Mich Mathews, head of Microsoft marketing, has stepped down after 18 years of employment, the trade paper Ad Age reported on Wednesday.
She plans to leave within the next 5 months and will help Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer find her replacement.
“Frankly it’s time to do something new,” she told the trade paper.
As the senior vice president for the Microsoft’s Central Marketing Group, Mathews managed the company’s marketing efforts, overseeing the company’s branding, advertising, public relations, research, events, packaging, relationship marketing and internal communications functions.
Mathews worked up through the ranks of Microsoft’s communication team. She began consulting for the company’s U.K. branch in 1989, and joined the company in 1993, to lead corporate public relations. In 2009, Ad Age included her in a compilation of the world’s most influential marketing executives, citing her work with the Bing search engine and the “I’m a PC” ad campaign.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab’s e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com