Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Global esports organization Galaxy Racer (GXR) has appointed Allan Phang, former regional head of marketing and PR of professional esports company EVOS Esports, to now assume the role of chief marketing officer. 

Galaxy Racer holds a roster of eleven esports teams in various online battle games such as Legends, Dota 2, CS: GO, and Fortnite, as well as PUBG Mobile, and Free Fire. It has over 60 male and female esports athletes from 22 countries, with over 20 content creators across the Middle East North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia (SEA).

The organization said that Phang’s leadership appointment aims to lead the development of best-in-class strategic marketing plans to establish GXR’s brand presence on a global scale. She will be handling the organization’s marketing initiatives from social media and digital campaigns to advertising, partnerships, and creative projects.

Aside from previously working at EVOS Esports, Phang also worked at AirAsia for close to seven years and his roles included being the head of esports, leading as well in the areas regional marketing, ancillary income, employee engagement, as well as internal branding, corporate culture, partnerships, and business development. Most recently, he led the airline’s esports strategic initiatives including the AirAsia Allstars Esports Club, sponsorship activation for Mineski Dota 2 Esports Team, and the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) by Alisports, the sports arm of Alibaba Group. 

“I believe Galaxy Racer is on the right path to be a market leader in this space with their integrated 360 approaches focusing on content and lifestyle, as brands and marketers begin to understand the true value of esports and gaming in connecting with the hard-to-reach demographics of Millennials, Gen Z Digital Natives and Gen Alphas,” said Phang.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Racer’s CEO Paul Roy commented that Phang is a highly experienced business leader with a proven track record, including his vast knowledge and network in the esports ecosystem, which they value immensely. 

“As Galaxy Racer evolves into a lifestyle brand, I am confident with his cross-cultural leadership qualities, passion for innovative marketing, and forward-thinking mindset, he will be able to take us to the next level as we aggressively continue our global expansion across continents,” said Roy.

Galaxy Racer has also announced that it has recently brought onboard Guenther Hake, the senior vice president and general manager of Disney Consumer Products in Greater China and CEO at Oriental DreamWorks. Hake will be assisting in an advisory role with GXR’s brand partnerships, consumer products, apparel, and merchandising endeavors.

New York, United States – Global cloud-based marketing technology company, Zeta, has appointed Crystal Eastman to be its first-ever chief marketing officer.

Zeta, which has a presence in the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom, as well as India, among others, offers its platform and data to empower consumer brands to acquire, grow, and retain their customers at a low cost.

The company said that the new leadership is in line with its strategy to drive the executive team for Zeta’s next phase of growth.

As the first CMO at Zeta, Eastman will be responsible for global marketing strategy and execution, including brand activation, performance marketing, corporate communications, public relations, and events and sponsorships, as well as client engagement, and Zeta’s employer brand.

Before joining Zeta, Eastman was the head of global marketing at technology firm The Trade Desk, where she was responsible for global go-to-market activities, including product marketing, sponsorships, and events, as well as global campaign activation. She has also held numerous senior marketing positions throughout her career, including leadership stints at brands American Express and BlackRock.

“It is an honor to join this talented and accomplished executive team at such an exciting time in the company’s journey. I look forward to helping marketers across the globe unleash their full potential by taking advantage of Zeta’s advanced identity solution, leading-edge audience insights, and uniquely integrated omni channel activation opportunities,” said Eastman herself.

Meanwhile, Zeta’s Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO David A. Steinberg commented that they are thrilled to have Eastman join the executive team, as she has an impressive, proven track record in growing data-driven and digital businesses, with deep expertise in all aspects of marketing. 

“Under her leadership, we will continue to deepen our understanding of our customers’ evolving needs, continuously innovate our product offerings and how we deliver them, and scale our growth ambitions by introducing Zeta to the next generation of marketers. Crystal joins an expanding, diverse executive team that brings the collective experience and leadership abilities needed to accelerate our growth agenda,” said Steinberg.

Australia – Pizza brand Domino’s has appointed Adam Ballesty, former general manager at beverage company Seedlip APAC, to be the new chief marketing officer for its operations in Australia and New Zealand. The appointment will take effect on 2 August 2021.

Ballesty takes over Allan Collins who has resigned from the position after almost 15 years.

Ballesty brings with him decades of experience in the industry. Aside from his previous role at Seedlip, Ballesty has also held senior marketing roles with brands including Foxtel, Diageo, and Pacific Brands. He has also managed his own strategy and research business, working on start-ups such as sportswear company Skins and retail company Unistraw.

As the new CMO at Domino’s ANZ, Ballesty will be responsible for all facets of consumer marketing including brand, digital marketing, communications, and product development, as well as leading the development of Domino’s innovation pipeline moving forward. 

In addition, Ballesty will be a member of Domino’s ANZ executive team, working closely with Nick Knight, the CEO of Domino’s ANZ, to continue driving the strategic and creative direction of the brand.

Knight commented that they are excited to have someone of Ballesty’s caliber join Domino’s and are looking forward to the new energy, passion, and direction he will bring to the role as they continue on their journey of growth, improving the customer experience and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. 

“We are confident he will add immense value to the dynamic and innovative marketing team we have here at Domino’s and can’t wait to see what he does in the role,” said Knight.

Australia – Havas Media Group in Australia , the media division of global marketing and communications group Havas, has promoted Francis Coady, former general manager of Havas Sports and Entertainment, to the newly created role of chief marketing officer.

Coady is an entertainment veteran with 20 years of experience working across various industries such as music, film, partnership, and content, as well as media, and marcoms. He has previously established the Havas Sports and Entertainment division, building it into a multimillion dollar-billing operation. Coady has won large-scale clients and produced award-winning campaign work for brands such as Gillette, LG, and Virgin, as well as Red Bull, and Destination NSW, among others.

Prior to joining Havas five years ago, Coady has previously worked as a director at management consultancy firm The Coady Group, where he managed artists including Thirsty Merc and Hi-5. He has also created and spent 13 years producing the Bondi Short Film Festival.

In his new role, Coady will be responsible for all internal and external marketing and communications, and existing client and new business relations. He will also be overseeing creative content media campaigns.

Commenting on his appointment, Coady said, “Our job as marketing professionals is to entertain, engage, and educate. The last five years working at Havas Media have given me the opportunity to bring this philosophy to life, with the support of incredible leadership, a smart, empathetic team, which has fostered a culture that is always focused on doing work with meaning.” 

Meanwhile, Havas Media Group CEO Virginia Hyland shared that Coady has made an outstanding contribution to their business after building the specialist sports and entertainment division from scratch.

“The creation of the CMO position not only recognizes Francis’ exceptional track record over the past five years, but it will also enable us to leverage his broad cross-industry expertise to grow the agency and the strength of our amazing client partnerships,” said Hyland.

A formal announcement on Coady’s internal replacement will be communicated shortly.

Singapore – Global software company Zendesk has announced a new appointment of its chief marketing officer, as well as new executives for its global board.

Alex Constantinople will join the company as chief marketing officer effective on 10 May. Meanwhile, new board members Brandon Gayle and Steve Johnson joined its board of directors, effective 31 March. 

Zendesk’s current CMO Jeff Titterton is expanding his role as chief operating officer for the company.

Constantinople joins Zendesk from marketing agency Outcast as former CEO. She will play a critical role in defining, evolving and aligning Zendesk’s strategy and its overall messaging and positioning in the market, and help the company continue to evolve its unique brand identity.

Speaking on his appointment, Constantinople said, “I’m thrilled to be joining the Zendesk team, and to lead a marketing organization that is known for building and delivering brand experiences their customers love. There’s so much opportunity ahead for the business to keep shaping the future of customer service, particularly as it builds off last year’s $1 billion revenue momentum and history of continued high, long-term growth.”

Meanwhile, Gayle is executive vice president of revenue, brand and communications for Spurs Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. Prior to his current role, he had worked with Facebook and Instagram as director and head of global sports partnerships respectively, and previous stints at Groupon, the New York Jets, and as a consultant at Bain & Company.

Lastly, Johnson is a user experience executive who builds, mentors and coaches creative and diverse organizations that design thoughtful products. He is currently the vice president of user experience at streaming platform Netflix, and prior to this has designed experiences for Electronic Arts, Adobe and LinkedIn. Johnson’s focus on reflecting the unique perspective of a target audience through design will be key as Zendesk continues to expand its business globally.
“As we move into this next growth phase at Zendesk, it is going to be more important that we build a sense of purpose and long-term vision into our product, team, customers, and communities. We’re excited to have Alex join our leadership team, and Brandon and Steve join our board on this journey,” said Mikkel Svane, CEO, chairman and founder of Zendesk.

Global – ECI Software Solutions, a cloud-based business management solutions company, has appointed former chief marketing officer and partner of fractional CMO firm Chief Outsiders, Adrian van Haaften, as its new chief marketing officer.

Van Haaften will be responsible for leading ECI’s global marketing and demand generation strategy, overseeing its execution across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, as well as bringing ECI’s brand vision to life.

Prior to his new position, Van Haaften has led go-to-market and growth strategies for both high-velocity startups and market leaders. He brings with him 20 years of experience driving the growth and expansion of global software companies, to focus mainly on the customer journey to ECI. 

Commenting on his appointment, Van Haaften said that ECI has had tremendous success helping thousands of SMB customers get business done and that he is thrilled to be joining the company at a time when ECI is accelerating its industry leadership and product innovation. 

“I look forward to working with the global marketing team and the entire ECI organization to educate the many industries we serve about ECI’s broad range of market-leading products and our unwavering commitment to the success of our customers,” said van Haaften.

Meanwhile, Trevor Gruenewald, CEO of ECI Software Solutions, said, “Over its history, ECI has grown from a startup to a multinational company serving small and medium businesses around the world, and we’re only getting started. Adrian brings a wealth of strategic experience in driving global expansion and positioning companies for growth, with a broad understanding of what it takes to build successful, market-leading SaaS organizations at scale. We welcome Adrian to the team as we continue our growth journey.”

Boston, USA – Global video solutions Brightcove has announced that a new executive has taken the helm of its marketing – Jennifer Smith as new chief marketing officer (CMO).

Smith is an experienced CMO, where she assumed the role for several companies, most specifically those serving in tech. Most recently, she was chief of marketing at global software company Alfresco Software, where she led the transformation of the firm’s positioning from technology vendor to platform solution provider, managing all aspects of marketing. 

Prior to that, she held the position at tech company Software AG, HR cloud solutions Globoforce, and business applications provider Progress Software. 

In her new role, Smith joins the senior leadership team to lead Brightcove’s marketing functions, including demand generation, product marketing, and marketing communications.

“With the ever-increasing need for companies to digitally improve their customer and employee engagement, video is at a defining moment,” said Jeff Ray, Brightcove’s CEO. 

“As we enter 2021 we continue to see increased demand that we believe will only continue to rise. Jennifer’s vast knowledge, experience, and leadership within the high-tech industry will help expand Brightcove’s presence across global markets,” he added. 

Brightcove serves brands through its suite of video solutions such as video marketing, virtual events, and even video-centered solutions for internal communications of companies. Brightcove has worked with brands Adobe, Johnson & Johnson, and Ford, and is also a proud associate of the Academy Awards, or The Oscars, for one of its platforms Academy Screening Room. 

The new CMO commented, “Brightcove has been an integral part of the video industry for 15 years, having developed award-winning technology used by organizations around the globe.”

Smith added, “As communication continues to evolve and thrive in the digital world, storytelling with video will be even more paramount to companies. I am thrilled to join the Brightcove team as we embark on the next chapter of growth.”

Australia – Rewards platform Cashrewards has appointed Steve Cuda, former general manager for digital, media, and data of Woolworths Supermarkets’ eCommerce and customer loyalty division WooliesX, as its newest Chief Product and Marketing Officer.

The company said that Cuda joins Cashrewards at a time when it is experiencing a significant increase in both membership and engagement as more customers turn to online options to save money.

The platform mainly offers cashback for every customers’ purchase on a broad range of products from tech, health and beauty, alcohol, and sports as well as items on different marketplaces such as Target and eBay.

Cuda started in the Bella Vista-headquartered parent company Woolworths in 2015. Two years after, he was moved to WooliesX where he spearheaded Woolworths’ digital media capabilities, where he introduced data-driven personalization.

Cuda was responsible for Woolworths’ marketing technology capabilities that underpin the company’s personalized omnichannel customer experiences as well as launching numerous products such as the In-Store Rewards Hub, the Everyday Rewards App, and the successful integration of Woolworths’ loyalty card into Apple Wallet.

Cuda also presided over the growth of the company’s loyalty program Everyday Rewards, making it one of the country’s largest, with more than 12 million members.

Prior to joining Woolworths, Cuda was head of membership and marketing at insurance company NRMA.

Cashrewards’ CEO Bernard Wilson said the company’s ability to attract an executive of Cuda’s caliber was a testament to Cashrewards’ progress to date.

“Steve’s proven track record across loyalty, digital marketing and retail is first-class. He has played an instrumental role in establishing a world-class digital and data division at Woolworths to drive extraordinary customer and supplier outcomes along with business growth across both physical and digital banners. Steve has a truly unique mix of marketing acumen, product leadership, and people management skills. He is, without doubt, the perfect person to lead our product and marketing team, and will have an enormous contribution to our business,” said Wilson.

Meanwhile, as he joins the company, Cuda thinks that Cashrewards’ consumer proposition is both compelling and simple, in that it gives people a very easy way to save money with no strings attached.

“From a retailer’s perspective, Cashrewards brings additional sales and customers who are highly engaged because of their experience with Cashrewards. I know the value of a business that can support a genuine three-way win for consumers, brands, and the business itself. Cashrewards is such an opportunity, and I am delighted to join the growing team to continue the positive momentum,” he said.

USA – Social media giant Facebook has named a new chief marketing officer, its vice president for analytics Alex Schultz.

Last August, the news on the resignation of then CMO Antonio Lucio made headlines with Lucio making the announcement on a Facebook post, revealing his desire to focus on advocating for diversity and inclusion.

Just like his predecessor, Schultz took to the platform the official announcement. He said that Lucio left a great team behind as well as some huge shoes for him to fill.

“Gracias, Antonio for being a great friend, colleague, creative leader and voice of experience and wisdom for this company. I am sorry to see you go and grateful for your support through this process,” wrote Schultz.

“You have strengthened our ability to tell meaningful, culturally relevant stories with our family of brands. I hope to build on this and bring my experience in segmentation, targeting, and measurement to bear as we work to reach people more meaningfully through our product,” added Schultz.

https://www.facebook.com/alexschultz/posts/10103824175653500

Schultz has been with Facebook’s analytics team since 2007, where he started as an analyst before eventually rising the ladder to become vice president. Prior to Facebook, he was marketing manager for eCommerce platform eBay.

In the post, Schultz took the liberty to make a deep backtrack of his background. He shared that his expertise has been specially built around direct response online marketing and analytics.

“My background is direct response online marketing and analytics. I did that as a hobby at high school, helped pay for college with it,” shared Schultz.

“I have grown up in online marketing and believe deeply in the economic empowerment it can bring, its ability to show people more tailored, relevant, less annoying ads, and the fact it allows us to serve everyone by offering our products for free,” he added.

Schultz also touched on the growing criticism towards technology and stands firm on Facebook’s positive mission.

“I believe deeply in the good Facebook’s products do. We have all seen it through this pandemic as billions of people have connected with family and friends socially online while staying physically apart and slowing the spread of the virus. At the same time, I think scrutiny of any new technology is appropriate and there are ways we can, and should, improve without losing all the good.

In the concluding statement of his post, the new CMO took the opportunity to reveal that he is “openly gay,” to which he said is something that he “couldn’t say” when he moved to America and joined the industry.

“Facebook is the first place I have felt truly safe to be gay and be open about it. I’m really grateful for that and the fact Mark [Zuckerberg] built a company where that was possible. The bar, of course, keeps raising on this but the difference from [15years ago] when I started out to today, is truly remarkable.”

United States – The incumbent chief marketing officer of Facebook, Antonio Lucio took to their own social media platform the announcement of his resignation, which will be effective Sept. 18. 

Lucio said that his decision to step down was due to his desire to refocus his time on advocating for causes of diversity and inclusion, issues which have demanded greater attention in the past few months in the United States. 

“Given the historical inflection point we are in as a country regarding racial justice, I have decided to dedicate 100% of my time to diversity, inclusion, and equity,” wrote Lucio.

In May, a series of protests for racial justice began in the US when African-American George Floyd was killed by a white police officer during an arrest in Minneapolis city. 

Lucio said, “‘Although these issues have been core to my personal purpose for many years, and they were an important element of my work, I want to make them my sole focus.” 

Come September, Lucio will have served a total of two years on Facebook. In his post, he recounted the projects that the company has launched under his leadership and said that although there is “still a lot of work to be done, [there] is a strong foundation from which to build.”

“The work and progress made over the last two years [are] all due and thanks to [the team]: “More Together” for Facebook app, “It’s Between You” for WhatsApp, the Instagram anti-bullying platform, the launch of Messenger Rooms, “Never Alone,” “Born in Quarantine” and the launch of a new identity system for the corporate brand.”

Expressing his confidence to the team ahead, he wrote, “This team is ready to deliver its best work yet.”

Meanwhile, Facebook said that they support Lucio’s decision. 

“Antonio did incredible work telling our story during a transformative period for the company, “ a spokesperson said.

“[Facebook is] grateful for his enormous contributions and wish him well in his next chapter.”