• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 6, 2009

NEW ORLEANS - Word broke at the American Association of Advertising Agencies media conference here that Mary Carpenter has quietly been named president of Starcom USA. Carpenter, who has been with GM Planworks and its successor operations for eight years, is one of four presidents reporting to CEO John Muzynski.

Carpenter joined GM Planworks, a Starcom MediaVest Group standalone unit in Detroit, when it was launched in 2000. SMG disbanded the group last year and melded the GM buying and planning business into its wider operations.

Most recently, Carpenter was chief of strategy and operations on the GM account. In 2004, she became executive vice president and COO of GM Planworks, after holding the position of director of operations.

Carpenter joins Chris Boothe, Steve Berger and Kathy Ring as Starcom president.