Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made it official with this tweet this morning: “Welcoming @leslieberland to Twitter! She will join as our CMO to help tell the stories of our iconic product!”
One wonders whether the exclamation points will be flowing from Dorsey as readily a year from now, when American Express’s marketing wunderkind Leslie Berland will be well along in her quest to transform Twitter into a marketing force on the order of Facebook or Instagram. Several media outlets had speculated yesterday that Berland would take Twitter’s marketing helm, even as media chief Katie Jacobs and product head Kevin Weil handed in their notices.
Following six years in the agency business with Ketchum and GCI Group, Berland moved to the client side with American Express as a 27-year-old VP of corporate communications in 2005. She shifted into social media strategy and rose steadily up the marketing ranks at the financial services power, being named SVP of digital partnerships in 2011 and then EVP of global advertising, marketing, and digital partnerships last year.
For the past four years Berland oversaw an ad campaign that had a heavy presence on Twitter and Facebook.
Dorsey named Twitter Head of Commerce Nathan Hubbard to replace Jacobs on an interim basis as head of media.
