Blackberry creates new top marketer role to shape B2B vision
BlackBerry has appointed B2B marketing veteran Mark Wilson to the newly created role of senior vice president of marketing as one of two hires it hopes will accelerate its new vision following the departure of its CMO and other c-suite execs last month.
Wilson will assume oversight of the beleaguered brand’s marketing strategy when he starts the role in January. He was previously CMO at business communications solutions provider Avaya and has previously held marekting roles at Sybase, AT&T and KPMG.
Blackberry is hoping Wilson’s knowledge of the B2B sector can inject some fresh blood into its brand building activity as new chief executive John Chen looks to revamp the money-losing smartphone maker with a focus on business customers.
To support the push, the company has also hired James S. Mackey as executive vice president for corporate development and strategic planning. Mackey joins from software firm Open Txt Corp where he was senior vice president of corporate development.
Chen, who has worked with both appointments in the past, says they will help “cohesively manage the changes required to reshape Blackberry”.
The move signals Blackberry’s bid to move quickly in its turnaround efforts following a major clear out last month of several senior members including top marketer Frank Boulben.
The company will reveal details of its third quarter financial results tomorrow (20 December).
