What Fiat Chrysler CEO change means for CMO Olivier Francois

Olivier Francois sits shotgun in a Jeep Compass parked in a sun-splashed lot fronting a music studio near West Hollywood. Inside the shiny black SUV, an Apple rep gives the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles marketing chief a demo of CarPlay, the in-dash iPhone digital display. Francois interrupts. “Siri does not speak my language,” the Paris-born executive says, half joking, before being assured that, indeed, Siri can be set to speak French.

But music is the only language that seems to matter to Francois on this late June morning. The Frenchmanknown for selling the American dream in the form of big-budget ads starring Eminem, Clint Eastwood and countless other celebritiesis inside the Warner Music Group studio minutes later announcing his latest star-studded campaign. The ad blitz includes songs from 10 artists, from Alice Cooper to OneRepublic, whose frontman Ryan Tedder is an invited guest at the event, along with entertainment media and music industry execs.

“Each of our brands has its own sound, its own score, its own playlist,” Francois boasts before showing off the ads. The effortwhich plugs free six-month Apple Music streaming subscriptions for buyers of Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Fiat vehiclesis the kind of glitzy Hollywood collaboration in which Francois revels.

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