CMO Moves March Summary

March saw 44 new Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) named globally - a strong pulse for growth in uncertain times.

Among them: 27 women and 17 men. Only 7 were promoted from within, and 37 were external hires. 16 of these CMOs are first-timers in the C-suite, entering a career-defining phase.

Geographically, the US continues to dominate, with California leading the way at 9 new CMOs, followed by New York with 6, and Texas and Illinois with 2 each. All in all, 28 new CMOs were hired across 13 states.

Outside the US, the UK had a particularly active month with 8 new appointments, mostly in Finance and Tech. Canada saw 3, India had 2, and we also saw new CMOs announced in the Philippines, Germany, and Sweden.

When it comes to industries, tech was the clear frontrunner: 21 of the new CMOs were hired in the Software, Telecom, and related sectors. Financial Services, a hot industry in 2025 so far, followed with 7, while professional services and hotel & travel each added 3.

As the volume of new CMO appointments continues to rise, the real story lies in who is being hired and why. Behind each of these headlines are brands making strategic bets on growth and oftentimes, cultural relevance.

Some are tapping seasoned operators to fix what’s broken. Others are promoting from within to double down on loyalty and continuity. And a handful are bringing in bold, first-time CMOs to shake things up entirely.

Let’s dig into three of the most intriguing appointments made over the last two weeks - each signaling a different playbook, but all worth watching – starting with a big one, my favorite telco…

VERIZON

Mary Sagripanti has officially taken the reins as Chief Marketing Officer of Verizon’s Value business, the division responsible for prepaid and value-conscious consumer brands like Visible, Total by Verizon, Straight Talk, Tracfone, and Safelink Wireless. This arm of Verizon targets price-sensitive, digitally native, and underserved segments, and it’s a major growth engine, representing tens of millions of subscribers.

Sagripanti joins from Amazon, where she was CMO of Ring, overseeing both the Ring and Blink smart security portfolios. Under her leadership, Ring reached new brand heights, including a spot on TIME’s 2024 World’s Best Brands list. She also established a new vision for the ring.com website, undertook a big redesign, and launched an amazing array of new features, leading to acclaim in Newsweek. Before that, she clocked marketing stints across Amazon, Weber Inc., and Kraft Foods. Suffice to say, she knows her way around a brand playbook.

But she is not all pixels and product launches. Off-duty, Sagripanti can be found on the ski slopes, at a yoga studio, or at local lakes paddleboarding.  She is also deeply committed to rescuing dogs and has been a long-time volunteer and a serial adopter and foster mum at local animal shelters.

She’s stepping in for Cheryl Gresham, who left after a 2-year term leading the Verizon Value business for the role of SVP Marketing North America at Starbucks, giving up her CMO title.

Sagripanti now inherits a battleground where Mint Mobile (now T-Mobile’s pet project), Boost, and Cricket are throwing elbows for prepaid market share. And while Verizon Value is on the up, the space is fiercely contested.

Her key audiences are Gen Z and budget-conscious Millennials, who demand more than a low price point. To win them over, expect Sagripanti to lean into sharper market segmentation, influencer-driven campaigns, and maybe even a reimagined loyalty program to keep customers dialed in 🤌 

This is one of the fiercest corners in telecom, and with Sagripanti in charge, it’s about to get even more interesting.

Empty Seat?

When a high-profile CMO like this exits a plum role at Amazon Ring, it creates a vacuum. And as our regular readers know, when CMOs leave, there’s rarely a planned succession.

We, at the Ladder, expect the search for Sagripanti’s replacement to focus on either an Amazon insider from the Devices org or an external DTC-savvy growth leader - likely from a rival smart home brand like SimpliSafe, Nest (Google), or Arlo. Whoever steps in will need to blend brand trust, subscription smarts, and retail finesse. Keep your camera fisheye on this one!

YAHOO

Yahoo just named Josh Line their new Chief Marketing Officer - and if that name rings a bell, it's because he’s been behind some of the biggest brand pivots in media over the last decade.

Most recently the Chief Brand Officer at Paramount Global, Line played a central role in the rebrand from ViacomCBS to Paramount, launched Paramount+, and steered marketing for everything from CBS to Pluto TV. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at creative agencies like Anomaly and TBWA. So yes, he knows how to scale, reposition, and make people care again. That’s exactly what Yahoo is betting on.

You thought Yahoo was already dead? You’d be dead wrong because here’s the reality: Yahoo still pulls in 3 billion monthly visits - massive traffic numbers, thanks largely to its Sports and Finance properties - but its cultural cachet has lagged. Earlier this month, the company sold TechCrunch to private equity, a move that signaled a tightening of the portfolio and, more subtly, a reckoning with its media identity.

And Line’s predecessor, Tressie Lieberman? She lasted just 14 months before decamping for Starbucks. Since October, the CMO seat’s been in interim limbo, with Comms chief Sona Iliffe-Moon holding down both roles.

Line walks into a moment of both existential redefinition and clear opportunity. His own statement hinted at big ambitions: “reignite love and cultural impact” for the Yahoo brand.

Expect a reinvention arc that plays heavily on nostalgia, brand storytelling, and capitalizing on the credibility and utility of Yahoo’s strongest verticals. There’s also likely a B2B play brewing here. As a legacy brand with ad tech assets, Yahoo is overdue for a relevance upgrade in the eyes of marketers and media buyers. Line’s experience repositioning Paramount to advertisers gives him a blueprint.

Big picture, this isn’t just about Yahoo. There’s a mini-trend bubbling right now: smart, seasoned brand operators being brought in to restore relevance to platforms that still command audiences but may have lost the cultural narrative. Think Jessica Jensen at LinkedIn. Think Shauna Spenley bouncing from Riot Games to WBD. Now, Josh Line at Yahoo. These aren’t first-time CMOs. They’re brand fixers with pedigrees.

The real question is whether Yahoo can get out of its own way long enough to let Line do his thing. He’s got the creds. The only wildcard is whether Yahoo has the stomach for reinvention or whether this will be another short-lived rebrand that doesn’t stick. Either way, we at the Ladder will be watching closely.

Starbucks’ New CEO Brings a Familiar Marketing Flavour

Interestingly, Starbucks slurped up both former CMOs of Verizon Value and Yahoo - alumni of Taco Bell, just like Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol. Coincidence?

The coffee giant isn’t stopping there. It’s been quietly expanding its marketing bench with talent from heavy hitters like Nike, McKinsey, Disney, and Nestlé over the last 6 months.

We’ll spill more beans when the next wave of juicy marketing roles drop at Starbucks. Stay tuned.

WAGESTREAM

Wagestream has named Prelini Udayan-Chiechi as CMO as the company uses its $175m series-C war-chest to expand its U.S. footprint and accelerate growth in the employer-backed financial well-being space.

A seasoned tech marketer with experience at Zendesk (as SVP), Adobe, and Bazaarvoice, Udayan-Chiechi joins at an important time: the company saw 250% U.S. growth last year and expects to serve over one million members by the end of 2025. This follows wins with U.S. employers like Burger King, New Balance, and Crate & Barrel, who have already signed on.

Wagestream is a London-based financial technology company dedicated to enhancing the financial well-being of frontline workers. Their platform offers tools such as flexible access to earned wages, budgeting assistance, savings programs, and financial education, all aimed at empowering employees to manage their finances more effectively.

Unlike BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) companies like Klarna and Affirm, which help people spend money they haven’t earned yet, EWA (Earned Wage Access) companies like Wagestream offer Paycheck Control, so you’re only moving money you’ve already earned.

The company's inception was driven by a mission to address the "poverty premium" - the higher costs faced by low-income individuals when accessing financial services. By partnering with employers, Wagestream seeks to provide fairer financial services and prevent employees from entering cycles of debt.

Prelini has her work cut out for her. The EWA space is fiercely competitive, especially in the US, and we will be watching as she expands this mission-led Fintech globally as CMO.

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