MBUSA Vice President as Honored Guest

The Mercedes-Benz Club of America  just completed its Fall 2010 National Board Meeting with Steve Cannon, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA, as our guest speaker.

In his role with MBUSA, Steve, who became vice president in June 2007, has overall responsibility for marketing communications, market research, and product management of the Mercedes-Benz and Maybach brands in the United States and reports directly to Ernst Lieb, president and CEO of MBUSA.
Steve graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served as a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger and as a first lieutenant in West Germany during the fall of the Iron Curtain.
During his presentation, Steve captured the audience with a history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and a preview of the new models, many not yet seen by the public. Sales of the brand continue to break records.
In addition to Steve, we were honored at our meeting to welcome Adam Paige, department manager of national brand public relations at MBUSA and a key member of Steve’s team. Adam is the point man for MBCA in its dealings with MBUSA.
The MBCA Board Meeting featured a key presenter, Lisa Juhl, our director of marketing. Lisa unveiled marketing, membership, and public relations proposals for MBCA in 2011. Her plan is built around a new awareness campaign, “Beyond Ownership, Membership,” which is designed to cast a wider net to appeal to hundreds of thousands of prospective Mercedes-Benz Club members (Mercedes-Benz car owners) in North America. As 2010 year-end numbers are tallied, MBUSA will have sold approximately 225,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada. Our MBCA member count of approximately 20,000 reveals that there are more than 200,000 brand owners who have yet to learn about our club. How we get the word out and encourage them to join will be detailed in upcoming issues of The Star.
The 2011 election was held, and the National Officers are yours truly as president; Steve Dierks, vice president; Laura Simonds, treasurer; and Mary Alice Cozza, secretary. Newly elected to the Board as directors at large are Josie Lesler and William Hopper. I’m sure you join me in thanking them for accepting these positions and devoting their time to meeting the challenges of your club.
Have fun!

Rodger