Twitter hires a CMO to ‘tell stories about iconic product’

Berland will take on responsibility for the company’s global consumer, product and sales marketing. She will report directly into CEO Jack Dorsey.

Prior to Twitter, Berland was EVP of global advertising, marketing and digital partnerships at American Express. She had been with the brand since 2005 and been in pivotal to its moves to broaden its marketing relationships with other brands including Apple, McDonald’s, Uber and Samsung.

Prior to American Express, Berland led PR and online comms for global brands on the agency side.

Welcoming @leslieberland to Twitter! She will join as our CMO to help tell the stories of our iconic product!

— jack

Berland says: “Twitter is a service like no other. It has and continues to change the world, shaping how we communicate and connect, how we’re entertained, informed and inspired. It represents everything that’s relevant at each and every moment – to me, there’s nothing more powerful.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Jack and the Twitter teams to bring the magic of Twitter to life, broaden its reach and deepen its impact as the company enters this incredibly exciting new chapter.”

Twitter has been on the hunt for a CMO since last July. It put its CFO, Anthony Noto, in charge of marketing in May in an attempt to “elevate the importance of marketing” at board level and make it a “key component of everything we do”.

Since then, Twitter has launched its first TV campaign in the US to promote its ‘Moments’ service. It is also prepping a campaign for the UK which is expected imminently.

The issue at Twitter, according to Noto, is that while the brand has 90% global awareness only 30% of people on social media and digital platforms actually use it. According to its latest results user growth is slowing and that is having a knock-on impact on its revenue.

Berland’s main job will be to better explain to consumers what Twitter is and why they should be using it in order to boost that usage stat. Keeping avid users on the site will also be important.