Infor has appointed Ashley Hart as its new CMO. She replaces, with immediate effect, Chip Coyle, who has left Infor. The move was clearly sudden and Coyle has not yet updated his social media entries for either LinkedIn or Twitter.
Hart joins as a relative newcomer to the ERP industry though she has previously worked with software companies. She is the founder of Ashley Hart Marketing which she ran for 11 years. She worked closely with global private equity firms especially Insight Venture Partners. Hart has worked with ERP companies such as ECI Software Solutions and several other software brands such as Mimecast, Fourth Software and Workforce Software. She has also worked with Infor in the past. according to her LinkedIn profile.
Phillips clearly felt that a change was needed and that it required a digital marketing expert to lead the charge. He has made several changes to strengthen the leadership team over the last few months, including the appointment of Mayumi Hiramatsu as SVP Cloud Operations.
What does this mean
As an experienced digital marketing expert, she will look to improve both the brand reach and messaging that Infor has. While it has recently grown its cloud business on the back of existing customer upgrades, Phillips clearly feels that the company is ready to make a pitch in the wider market. Its recent successes in retail where it is winning business from its key competitors is an indication of the success that Phillips clearly believes that Infor can have.
Hart has a wide range of experience which includes the gaming industry, often at the forefront of innovation in Marketing. As she already has experience and knowledge of Infor it may not take long for the impact of her appointment to take effect.
Will Infor increase Marketing spend in 2018. It is unlikely that Hart will have been lured away from her successful practise without some kind of commitment to grow the marketing function. Infor has improved its brand positioning over the last few years, most recently sponsoring the Brooklyn Nets. Where will Hart take them next?
