YCA Names Guzman as Director of Its In-house Creative Agency

Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) announced that Michelle Guzman has joined the company as director of Studio 60, the company’s in-house creative agency for Yamaha musical instruments and audio/visual products. Guzman reports directly to Matt Searfus, vice president of marketing at YCA.

“With more than 20-years of experience in managing leading global advertising and marketing accounts, Michelle has the exact skill set we were looking for,” Searfus said. “She is a proven collaborator with an enviable track record of successful campaigns and we are excited to have her on our team.”

Before joining Yamaha, Guzman was the senior account director of retail and CRM at Spark44, where she was the client lead on Jaguar Land Rover retail marketing campaigns and initiatives. She was employee #17 in the Los Angeles office, which has grown to more than 1,000 people with offices across 19 countries. During her tenure there, she helped build and establish the retail team as well as develop standard operating procedures for increased efficiency in North America. Additionally, Michelle orchestrated the launch and training for a global dealer web portal in the U.S. and executed a Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) tool for Jaguar retailer ad groups, which resulted in digital creative going to market up to five days sooner—a 50 percent time savings.

Prior to that, she was an account lead at two Los Angeles based advertising agencies: Siltanen & Partners, and Dentsu Next for American Suzuki Motor Corporation. Guzman led cross-channel integrated campaigns and also

spearheaded the website development of a new ad planner tool. The new site resulted in an impressive 150 percent increase in usage by Suzuki dealers within the first 3- months of launch. She has also worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and Point 360 for clients including Toyota, Yonex Shoes, Sharp Solar, Procter & Gamble and Pizza Hut.

While much of Guzman’s experience has been in the automotive industry, she noted that the music business model is actually quite similar as both wholesale to dealers and have entry level and premium products.

“To set something up for success in any field, you must have the right ingredients: a solid strategy, a strong team, and a sense of purpose,” notes Guzman. “Everyone at Yamaha shares a passion for their products and it is inspiring to see this common purpose. I am looking forward to being part of that purpose with my new team.”

Guzman graduated from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Outside of work, she enjoys advocating for Alzheimer’s, traveling, cooking and spending time with her husband and their two children. Michelle is also an avid concert goer and enjoys many genres of music.