Facebook hires Levi’s Van Dyck as first CMO

Facebook has hired Rebecca Van Dyck to be its head of global marketing, a move that follows its admission in last week’s IPO filing that it had done very little consumer marketing.

Van Dyck, who has spent the last 10 months at Levi’s, joins at a time when it is seeking to raise $5bn ($3bn) in an initial public offering.

Facebook revealed in last week’s regulatory filing that it had significantly ramped up its marketing last year, spending $28 million (£17.9m) in advertising, up from $8 million (£5.1m) in 2010.

At Levi’s Van Dyck managed the fashion brand’s global “Go Forth” campaign and prior to that was at Apple where she worked on the launches of the iPhone, iPad, iPod and iTunes as senior director for worldwide marketing communications and advertising.

Rival Google ran a series of TV spots last year to promote the launch of its social network, Google+, as well as other products such as its internet browser, Google Chrome.

The new hire could signal a change in tact for the business, which has up until now done very little traditional advertising.

Facebook cited its lack of “meaningful revenue” in its IPO last week and is thought to be considering showing advertisements on mobiles within weeks in a bid to tap into new revenue sources, according to the Financial Times.

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