Outdoor footwear brand names CMO

Janice Tennat Courtesy Merrell

A brand in Wolverine Worldwide’s portfolio appointed a new chief marketing officer.

Merrell, an outdoor footwear brand of Rockford-based Wolverine, said it promoted Janice Tennant to the role in April, and her first day was last week. She reports to Chris Hufnagel, Merrell’s global brand president, and joins the brand’s senior leadership team.

Tennant will lead Merrell’s global marketing efforts, executing strategies to advance the brand’s purpose of “sharing the simple power of being outside” and driving long-term growth for the brand around the world.

“I couldn’t be happier to have Janice on the team,” Hufnagel said. “She’s a thoughtful, consumer-centric and strategic marketer, but perhaps most importantly, she’s a builder and leader of exceptional teams. As Merrell enters its 40th year, Janice is the perfect person to help write the next chapter in our story.”

Tennant has more than 18 years of global brand-building experience, most recently serving as CMO for Cat Footwear, another Wolverine Worldwide brand that is global footwear licensee of Caterpillar Inc.

She helped lead the brand through a successful repositioning, contributing to all-time record revenue in 2019 through coordinated global product launches, integrated marketing campaigns and a pivot to a “digital-direct offense.”

Prior to Cat Footwear, Tennant was a director of marketing at Kimberly-Clark and PepsiCo, where she gained experience across brand management, digital marketing, new product development, customer marketing and multicultural marketing areas.

Tennant holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and is a graduate of Queen’s University in Canada with a degree in physical and health education.