Tag: CMO

Singapore – GumGum, the global digital advertising platform known for its contextual-first approach, has bolstered its executive team by appointing Kerel Cooper as the new chief marketing officer (CMO).

As the new CMO, Cooper will spearhead GumGum’s global marketing strategy, enhance brand and agency adoption with GumGum’s cutting-edge advertising solutions, and propel the company’s overall growth. His ad tech expertise will be vital in addressing the challenges and seizing opportunities in the digital advertising sector.

Cooper joins GumGum from Group Black, where he was president of advertising, championing the growth of Black-owned media. Before that, he spent seven years at LiveIntent, progressing from vice president of platform development to chief marketing officer.

His industry experience is further enriched by his role as an adjunct professor at Kean University, where he teaches ‘Sports Marketing and Digital Marketing Strategies’ to both undergraduate and graduate students. Additionally, Cooper co-founded the Minority Report Podcast.

Cooper shared, “I’m excited to join GumGum and lead the marketing efforts for a company at the forefront of contextual intelligence and innovation in advertising. GumGum’s unique approach aligns with my vision of creating meaningful and impactful connections for all audiences, everywhere. I look forward to contributing to the company’s continued success and growth while expanding global awareness of mindset-first advertising.”

Meanwhile, Phil Schraeder, CEO of GumGum, said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Kerel as our new CMO. This is a game-changing moment for us at such a transformational time at GumGum. Kerel’s unparalleled expertise in ad tech is exactly what we need to skyrocket our growth. With his leadership, we’re set to revolutionise our mindset-first approach and turbocharge our ability to help our clients reach and support all audiences.”

Singapore – Customer engagement platform Twilio has named Chris Koehler as its new chief marketing officer to drive global marketing strategy. 

Koehler brings over 25 years of expertise in customer engagement and marketing technology and a proven track record of driving growth and innovation at industry-leading companies.

As the new CMO, he will oversee Twilio’s global marketing strategy, focusing on expanding brand awareness in its key markets and amplifying product innovation. He will also play a pivotal role in growing market share across Twilio Communications and Segment and driving messaging and positioning for Twilio’s customer engagement platform, which combines communications, data, and AI to unlock greater value for customers.

Koehler holds a degree in B.S. in marketing from George Mason University and an MBA from Georgia State University.

Prior to joining Twilio, he served as Box’s CMO, where he helped lead the company to surpass $1b in annual revenue in fiscal 2024. He spent more than 25 years leading marketing, customer success, solution consulting, demand generation, and enablement teams at Adobe Systems, E*TRADE Financial, SunTrust Bank, and Claritas. 

In his new role, Koehler will report directly to Twilio’s chief executive officer, Khozema Shipchandler. He joins the company’s expanded management team of recent executive hires, including Inbal Shani, chief product officer for Twilio Communications, and Thomas Wyatt, president of segment. 

Shani joined Twilio from GitHub, where she led core product management, strategy, marketing, and design as chief product officer. As the CPO for Twilio Communications, Shani is responsible for all research and development capabilities, product innovation, and resiliency and trust initiatives for the Twilio Communications business.

Meanwhile, Wyatt joined Twilio from People.ai, where he served as chief product and strategy officer. As the new president of segment, Wyatt is responsible for driving product innovation and go-to-market execution. 

Talking about the appointment, Shipchandler said, “What particularly impresses me about Chris is his no-nonsense style and hands-on approach. Chris’ strong background in product will help strengthen how we market and position our increasingly sophisticated suite of customer solutions in this next chapter of the company.” 

Also speaking about his appointment, Koehler shared, “I’ve long admired Twilio as an innovative, developer-first company, and the opportunity to help build the next generation of customer engagement is exciting.”

“Having interacted with Twilio products as a segment customer, I believe Twilio has a massive opportunity to combine its leading data capabilities with its world-class communications platform to deliver the kind of one-to-one experiences that brands have been trying to achieve for years, but few have realised,” he added. 

Philippines – After dedicating two and a half years to the company, John Richard (Chad) Sotelo announced he had been appointed as the inaugural chief marketing officer of Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC). This is concurrent with his role as senior vice president and business unit general manager for RLC Residences.

In a recent exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, Sotelo unveiled his strategic vision to unlock added value for the business by embracing customer-centricity. He emphasised the importance of delving deeper into understanding their customers’ needs and preferences.

According to Sotelo, understanding customers on a deeper level is a fundamental aspect of marketing, and he is committed to making sure that every marketer in the RLC becomes an expert on it. 

Among the things he’s looking forward to prioritising in his new role are maintaining constant and meaningful conversations with customers, handling customer data with the utmost respect for privacy, deriving insights into customer behaviour from consented information, and ensuring that data is treated as actionable insights that flow to the right people at the right time rather than staying as mere statistics.

“There are a lot of untapped opportunities for RLC when we look at things from the customers’ perspective: how they experience each business and how we can improve that by having the different business units work closer together. There’s also tremendous value to be unlocked as we take a step back and look at how RLC can work with the other business units in the Gokongwei Group,” Sotelo told MARKETECH APAC. 

Reflections on the leadership journey at RLC 

For Sotelo, the last two and a half years have been an eye-opening experience, having to work on and ultimately learn a new industry that is different from his previous ones. 

Before joining RLC, Sotelo was working in various industries, including consumer electronics, beauty, and FMCG. Having to transition from these industries to real estate and property development, he considers his journey with RLC to be one that is ‘delightful’ and ‘educational’. 

He shared, “A lot of my reflections have been from the point-of-view of an ‘outsider’ to the industry, yet as a ‘veteran’ of using the industry’s product. One thing that really stands out for me is how growth-oriented the industry is, yet the knowledge of the customer is still not as deep as it can be. I’m very excited about how RLC can get even better once it gets to be an expert at knowing its customers, getting insights from this knowledge, and translating those insights into action that brings more value to the customer, hopefully in a unique and differentiated way.” 

Navigating the challenges of real estate marketing in the Philippines 

Sotelo believes that real estate brands are currently facing the challenge of maintaining their relevance to customers, a trend he sees will continue for the next two to three years from now. 

Looking at the current economic climate, inflation remains elevated and is showing no signs of decline yet. High banking interest rates also persist. Furthermore, emerging from a recent pandemic has left many feeling uncertain, impacting confidence levels worldwide. These factors are posing challenges to the real estate industry locally and globally. 

According to him, the real estate sectors continue to face distinct hurdles: commercial properties grapple with the shift towards remote work, while hotels, resorts, and malls benefit from a resurgence in tourism. Although residential real estate shows signs of recovery, it has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Nonetheless, Sotelo is determined to face these challenges as he steps into his new role. He underscored the importance of focusing on giving customers options that will serve their current needs, something that RLC will be focusing their attention on with Sotelo now heading their marketing strategies. 

“RLC is a well-diversified real estate company, and we will continue to offer customers a broad portfolio of choices that hopefully should cater to their needs. As of YTD (year to date) September 2023, all of our business units were doing extremely well and growing at a fast pace,” Sotelo stated. 

In his LinkedIn post, Sotelo also shared, “[I am] proud and honoured to be appointed as the first ever Chief Marketing Officer of Robinsons Land Corporation, concurrent to my current role in leading the RLC Residences division. I get to put back on my marketing geek hat! To say I’m excited is an understatement! Thank you, Sir Lance Gokongwei, for the trust! ” 

Singapore – Around 70% of marketing decision-makers worldwide are investing more than half of their budgets in long-term initiatives, with 78% remaining optimistic in the future regardless of ongoing crises, a study from GfK revealed.

The results showed that 61 percent of marketing decision-makers worldwide believe that their industry has been hit harder than others by the ongoing turbulence of recent years.

Among these numbers, there are regional disparities, with 66% of marketing decision-makers in Europe and 65% in North America feeling particularly affected by the economic situation. Meanwhile, only 52% in Africa and the Middle East and 55% in the Asia-Pacific region agree with this statement.

However, despite ongoing crises, over two-thirds (70%) of marketing decision-makers worldwide are investing more than half of their budgets in long-term initiatives like campaigns focused on strengthening the brand. The proportion further rises to 78% among CMOs.

Industry-wise, consumer tech (76%), automotive (76%), and retail (74%) are among the areas marketing leaders are zeroing in on for long-term brand-building strategies. Additionally, B2B brands are more willing to make long-term investments, with longer conversion cycles and smaller customer bases probably playing a role in their decision.

The results of the study further showed that optimism and confidence are still present among CMOs, as almost three-quarters state that their company has grown in the last three years and 78% state that they are optimistic about the future.

These optimistic marketing leaders are more focused on long-term brand building (77%), suggesting a link between optimism and long-term investment. Most marketing leaders also show impressive confidence in their budgets, with nearly two-thirds overall saying they find it easy to justify their financial needs and fund their marketing expenditures, particularly in North America and Europe.

In terms of the speed at which they receive real-time insights, 61% of global marketing leaders state that they receive actionable insights either immediately after data gathering or in the short term, but still quickly. Only 3% claim that generating insights takes too long to be useful for their marketing campaigns at all.

On the other hand, larger companies seem to have an advantage. The data revealed that the bigger the company, the higher the proportion of insights generated in real-time.

Among the frontrunners, Europe leads the way, with 33% of marketers saying they receive insights in real-time. This shows a huge gap versus the global average of 26%.

The score, meanwhile, is lowest in Africa and the Middle East, where only 19% claim to have access to real-time insights. One-third of global marketers state that data integration is the main obstacle to achieving real-time insights.

Overall, 44% of the survey’s respondents want to improve their capabilities in generating actionable insights, while 42% aim at improving data integration in their companies.

Next to real-time insights, AI is also transforming the way marketers work. Almost half of marketing leaders worldwide (45%) said they are already using AI, while 40% are familiar with or using machine learning models.

Additionally, the uptake of ChatGPT has been rapid, with 36% of respondents stating they were already using it by March 2023, despite it being on the market for less than a year. Marketers in big enterprises are seen to be early adopters of such technology, showing more familiarity than those in smaller firms.

Another thing worth noting, however, is that the data from the report also raises the question of whether marketers are failing their audience in terms of sustainability.

After some extreme weather events, CMOs worldwide are placing more emphasis on sustainability and environmental protection, with 42% stating this is an important part of their brand. The number is especially high in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific (46%).

Still, there seems to be a huge gap in how marketers perceive their audience in relation to demands for sustainability. The report revealed that only 30 percent of the respondents feel that their customers expect them to address sustainability.

On the flipside, the report finds that almost 73% of consumers actually expect companies to take environmentally responsible actions. One factor might be that companies tend to see sustainability as a corporate initiative rather than a marketing one, to which at least 24% of global marketers agree, especially among North American companies.

Overall, marketers need to keep in mind that any engagement with the environment and the climate must be authentic and long-term to be credible for consumers.

Gonzalo Garcia Villanueva, CMO at NielsenIQ/GfK, shared, “In recent years, market disruptions have shown us just how quickly buyer behaviour can pivot, highlighting the need for real-time predictive data. The businesses that thrive in this environment will be those that can anticipate what’s coming next.”

He added, “It is notable that marketing leaders across regions who say that their company has grown in the last three years and are optimistic get their insights faster than others. This indicates that successful companies are more digitalized and prioritise real-time insights for marketing.”

Singapore – One of the challenges of marketing teams is defending a budget’s suitability to proposed marketing plans. A recent study by professional networking platform LinkedIn revealed that in order to weather this perennial predicament, B2B CMOs, particularly those from the Singapore market, are aiming to become more ‘financially fluent’ in order to prove the value of brand marketing to their CEO and CFO. Such is true for almost all of the chief marketing leaders, 83%, that were surveyed in the market. 

The study showed that around two-thirds (64%) of senior B2B marketing leaders in Singapore expect marketing budgets to grow over the next year. Things have been looking up thus far for said leaders, where research shows they have the support of the business, with 7 in 10 CFOs from B2B organisations in the market feeling optimistic about marketing’s ability to drive revenue in the year ahead. 

More notably, local B2B marketing leaders shared that one of the top priorities for this year is to champion bolder creativity in their campaigns with the aim to improve mental availability amongst consumers (48%). 

“B2B marketers in Singapore have been navigating the current climate with agility. They have demonstrated the importance of winning mindshare through brand building to business leaders, and they are also now making strides to explore leveraging Generative AI to increase efficiency and boost creativity,” said Matt Tindale, head of enterprise of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions for Asia Pacific. 

“As the business landscape continues to evolve, B2B marketers will lead the way in creating memorable, best-in-class brands, and contribute to their company’s growth in the months and years ahead,” added Tindale. 

LinkedIn’s ‘The B2B Marketing Benchmark’ is a study of nearly 2,000 senior B2B marketing and finance leaders from organisations across the globe, which was conducted ahead of the 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. 

Simultaneously with the release of the report, LinkedIn has also recently launched new B2B marketing solutions, which amongst others, will be leveraging the adoption of generative AI. The fresh roster of tools includes ‘AI-generated Copy Suggestions’ and advertising solutions such as In-stream video ads, thought leader ads, and conversation ads. 

Said launch also introduced the ‘CMO Scorecard’, which is a new measurement program through its consultancy, B2B Edge. This aims to help B2B marketers on the platform benchmark their creative impact and media performance against competitors. 

Sydney, Australia – Data-driven cloud security company Lacework has announced today the appointment of Meagen Eisenberg as its new chief marketing officer. 

Eisenberg is a veteran technology marketing executive with 20 years of experience in high-tech and specialises in demand generation, marketing operations and automation, and field marketing strategy and execution.  

She also previously held the CMO role for TripActions from 2019 to August this year, as well as at MongoDB for about four years.

Speaking on her appointment, Eisenberg said, “As a marketing executive, business leader, and advisor I have always looked to identify opportunities with strong, customer-focused products that are loved, and teams that can execute.”

She added, “Lacework checks this box and more, breaking through the noise with a truly disruptive product and a conviction to protect customers by changing the way the industry approaches security in the cloud. I’m excited to join this team of passionate problem solvers as we tackle one of the hardest challenges in the enterprise: securing the cloud.”

Jay Parikh, CEO of Lacework also commented, “With her extensive experience building world-class marketing organisations, enthusiasm for industry disrupting products, and ability to create deep understanding and connection with our customers and partners, Meagen will be a critical part of leading Lacework through our next phase of growth.” 

Singapore – SEEK Asia, the mother firm of two leading job portal brands JobStreet and JobsDB, has recently announced its new Chief Marketing Officer Jane Cruz-Walker. 

Walker is most recently the chief digital adviser of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation in the Philippines. Prior to that, she was most notably the vice president of marketing of the now-defunct streaming platform and Singapore-born HOOQ. 

The appointment of Walker comes after a year SEEK Asia announced Peter Bithos as its CEO, who similarly came from HOOQ. 

The CMO charge will have Walker building and evolving the JobStreet and JobsDB brands for both the jobseekers’ and employers’ sides of the marketplace across SEEK Asia’s six markets. 

Walker will be bringing 20 years of experience in tech and media & telco (TMT) in both start-up and large-scale organizations within Singtel, MediaQuest, and PLDT groups, where she held key leadership roles across marketing, communications, and commercial business units as well as business development and country operations. 

Prior to her TMT cross-over, Walker held marketing positions which saw her lead FMCG brands in Colgate-Palmolive for markets in the Philippines, APAC, and Latin America as well as brands from Filipino corporation San Miguel Corporation, and also Magnolia-Nestle.

Bithos, to whom Walker will be reporting, shared that in their search for a new CMO, the company undertook a thorough regional and global search for a candidate who will bring deep experience as a CMO in the TMT space as well as someone who’s a leader that has a record of building brands from scratch and of bringing life to legacy brands.

“We want someone who has experience managing large scale marketing teams across the region and interacting across large organizations, and has demonstrated experience in commercial roles as well. Jane brings all of this in one dynamic package,” said Bithos.

He adds, “And, most importantly, I am confident that Jane will be a great leader for each and every one of our marketing team members across the region, besides bringing a unique combination of diverse cultural perspectives and global mindedness to SEEK’s transformational journey.”

Coinciding with Walker’s appointment is also the announcement of SEEK Asia’s new Chief Technology Officer Shen Tham. 

Just like Walker, Shen Tham boasts of 20 years of experience across various technical and leadership positions, and most recently held the position of CTO for REA Group operations in international and Asia markets.

SEEK Asia said that Shen Tham will be accountable for partnering across the Asia business to shape and deliver a transformed Technology strategy and capability in that region. 

Texas, United States – Indeed, the global employment portal, has appointed Jessica Jensen, to be its new chief marketing officer.

The new appointment will see Jensen leading the company’s global marketing programs and marketing functions, which include brand and performance marketing, regional and field marketing, and communications. She will directly report to Chris Hyams, the CEO of Indeed.

Jensen brings with her extensive experience in brand innovation and integrated marketing strategies. Prior to her new position, Jensen was previously part of Booking.com, working as the senior vice president of marketing for KAYAK, and the chief marketing officer of OpenTable. She also worked with Facebook as the head of products, platforms, and insights for business marketing; leading the marketing strategy and communication of the social media platform’s business arms, namely, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

Commenting on her appointment, Jensen said that she is honored to join the company at a time when people need inspiration and hope to find a new opportunity,

“My vision is that Indeed is known more broadly and deeply for the incredible service we provide to job seekers and hiring managers alike, and Indeed is the best place for businesses and employees to connect and thrive,” added Jensen.

Meanwhile, Hyams believes that Jensen will be able to bring a new perspective to Indeed, carrying huge respect for everything the company has built.

“Our mission of helping people get jobs is central to everything we do. Jessica is passionate about this mission and will be a vital part of our leadership team. We are thrilled to have her join us as we continue to grow and help even more people around the world,” said Hyams.

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.