directly to Matt Searfus, vice president of marketing at YCA.
"With more than 20-years of experience in managing leading global advertising and marketing accounts, Michelle has the exact skill set we were looking for," Searfus said. "She is a proven collaborator with an enviable track record of successful campaigns and we are excited to have her on our team."
Before joining Yamaha, Guzman was the senior account director of retail and CRM at Spark44, where she was the client lead on Jaguar Land Rover retail marketing campaigns and initiatives. She was employee #17 in the Los Angeles office, which has grown to more than 1,000 people with offices across 19 countries. During her tenure there, she helped build and establish the retail team as well as develop standard operating procedures for increased efficiency in North America. Additionally, Michelle orchestrated the launch and training for a global dealer web portal in the U.S. and executed a Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) tool for Jaguar retailer ad groups, which resulted in digital creative going to market up to five days sooner—a 50 percent time savings.
Prior to that, she was an account lead at two Los Angeles based advertising agencies: Siltanen & Partners, and Dentsu Next for American Suzuki Motor Corporation. Guzman led cross-channel integrated campaigns and also spearheaded the website development of a new ad planner tool. The new site resulted in an impressive 150 percent increase in usage by Suzuki dealers within the first 3- months of launch. She has also worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and Point 360 for clients including Toyota, Yonex Shoes, Sharp Solar, Procter & Gamble and
Pizza Hut.
While much of Guzman's experience has been in the automotive industry, she noted that the music business model is actually quite similar as both wholesale to dealers and have entry level and premium products.
"To set something up for success in any field, you must have the right ingredients: a solid strategy, a strong team, and a sense of purpose," notes Guzman. "Everyone at Yamaha shares a passion for their products and it is inspiring to see this common purpose. I am looking forward to being part of that purpose with my new team."
Guzman graduated from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Outside of work, she enjoys advocating for Alzheimer's, traveling, cooking and spending time with her husband and their two children. Michelle is also an avid concert goer and enjoys many genres of music.
For more information about Yamaha Corporation of America, visit usa.yamaha.com
About Yamaha
Yamaha Corporation of
America (YCA) is one of the largest subsidiaries of Yamaha Corporation, Japan and offers a full line of award-winning musical instruments, sound reinforcement, commercial installation and home entertainment products to the U.S. market. Products include: Yamaha acoustic, digital and hybrid pianos, portable keyboards, guitars, acoustic and electronic drums, band and orchestral instruments, marching percussion products, synthesizers, professional digital and analog audio equipment, Steinberg recording products and NEXO commercial audio products, as well as AV receivers, amplifiers, MusicCast wireless multiroom audio systems, Blu-ray/CD players, earphones, headphones, home-theater-in-a-box systems, sound bars and its exclusive line of
Digital Sound Projectors. YCA markets innovative, finely crafted technology and entertainment products and musical instruments targeted to the hobbyist, education, worship, music, professional audio installation and consumer markets.
