E-commerce/Consumer Engagement and Product Experts to Build Upon Company’s Legacy in Innovative Digital Marketing Products
AutoWeb, Inc., an automotive matchmaking platform connecting in-market car shoppers to their preferred vehicle transactions, has appointed Scott Edwards as senior vice president, digital marketing operations. In this new role, he will be responsible for creating, implementing and optimizing AutoWeb’s search engine marketing, digital marketing, lead operations and digital advertising solutions. Edwards’ appointment to the new position is effective today.
AutoWeb has also promoted Brett Nanigian from his current role to senior vice president, product and technology. In addition to leading the Product and Engineering teams, he will take on leadership for the remaining Technology function within the company.
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“We are excited about the fresh perspective and entrepreneurial approach that Scott brings to this important position, and the outstanding job Brett has done leading our product innovation,” said Dan Ingle, COO of AutoWeb. “As we continue to enhance our solutions for today’s evolving automotive market, we expect their combined expertise to build upon AutoWeb’s legacy of digital marketing products and align our capabilities with the company’s expansion into vehicle acquisition.”
Edwards brings over a decade of experience in e-commerce products and digital marketing working with both automotive and consumer-facing brands. He most recently served as vice president, product and growth marketing at Vokal, a digital and growth consultancy focused on the full product lifecycle from innovation to optimization and scale. As part of the executive leadership team there, he led and had responsibility for the profit and loss (P&L) for the organization—including product, growth marketing, design and engineering—and implemented new testing methodologies to expand its growth potential.
Edwards also brings with him highly relevant experience in the automotive industry, having served as director of digital marketing and product at Detroit Trading Co., where he worked with Fortune 500 automotive companies to deliver digital first solutions, while optimizing the sales funnel, decreasing cost per sale and expanding revenue generation. He has held additional digital marketing leadership positions at Gordon Food Service, GrowLife, Inc. and SM Administrators.
Nanigian joined AutoWeb in 2019 as vice president, product, and is responsible for the strategic direction, ideation, design, development and enhancement of AutoWeb’s product portfolio—with a focus on speed to market and making sound product investments that support growth. Prior to AutoWeb, he spent more than a decade in leadership roles at Cox Automotive, where he held various positions directing product and operations strategies. In his most recent role there, he had overall responsibility for the strategy, development and operations of Kelley Blue Book vehicle values and valuation-related products, and implemented operational improvements to its Instant Cash Offer product, a key revenue growth driver. He also spearheaded a number of transformative endeavors to increase monetization for the organization. Prior to his time at Cox Automotive, Nanigian spent nearly a decade in various technology roles for Inforte Corporation and Elan Corporation plc. He began his career working for the Larry H. Miller Dealerships.
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Inducement Options
As an inducement for joining the company, Edwards was granted options to acquire 50,000 shares of the company’s common stock, at an exercise price per share equal to today’s closing price of the common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market. The options will have a term of seven years. One third of the options will vest on the first anniversary of the grant date, and 1/36th of the options shall vest on each successive monthly anniversary of the grant date for the following 24 months. Vesting of the options will accelerate upon a change in control of the company (unless the options are assumed or substituted by a successor entity).
