The brand Cadillac is almost synonymous with the Black community. As one of the longest surviving brands in automotive history, it’s not by accident either. With a commitment to diversity and a reputation for excellence in automotive engineering, design and driving experience, it’s no surprise that their talent would be equally as impressive.
In one of the years’ biggest power plays, General Motors announced on Monday that marketing exec Juanita Slappy has been appointed to lead multicultural marketing for the Cadillac brand. “I’m excited to drive impact and build upon the legacy of an iconic brand and further integrate within the culture,” says Juanita Slappy. “Building community has always been at the heart of what I’ve done and who I am.”
In her newly appointed role, Slappy will lead efforts to drive measurable business results amongst the brand’s rapidly growing core multicultural audiences. Diversity is at the core of Slappy’s work across communications, too. She joined GM in 2017 supporting Diversity Brand Communications, and then later became a project manager in Program Operations, managing key reveal and launch events for GM brand, Cadillac, Buick, GMC and Chevrolet.
Continuing her family legacy, Slappy is a 2nd generation employee. Her maternal grandfather, Ernest Sanders, worked for 36 years, spending most of his career at the Hamtramck plant, now called Factory ZERO. “My family told me I could do and be anything,” she says. I’m honored to continue my family legacy in the auto industry.”
The Hampton University graduate has more than a decade of multicultural marketing and communications experience serving in leadership capacities at two of North America’s premier multicultural agencies. Before joining GM, she directed Ford and Lincoln’s multicultural public relations and experiential efforts via agency alignment with Uniworld Group.
Prior to supporting Ford, she served in various communications capacities via GlobalHue, a full-service multicultural advertising agency, with clients such as FCA (Chrysler), U.S. Navy and Walmart, among others – such as the 2010 Census campaign which MediaWeek recognized as Multicultural Campaign of the Year.