BuzzFeed hires ex PepsiCo marketing veteran as CMO

BuzzFeed has appointed veteran consumer marketing executive and former CMO of global consumer engagement for PepsiCo as the company’s chief marketing and chief creative officer.With more than three decades of experience, Cooper will be a key member of the executive leadership team at BuzzFeed, overseeing BuzzFeed’s creative services team, market research, business-to-business and consumer marketing. He’ll also work with CMOs, agency and advertising executives to build global strategic brand partnerships.Greg Coleman, president, BuzzFeed said the move comes as the company is evolving from just growing its US website to becoming 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,” said Coleman.Leading BuzzFeed’s go-to-market message, Cooper will work with BuzzFeed’s executive team to help drive revenue through global brand partnerships. This includes continuing to push the creative boundaries of branded content, leveraging research initiatives, and working to communicate to partners the efficacy of BuzzFeed’s advertising for social and brand lift.Cooper has held executive roles in marketing and branding for AOL, Motown Records Def Jam Records, and most recently, PepsiCo where he ran strategy, development, and brand activation for global platforms across all beverages.Cooper will be based in New York and reports to Coleman. He will begin working at the company late June.“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,” said Cooper.