Manulife Financial appointed Gretchen Garrigues executive vice president and global chief marketing officer. Garrigues will be responsible for Manulife’s global marketing and communications, focusing on global branding as well as ensuring that marketing strategies and the customer experience support global business growth.  In this role, she will serve as a member of Manulife’s executive committee, head of the global marketing leadership team. She will report to Paul Rooney, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer.

“We have embarked on a strategy that is far more customer-focused, which requires a senior leader who can build marketing capabilities in the organization and drive the development of a customer-centric culture across all functions,” Rooney said. “Gretchen’s deep understanding of marketing, particularly in the areas of brand development, digital and analytics, coupled with her strong financial acumen, make her a great fit to drive Manulife’s customer-centric strategy.”

Garrigues joins Manulife following her recent role as First Data’s global chief marketing officer where she led marketing efforts to deliver on First Data’s 2015 IPO and was responsible for strengthening its brand, growing demand for its products and supporting its sales organization with digital tools to drive revenue.

She also has a financial services background and leadership skills developed throughout a long career with GE Capital. Joining GE Capital in 1997 in the firm’s Paris office, Garrigues’ tenure at GE spanned 16 years during which she held marketing leadership positions of increasing responsibility across a wide array of financial products and services, ranging from consumer finance, credit cards and private equity to equipment financing, commercial leasing and structured corporate lending.

Prior to joining GE Capital, Garrigues served as a foreign trade officer for the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service based in Paris.

Manulife Financial is an international financial services group operating as John Hancock in the U.S. and Manulife elsewhere.