The ADT Corp., a leading company that provides residential and small business electronic securityand other related alarm monitoring, announced the appointment of Jerri DeVard as its senior vice president, chief marketing officer. DeVard, who most recently served as executive vice president, chief marketing officer at Nokia Corp., will report directly to Naren Gursahaney, ADT’s president and CEO. She will assume her post effective March 31, 2014.
In her new role, DeVard will lead ADT’s marketing efforts across the Residential, Small Business, and Health business units. She will oversee all strategic, operational and financial aspects of the company’s integrated marketing programs, including brand advertising, digital marketing, communications, lead generation, sponsorships, and other initiatives.
Before joining ADT, DeVard served as Nokia’s first chief marketing officer. As a member of Nokia’s executive committee, she oversaw all global and local marketing, advertising, brand management, insights, retail, partnership and sponsorship activities for consumer and small business. Prior to Nokia, DeVard held various marketing leadership positions in Fortune 100 organizations including the roles of senior vice president, marketing and brand management for Verizon Communications; and chief marketing officer, e-consumer for Citigroup.
“Jerri has tremendous experience building and leading world-class consumer brands, and has a great reputation for harnessing creativity and innovation to drive growth,†said Gursahaney. He added, “I’m counting on Jerri to build on ADT’s industry leadership position in home and business automation, and make our brand relevant for the next generation of ADT customers.â€
DeVard holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Atlanta University Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Spelman College. In 2005 she was named among the Black Enterprise 75 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America and in 2006 she was recognized among the Black Enterprise 50 Most Powerful Black Women in Business.