One day after AdAge broke the news that Microsoft marketing chief Mich Mathews was leaving the company, All Things Digital has word that her counterpart at Apple also is moving on. So, whose resignation should we look for tomorrow?
In any case, here are the internal email announcements about Mathews’ departure, from Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner and Mathews herself. There’s nothing wild in the text—they’re very standard examples of the species—but Turner does provide some interesting context to Mathews’ 22-year run with Microsoft: “Mich started with Microsoft U.K. when we had only 4,000 employees globally and sales of about $800 million.”
True to her marketing background, Mathews puts it a little more conversationally: “I started here when Microsoft was the new, new thing and saw the company grow from its early success to the major global force in technology it is today.”
And since it’s big news, of course they slapped the blandest possible subject line on the email: “Announcement.”
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From: Kevin Turner
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 6:33 PM
To: WW Sales, Marketing & Services Group; All FTE Worldwide Marketers
Subject: Announcement
After 22 years of dedicated and highly successful service to Microsoft, Mich Mathews has made the decision to retire from Microsoft, effective at the end of the summer. It is hard to capture in email the many contributions Mich has made to the company in this time – she has been an integral part in helping build and maintain some of the greatest brands in the world, and has helped evolve our marketing capacity in times of incredible change in the communications field.
Mich started with Microsoft U.K. when we had only 4,000 employees globally and sales of about $800 million. She came to the U.S. when she was asked to start Microsoft’s first corporate PR department. In that and subsequent roles she helped shape and build our brand from those early days right up until today, making it one of the most powerful and admired brands in the world.
She helped the company through good times and through the more difficult days with her winning ways and innovative methods, earning the respect of Billg and Steveb, who asked her to head central marketing at our company.
As Chief Marketing Officer, she has helped launch multiple versions of Windows along with hundreds of other successful products. She built a global marketing machine able to communicate
