Move over Mollie, Kathy is in the house
Three months ago, Mollie Spilman was appointed as Chief Marketing Officer by Yahoo’s interim CEO Ross Levinsohn. When Marissa Mayer joined Yahoo in July as the company’s latest CEO, one had to believe that things would begin to shake and bake. Enter Kathy Savitt, CEO and founder of social commerce startup Lockerz.
Savitt was offered and has accepted the position of CMO in Mayer’s latest executive appointment calendar. Sorry Mollie, move over, Kathy is in the house. Savitt, who begins at Yahoo on September 14, will be responsible for all of the company’s worldwide marketing and branding.
About Kathy Savitt
Besides founding and running the very successful Lockerz, Savitt was also a former executive at American Eagle Outfitters Incorporated. She also held leadership roles at Amazon.com. Her experience in the e-commerce arena is expected to be an asset to Yahoo as the company attempts to re-format itself as the cyber giant it once was.
According to DMNews.com, Mayer emphasized Savitt’s work “refining well-loved consumer brands,” which Mayer expects to prove valuable as Yahoo works to refresh its own brand identity.
One analyst’s take
At least one analyst seems to like this move. Sameet Sinha, a senior analyst for B. Riley & Company stated that “[Mayer] needs people she can trust, who when they agree on something she knows it will be done. Yahoo has a hidden asset in Flickr, which they have under-monetized, and we know that photo sharing is on the move. I’m sure she will not only be able to work with the Yahoo brand, but provide insight into how the other pieces should be monetized or restructured. It’s critical that the product sell to the consumer before it’s sold to advertisers.”
In my opinion, I’d say that’s an excellent recipe for a successful advertising pitch. For now, it appears as though Yahoo has made another step in the right direction to right what was looking like a sinking ship.
