Pinterest names Andréa Mallard as the company’s first CMO

Pinterest has hired its first CMO. Formerly CMO at Gap Inc.’s Athleta stores, Andréa Mallard now oversees Pinterest’s global marketing and creative teams.

Pinterest’s growing executive team. Mallard is the second C-level executive to join Pinterest this year. In March, the company named Francis Brougher as its first COO. Mallard will report to Brougher in her new role.

“I am very excited that Andréa has joined our team. Her wealth of experience in building great brands will be an asset to our company as we continue to expand globally,” said Brougher in a release announcing Mallard’s hiring.

At the time of her hiring, Brougher was charged with leading Pinterest’s advertising teams. Shortly after Brougher came on board, Jon Alferness — head of ad products — left the company. Upon his departure, Pinterest said it was combining its consumer product and ads product teams into one group, led buy by SVP of product, Lawrence Ripsher.

Mallard’s background. Before joining Pinterest, Mallard served as CMO for Athleta, Gap Inc.’s athletic clothing brand. She has also led marketing teams at Omada Health and IDEO. Earlier this year, Mallard received the CMO Award for Creativity and Storytelling from The CMO Club.

“It was clear from my first conversation that this is a purpose-led company with the heart, mind, and values needed to become an iconic, global brand,” said Mallard in the announcement about her hiring, “Pinterest inspires people everywhere to create a life they love. I believe it can be one of the truly positive corners of the internet and and I’m excited about the great possibilities to come.”

Mallard’s official start date at Pinterest was October 29.

Why it matters. Pinterest claims an audience of 250 million monthly users, up from 200 million reported a year ago. Mallard will play a key role in helping the company accelerate its international expansion and attract new users and advertisers to the platform. Pinterest has launched a number of new ad offerings in recent months aimed at helping retail advertisers capitalize on the purchase intent that attracts users to the platform.

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Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.