Amber Holm: Winnebago Industries’ Brand Marketing Trailblazer

Throughout her career, Amber Holm has dedicated her marketing talents to prominent consumer brands ranging from Cheerios to Firestone. Now, she’s making her mark in the RV industry as Winnebago Industries’ first Chief Marketing Officer.

“I’ve spent my career in brand marketing,” says Amber. “I have a passion for understanding consumers and leveraging insights to create products and services that deliver value for them. Building great consumer brands to drive business growth has been the common thread throughout my career.”

Amber began establishing her marketing skills immediately upon graduating from Yale University with her Bachelor of Arts in History. “After college I worked briefly at Medscape (now part of WebMD) developing health websites, and then I joined General Mills in brand management where I spent several years leading top consumer-packaged goods brands like Cheerios, Lucky Charms, and Pillsbury Dough — iconic brands with which people have strong emotional connections. At General Mills, I developed marketing and general management skills, as well as people skills leading cross-functional teams.” Amber also earned her master’s in business administration from Harvard Business School during this time.

Eventually, Amber became Vice President of Brand Marketing at Bridgestone Americas, one of the world’s largest tire and rubber companies. “At Bridgestone, we had a strong focus on digital marketing across the Bridgestone and Firestone tire brands, so it was a good opportunity to  further enhance my digital marketing skills, including driving engagement, lead generation and conversion.” Bridgestone also introduced her to working with a network of dealers and retailers, a skill she now uses frequently in her role at Winnebago Industries. After gaining further brand management experience as Newell Brands’ Vice President, Brands, Amber ventured into the RV world.

“When the opportunity came to join Winnebago Industries as Chief Marketing Officer, I jumped at the chance!” she says. “We have iconic brands with decades of rich history, like Winnebago and Newmar, as well as newer, trailblazing brands like Grand Design. I was excited for the opportunity to work with teams of passionate people across our business units to accelerate marketing and to build the Winnebago Industries’ corporate brand.”

Her role includes leading enterprise marketing and communications and collaborating with Winnebago Industries’ five premium outdoor brands (Winnebago, Grand Design, Newmar, Chris-Craft, and Barletta) as well as its new technology brand, Lithionics, a lithium-ion battery manufacturer acquired earlier this year. “My team is fortunate to work with the great marketers embedded in each of our businesses. We partner to drive scale and best practices with the ultimate goal to grow our brands and consumer engagement to drive sales and market share.”

Amber, who started her new position a year and a half ago, reflects that this is an “exciting time” to be in the RV space. “While the category has faced some challenges in recent months, we know there is an evergreen, enduring interest in the outdoors. We saw younger consumers enter RVing during the pandemic, and they are now enjoying the lifestyle, using their RVs, and thinking about their next purchases.”

From the perspective of her new role, Amber comments, “RVing is a category for which people are highly passionate. We know the outdoors offers many physical and mental health benefits and the chance to refresh and recharge. RVing also provides a chance to build great memories with family and friends. I’m excited to help introduce more consumers to the benefits that the outdoor recreation industry offers. At Winnebago Industries, our goal is to elevate outdoor experiences with our premium RV and marine products.”  

Amber notes that she shares that enthusiasm for the outdoors personally and professionally. “My family and I enjoy boating and fishing, and we are swiftly becoming experienced RVers. I am fortunate to work in a business with a purpose I believe in.”

In addition, Amber applauded her company’s dedication to understanding its consumer base, as well as its drive for innovation and achievement. “We’re on a journey to continuously use insights to develop products that meet the needs of our consumers,” Amber notes. To that end, Winnebago Industries has had several new consumer-focused launches this year. This includes the Winnebago brand’s Access Travel Trailer, which was displayed at the 2023 Open House and the Hershey RV Show. “The Access has premium features you would expect from a Winnebago at a price point that delivers strong value and encourages more people to get a Winnebago-branded RV. That’s an example of the Winnebago Towables team leveraging insights on what today’s consumers are seeking and bringing forward a product that meets a distinct market need.”

Amber remarks that another of Winnebago Industries’ major initiatives is corporate responsibility. “We’re here to delight our consumers with outstanding products but we also want to do the right thing when it comes to our people and our planet.”

“We’ll be releasing our fifth annual Corporate Responsibility report in December, which is an exciting milestone. With the leadership of our corporate responsibility team, we’ve made solid progress on our sustainability goals, our DEI goals, and our community involvement, increasing community giving over 20x since 2016.” Along those lines, Amber adds that Winnebago Industries partners with organizations such as the National Park Foundation and the Nature Conservancy, as well as facilitates volunteer opportunities in local communities across northern Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, and Florida.

Amber has also recently joined the Go RVing Board of Directors: “Since I joined Winnebago Industries, I’ve experienced the great work of the RV Industry Association. For instance, we leverage their consumer insights data to help build knowledge and empathy with RVers. The Association has done a lot of impactful research around the path to purchase, the consumer experience, and segmentation. I was fortunate to learn from Bill Baker, Karen Redfern, Monika Geraci and other staff members on their team.”

“I was thrilled when the Association asked me to join the Board. Under Karen Redfern’s leadership, the Go RVing campaign has been successful at reaching younger, more diverse consumers. I’m looking forward to the next wave of growth as we ensure that we have the right tools and media in place to reach additional emerging consumer groups. I feel fortunate to play a role on the Board and offer my perspective that I’ve developed throughout my marketing career.”

Amber also reflects on the uniqueness of the Go RVing program itself: “It’s truly an asset that the RV industry has a program like this. I’ve worked across many industries and there are not many examples where competitors come together to drive category growth. I think it’s exciting that the RV industry pioneered this approach several years ago and has continued to make it a priority. The outdoors has so many proven benefits and Go RVing introduces people to the fact that RVing is a terrific way to participate in the outdoors.”

As Amber continues delving into her new responsibilities, she’s keeping two ideas at the forefront: “The consumer base is not the same as it used to be. It’s more important than ever to understand their needs and expectations and we’re delighted to have the chance to do that at Winnebago Industries. The other unique part about my job is that our RV and marine sectors can learn from each other in terms of understanding how consumers interact with the outdoors. It’s exciting to work across our family of premium outdoor products.”