Facebook snaps up Diageo marketer Michelle Klein to court advertisers
Facebook has hired Diageo’s top marketer for its Smirnoff brand Michelle Klein to educate advertisers about the platform’s user engagement tools and initiatives.
Klein will focus primarily on managing agency relationships worldwide when she joins the social network.
The newly created role is reportedly head of global agency marketing, which Facebook has been looking to fill for the last 87 days, according to a LinkedIn post. It is based in New York and centres on developing scalable marketing programs for advertising agencies to integrate into their global plans for brands.
Facebook declined to confirm the appointment, however, Klein indicated her excitement for the role in a Tweet that included two other prominent marketing executives at the company, Carolyn Everson, vice president of global marketing solutions and EMEA VP Nicola Mendelsohn.
Klein departs Diageo after seven years, during which she has worked solely on the Smirnoff global brand. She was promoted to the vice president of Smirnoff global marketing in 2010 when she also assumed senior responsibilities for communications and digital. Klein is said to have played a key role in shaping the brand’s revamped strategy, which focuses on pulling away from some of the premiumisation the vodka category has come to be associated with in recent years.
Matt Bruhn, global marketing director for Smirnoff, says: “For seven years Michelle has made a significant contribution to Diageo and Smirnoff. While we are sad to see her go, we look forward to working with her in her next adventure.”
