J Allard to Become Zune's VP-Marketing

Microsoft said the Zune’s vice-president, Bryan Lee, will retire in the next few weeks and be replaced by J Allard, the technologist behind the Zune’s design and development.

In a statement released today, Microsoft said that Bryan Lee had been in charge of the Zune’s business development and marketing and Allard will take over those tasks.

Are we going to see a shift in the Zune marketing strategy? It’s probable but certainly not in the short term. The next big marketing campaign will probably be for the next holiday season. This gives Allard plenty of time to put in place his vision of the Zune marketing. Bye-bye “Welcome to the Social”?

Allard is 38 years old and also served as an Xbox vice president and is known at the company for a 1993 memo that alerted Chairman Bill Gates to the importance of the Internet. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer also identified Allard as one of a handful of technologists who will help fill the void left by Gates.

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