Marc Burns moves to Chief Marketing Officer and Matt Teshera joins as SVP Marketing, requiring strategic refresh of employee recognition and stakeholder-facing branded infrastructure.
Published September 17, 2026Source HagertyFrom the chopped neck
Marc Burns moves to Chief Marketing Officer and Matt Teshera joins as SVP Marketing, requiring strategic refresh of employee recognition and stakeholder-facing branded infrastructure.
Hagerty, the automotive services and community platform, has elevated Marc Burns to Chief Marketing Officer and appointed Matt Teshera as Senior Vice President of Marketing. The dual promotion signals a deliberate reorganization of how the brand speaks to internal staff, dealer networks, and high-net-worth collectors who form its core audience. For a company that builds its reputation on precision, heritage, and trust—particularly among single-family office principals evaluating alternative asset managers—leadership transitions of this scale demand immediate attention to the physical and symbolic infrastructure that supports them.
What the moves signal for brand presence
Marketing leadership promotions at this tier typically precede broader refresh cycles. Burns and Teshera inherit a brand architecture built during a different competitive moment. The collector car market has matured. Hagerty's audience now expects not just clarity on services, but consistency in how leadership presence is carried through employee recognition programs, client-facing materials, dealer collateral, and the objects kept in boardrooms and offices. When a CMO steps into role, stakeholders—particularly those who invest in heritage businesses—read the physical environment first. Outdated branded objects send the opposite signal from what Burns and Teshera intend to build.
Where the identity infrastructure needs work
Most organizations inherit collateral systems designed for previous marketing leadership. Business cards, branded notebooks, recognition pieces for top performers, dealer gifts, and boardroom accessories often drift into inconsistency. The transition window is precisely when this becomes visible. A new CMO moving into role finds 18 months to establish how the brand appears physically before stakeholder perception hardens. For a company serving collectors and high-net-worth operators, the production quality and design discipline of every object imprinted with the Hagerty mark reflects on business judgment itself. Substandard branded objects—cheap stock items, dated aesthetic, misaligned messaging—actively work against credibility.
What experienced operators do now
The window between leadership appointment and full strategy rollout is 90 to 180 days. Procurement teams, chiefs of staff, and brand officers who move fast in this moment establish the foundation that the new CMO will build upon, not fight against. This means conducting an audit of all active branded objects currently in circulation: employee recognition pieces, client gifts, event collateral, dealer materials, and internal communication tools. It means defining what stays, what gets produced under new guidelines, and what objects will carry the Burns-Teshera era forward. Companies that wait until the new CMO's strategy is complete often discover they've missed the moment to influence it. The objects that will represent Hagerty through 2026 and beyond are decided now, not six months from now. Houses that specialize in this work keep operators from manufacturing pieces that contradict the new direction.
This is how the branded identity infrastructure either accelerates credibility or compounds confusion. The way this gets handled will define how both internal teams and collector-class stakeholders perceive leadership intention.
Questions buyers ask
What should we audit when marketing leadership changes
Conduct immediate inventory of all active branded objects: business cards, recognition pieces, client gifts, event collateral, dealer materials, and internal communication tools. Assess design consistency, production quality, and alignment with emerging leadership direction. Identify what requires replacement in the next 90 days.
How long is the window to influence new CMO direction
Typically 90 to 180 days between appointment and full strategy deployment. Operators who move in this window establish foundational branded infrastructure the CMO will build upon rather than fight against. Delay past this window and you're retrofitting decisions already made.
Why do branded objects matter when leadership changes
For heritage businesses and high-net-worth audiences, physical branded materials are read as evidence of organizational discipline and judgment. Outdated or inconsistent objects actively undermine credibility. New leadership inherits or rebuilds this layer immediately through what stakeholders see, touch, and keep.
Editorial & Disclosure Notice: This article was written with artificial intelligence from public sources and is published without individual human review. Artificial intelligence and other digital tools are also used for research, analysis, editing, formatting, and production. Errors, omissions, outdated information, or inaccuracies may occur. References to companies, brands, products, services, organizations, or individuals are for informational and editorial purposes and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, partnership, or approval unless expressly stated. All trademarks and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective owners. Opinions, analysis, estimates, and commentary are informational only and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, tax, medical, procurement, or other professional advice. Information may be corrected, clarified, or updated after publication. Corrections or removal requests: jenny@pops4.com.
TikTok / Reels hook
"When your CMO gets promoted, your branded objects become the first thing collectors notice. What's your audit window."
LinkedIn post
Hagerty moves Marc Burns to CMO and Matt Teshera to SVP Marketing—a signal that marketing infrastructure gets rebuilt from the ground up. Heritage businesses know this: what stakeholders see, touch, and keep matters more than what gets said. How are you auditing your branded presence in the leadership transition window.
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