IBM appoints first-ever CMO
While IBM has long had chief marketers, it has named Michelle Peluso as the first person to hold the title of chief marketing officer for the business
Peluso comes to IBM from Technology Crossover Ventures, where she was a venture partner. Before that she was the former CEO of sale site Gilt, and was a top executive at Citigroup previous to that position. She was also CEO of Travelocity and co-founder of startup travel company Site59.
Peluso will report to Jon Iwata, senior vice president, marketing and communications at IBM, who was responsible for creating the position and who will continue to oversee IBM’s overall strategy and brand, according to a story by Forbes.
“IBM marketing has transformed significantly to be at the forefront of the rapidly changing marketing profession and to support IBM’s own transformation. Michelle Peluso is the ideal leader to accelerate and build on this effort,” said Iwata in a statement.
The move to hire a CMO came because of a need to “accelerate our marketing transformation,” which includes investing in digital skills, using data to deeply understand clients and building better consumer experiences, according to a company statement.
Her hiring marks a new move by IBM, which has been seen more on the advertising front with the prominence of supercomputer Watson, now a star of the AI marketing world, and through the acquisition of several digital marketing agencies and design firms over the last few years. Digital marketing is now more central to IBM’s business model, not just through Watson, but also in its move to offer design and analytics services to clients through the IBM Interactive Experience, known as IBM iX). Peluso will be able to further the company’s marketing efforts, adding an extra layer of marketing savvy to a company that is already on a marketing uptrend.