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BuzzFeed

Buzzfeed snares PepsiCo marketer as first CMO to lead creative team

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 3, 2015 | 2 min read

Buzzfeed has poached PepsiCo marketing veteran Frank Cooper to serve as its first chief marketing officer as the publisher looks to quicken efforts to be viewed as a global media powerhouse ahead of its flotation on the stock exchange.

Cooper will oversee marketing and research as well as head up the company’s 80-person creative team as its chief creative officer from June. The executive role will also task Cooper with striking partnerships with marketers, agencies and advertising executives as the business looks to carve out more sustainable ways of pulling revenue from its content.

To date, the publisher has managed to rapidly grow off the back of producing native content for advertisers but industry experts have questioned the long-term viability of this model in the wake of last month’s revelation that it will float on the stock exchange. The company’s bosses have talked up their ability to create an international brand and Cooper’s appointment signals the start of this in earnest.

BuzzFeed president Greg Coleman, said: “Our company is evolving from a growing U.S. website to a global media company with massive scale. That transition, communicating the effectiveness of our advertising product, the marriage of data and branded content, and the task of building an international brand could only be handled by one of the best in the business. We couldn’t be more thrilled Frank Cooper has joined us to take on that exciting challenge.”

Cooper added: “Throughout my career, I’ve been obsessed with the convergence of four things: culture, brand marketing, data and technology. There’s only one company today that sits at the intersection of all those things, which is why this role at BuzzFeed was irresistible to me.

“With Jonah’s vision and Greg’s world-class business acumen, the opportunity could have not been more clear. I can’t wait to get started.”

Cooper joined PepsiCo in 2003 as vice president of marketing before going on to serve as chief marketing officer of sparkling beverages and then the same role for global consumer engagement. Prior to this, he was vice presicent of iteracion marketing at America Online and senior vice president of business affairs at Motown Records Def Jam Records.

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