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CMO Moves Mid Dec Update
Ft. ROKT, Verizon, Peloton
Michael Wright
December 20, 2023
December has proven to be a big month for changes at the top of the festive CMO ladder. In the first two weeks alone, we have seen 24 CMOs change jobs.
10 of the movers were men this month, and 14 were women. These movers come from a range of industries, including Tech, Retail, Health Care, and Finance.
What stands out is the predominant trend of external hires for CMO roles, indicating to us that your best chance of moving up the ladder to the coveted CMO spot from a VP, SVP, or Director position is actually to jump ship and change employers. Only one of the 24 moves we clocked this month was a promotion.
Just saying, but we think it’s a real shame that more companies aren’t able to demonstrate strong succession planning or talent development to get more of their marketing team members into the top spot. ☹️
Let’s jump into the list, which features well-known businesses and brands like Verizon, Peloton, ROKT, Champion, and SharkNinja.
ROKT
Anyone who follows the advertising industry will know that there have been some big changes at the top in North America across the C-suite recently, as networks of agencies feel pressure to simplify their operations.
Doug Rozen moves from his prior role as CEO of ad agency network Dentsu in North America to a CMO role. We think it’s very cool that a CEO can move to a CMO seat. Will we see more moves like this in 2024 as the mandate of the CMO gets so big that it will appeal to former CEOs? We hope so.
Doug starts his new role with ROKT in January and we wish him all the best.
Who are ROKT? ROKT is a company that's a bit like a super-smart matchmaker in the digital world. Imagine you're shopping online for a new video game. After you buy it, you might see a page suggesting a cool new gaming headset or a discount on your next game purchase. ROKT is the wizard behind the scenes that figures out what offers to show you.
The Chief Commercial Officer of Rokt had this to say about the appointment:
"Having had the pleasure of working with Doug previously, I know what a powerhouse leader and marketer he is, while also being a great human, and I'm thrilled to partner with him again. Doug's passion for innovation, his dedication to building great culture and his bias toward action will no doubt further accelerate Rokt's growth."
It just goes to show that personal connections can often play a role in who gets hired as CMO.
Good for you for leaving a lasting impression, Doug!
Verizon
Another major move was Peloton CMO, Leslie Berland, who departed for the top marketing spot at Verizon. Peloton, once thriving during the pandemic with a remarkable 99.5% increase in revenue due to a global shift towards home exercise, is now on a path to re-launching and revitalizing the brand.
About the move to Verizon, Leslie shared:
Verizon's brand is at an exciting inflection point as the fundamental need for human connection has never been more critical. I can think of no better story to tell, and I’m thrilled to join a world-class team driving growth for the business, reinvigorating the customer experience and lifting up the communities in which we serve”
- it’s refreshing to hear this from a CMO as the AI tropes are getting talked out already.
Peloton
By the time Leslie left Twitter and took the CMO gig at Peloton, Peloton’s losses had expanded to a staggering $2.8 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. And they have big outgoings too! According to COMvergence data, Peloton spent nearly half a billion dollars on advertising in 2022.
The plot twist didn’t end with Leslie’s short tenure and surprising departure though - we literally couldn’t believe what happened next. A few short days later, it was reported that the CMO seat at Peloton would be filled by the SVP and CMO of Intuit QuickBooks, Lauren Weinberg, who [per her Linkedin] only started working for Intuit in October of 2023!
We can only hope that Intuit, who makes Software like Quickbooks and Mailchimp, and spent 583m on media in 2022, has a plan B, and kept in touch with the candidates who maybe didn’t make the cut during their hiring process but still showed up well enough to be re-contacted.
We are on the edge of our seats to see if this double-move sets the tone for even shorter tenure for top CMOs who are in big demand as the marketing job gets more demanding and complicated.
These stories are just the tip of the iceberg in the world of CMO shake-ups this month.
As a big thank you and in the holiday spirit, we're gifting you the full list of all 24 CMOs making moves this December.