Veteran Jonathan Hall has served as chief marketing officer at Chief Outsiders, SharkNinja, and Whirlpool Corporation. Courtesy | LinkedIn

A new vice president of marketing will come to Hillsdale College in January, College President Larry Arnn announced at fall convocation Nov. 14. 

“The VP of marketing is responsible for promoting the mission of the college and finding new people to learn with the college,” Kyle Murnen, chief staff officer to the president, said in an email.

Jonathan Hall, who will fill the marketing position, currently resides in Stevensville, Michigan. He has served as chief marketing officer at Chief Outsiders, SharkNinja, and Whirlpool Corporation, he said in an email. Hall founded and now owns Core Power Marketing, a marketing strategy business. He is a former military officer in the Army and served two combat deployments. 

Hall said an executive recruiter informed him of the Hillsdale marketing position opening this summer, and that the college’s mission parallels the Army’s service he so admired.

“After meeting so many great people and learning about the mission it felt like a ‘calling’ to me that harkened back to the service-oriented purpose I experienced when I served in the Army,” Hall said. “I am so excited about the potential for this brand to become the ‘most trusted’ education brand in America and beyond. The foundations the brand has been built on since 1844 are real and have the potential to do so much good in the world, for tens of millions of people.” 

Hall also worked for Kraft Foods and taught as an adjunct professor for MBA programs at the University of Notre Dame and Rice University. 

“I am passionate about helping, teaching, and learning from students,” he said. 

Hall said he hopes to involve students and the college community in marketing and is focused on developing relationships at the college.

“Perhaps there is an opportunity to deeply include students in the process of modernizing the brand to become the most trusted education brand in America,” Hall said.

Hall said he is familiar with Hillsdale College through various friends and Imprimis, which he has been reading since 2007.

Hall is currently working part time for Hillsdale and will begin his full-time position at the beginning of January, according to Murnen. 

The former Vice President of Marketing Bill Gray now serves as vice president for institutional advancement alongside Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement John Cervini.

“The role affords me the chance to serve and support the college’s mission by building strong relationships with our donors, both individually and at scale, and the opportunity to learn from a true fundraising legend, John Cervini, who has served in the role for 50 years,” Gray said. “It’s similar in that a love for the college, an understanding of its programs and how they fit together, and a true desire to see the college grow and thrive is vital.”

Gray said his new institutional advancement position allows him to engage with donors on an individual basis. 

“Hillsdale’s donors are some of the best, most generous people I’ve had the chance to meet, and I’m looking forward to getting to know even more of them,” Gray said. 

Gray said he met Hall during his visit to campus for an interview. 

“I was looking for someone that had a strong marketing background with experience building and expanding well-known brands, as well as a collaborative, open-minded person who would be able to fit into Hillsdale’s culture,” Gray said.

Gray said the VP of marketing must lead well and support other departments through marketing strategy, planning, and execution, with the goal of increasing the college’s audience and reception. He said the VP must understand the college’s mission, be a good learner, and a good listener. 

“The VP of marketing must possess an ability to translate the college’s brand to audiences in a way that helps create deeper relationships, fosters community among them, and ideally generates commerce that will help the college ‘secure the conditions of its own survival and independence,’” Gray said. 

Murnen said Hall fits the character and qualifications the college wants. 

“A good VP of marketing needs to love the mission of the college, be a great teammate and problem solver, and be relentless and creative in marketing the college,” Murnen said. “Jon really possesses these attributes, and we’re very excited for him to join the college.”