Snap hires McDonald's marketer Kenny Mitchell as first CMO
Snapchat has hired its first chief marketing officer in McDonald's marketer Kenny Mitchell.
Mitchell joins from McDonald’s USA, where he was vice-president of brand content and engagement / Snap
The exec will join Snap's senior leadership team in June, reporting into founder Evan Spiegel. He will be tasked with leading all consumer and product marketing for the business and its flagship app.
Mitchell joins from McDonald’s USA, where he was vice-president of brand content and engagement. Prior to McDonald's, he was managing director of brand and consumer marketing at Nascar, and director of sports marketing at Pepsi Gatorade.
In a statement, Spiegel said Mitchell's "consumer marketing expertise" and deep understanding of Snap's products would be "a great combination" for the business.
"Throughout his career, Kenny has demonstrated his ability to successfully execute innovative, global marketing campaigns, many of which have leveraged our own vertical video and augmented reality products. He’s a natural fit to join our team and lead marketing as we continue driving the positive momentum we have in the business," he added.
Mitchell said he "looked forward to helping Evan and Snap continue to tell their story to people around the world, and working with my new colleagues as we define the future of the camera and self-expression".
The hire is a big play from Snap, and suggests some big forthcoming consumer campaigns to up its user base – a task it is finding challenging.
Earlier this week, the business revealed it had stemmed recent user declines to post a modest increase of 4 million users over the first quarter of 2019 to reach 190 million daily users. However, the figure is still below the network's all-time high of 191 million, posted a year ago.
Mitchell's hire brings Snap's exec team structure closer in line with rival Facebook, which appointed Antonio Lucio as chief marketing officer last year.
The CMO is currently on the hunt for a vice-president of marketing for sister platform Instagram.