Meet the Automotive team
Compete's automotive practice is led by automotive veterans who have unmatched automotive industry expertise at companies including, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Nissan North America, R. L. Polk & Co. and Toyota Motor Sales NA.
Practice Leadership
Lincoln Merrihew
Managing Director, Automotive, Petroleum and Travel
Lincoln is a recognized expert in market research and analysis, specializing in automotive, petroleum, travel, and environmental. His 20 years of experience involves deriving business insight from online and offline data while in senior forecasting and business solutions positions with research powerhouses TNS, J.D. Power and Associates, Standard & Poor’s and DRI/McGraw Hill. At Compete, Lincoln oversees automotive and travel professionals in delivering a comprehensive analysis of consumer behavior to help clients achieve their sales, profit and market share goals.
Most recently as SVP Automotive Segment Leader for TNS North American Custom Research, Lincoln oversaw thought leadership and brand building for 15 industries with a focus on automotive, petroleum and travel research after leading the TNS Custom automotive and petroleum verticals. Prior to joining TNS, Lincoln was Managing Director for the Automotive Practice of Compete, Inc. Lincoln also managed his own consulting practice, Stratomotive, served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy, at Automotive Information Center, and was a Director at J.D. Power and Associates.
Lincoln holds a BA from Dickinson College and a MS from Boston University.
Dennis Bulgarelli
Director
Dennis has 25 years of experience in automotive research and strategic planning at some of the top advertising agencies in the US. He has worked extensively with Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation helping to identify positioning and customer strategies that supported the launch of some of the biggest brands in the industry, such as the Ford F-Series, Ford Taurus, Chevy Silverado and Chevy Tahoe. Prior to joining Compete, Dennis was Senior Vice President, Director of Account Planning at Campbell-Ewald where he was responsible for positioning and consumer insights for all Chevrolet Truck brands. He has also worked at J. Walter Thompson where he worked closely with future product planning teams to understand customer motivations and acceptance of new vehicle models.
Dennis holds BA and MA degrees from Michigan State University.
Jackie O'Dowd
Director
Jackie has ten years of experience in market research and consulting at top firms across the US. She has worked extensively with world class brands such as Dunkin Donuts, Masterfoods, Sesame Street, and Unilever to understand consumer attitudes and values and translate them into actionable insights. She has spent the last several years working with key players in the automotive industry including OEMs, 3rd parties, and agencies. Prior to joining Compete, Jackie worked for McKinsey & Company, a premier management consulting firm, where she was responsible for implementing a domestic and international communications audit and executing a core brand strategy across offices. She also worked for Yankelovich, a leader in generational marketing, as a manger in client services.
Jackie holds a BA in Managerial Economics from Bentley College and a Master’s from Northwestern.
Skip Streets
Executive Director, Sales
Skip has nearly 20 years of experience in the automotive industry including product planning, marketing and research. His five year tenure at Compete includes establishing research and competitive intelligence services relationships with automotive OEM’s and agencies. Skip has also championed the development of joint products with J.D. Power and Associates to link online behaviors with offline vehicle purchases. Prior to joining Compete, Skip held senior management positions in Sales and Business Development at Chrome Systems, JATO Dynamics and Precision Dynamics. Skip started his automotive career with Nissan North America and TBWA\Chiat\Day helping to identify consumer needs, positioning vehicles and developing communication strategies that supported the launch of the Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Quest, and Infiniti I30.
Skip’s hobbies include mounting biking, snow skiing, and vintage race cars.
Skip holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an International MBA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.