Gumtree’s first chief customer officer plans to make site an ‘everyday’ brand

Gumtree has appointed its first chief customer officer, Gioia Manetti, who plans to make the UK’s leading classifieds website a more “everyday” brand.

gumtree-campaign-2014-460
Gumtree’s latest marketing campaign – pictured – focuses on the personal interactions that form part of buying and selling on the site.

Manetti moves into the role from owner company eBay’s leading Italian classifieds site Kijiji.it and reports into general manage Robin Voogd.

Voogd says of the appointment: “We always put our users first in everything we do at Gumtree – and Gioia will focus on ensuring they have a safe and successful experience. Bringing her know-how into the management team will undoubtedly help us grow our business in a customer-focused way.”

She has become responsible for Gumtree’s marketing, customer support and core product team and will be supporting the management team’s business strategy of making Gumtree.com one of the top 10 most-visited sites in the UK.

Among her first tasks will be to oversee the development of a new look and feel for website across desktop, mobile and tablet – the launch of which is expected in the third or fourth quarter this year.

Speaking to Marketing Week, Mannetti says while Gumtree already has high brand awareness levels and is the most-visited classifieds site in the UK with 60 million unique monthly visitors, there is an opportunity to make consumers think about using the site more often every day.

“We can become more and more a part of life for people…every day we always have something exciting we can sell or buy – whether it’s the baby clothes they have grown out of or the old iPhone – there is always a good time to use Gumtree,” she adds.

In February Gumtree hired Hannah Wilson as its new head of marketing

Recommended