Movie streaming giant Netflix Inc recently announced that it has appointed marketing veteran Bozoma Saint John as the company’s new Chief Marketing Officer, effective August 2020. Bozoma’s appointment makes her the first Black woman to join the senior management team.
Bozoma is reportedly Netflix’s third marketing head in less than a year. She will be replacing Jackie Lee-Joe, former BBC Studios CMO, who had been at Netflix for 10 months.
According to Netflix, Lee-Joe is exiting the streamer citing personal reasons. She has been living in Australia with her family since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Lee-Joe had succeeded former Netflix CMO Kelly Bennett, who announced his retirement from the company last year.
Bozoma joins Netflix from entertainment and sports company Endeavor, and has previously worked at Apple Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. She will report to Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer.
“Bozoma Saint John is an exceptional marketer who understands how to drive conversations around popular culture better than almost anyone,” Sarandos said in a statement. “As we bring more great stories to our members around the world, she’ll define and lead our next exciting phase of creativity and connection with consumers.”
“I’m thrilled to join Netflix, especially at a time when storytelling is critical to our global, societal well-being,” Bozoma said in a statement. “I feel honored to contribute my experience to an already dynamic legacy, and to continue driving engagement in the future.”
In her two years stint as CMO of Endeavor, Bozoma oversaw the holding company’s marketing efforts for divisions including WME, IMG, UFC, Professional Bull Riders and Miss Universe, and headed up its global marketing business that serves as an agency.
Prior to that, she was the Chief Brand Officer at Uber for about a year, after serving as head of consumer marketing for Apple Music and iTunes for a little over three years. She had joined Beats by Dre in 2014, which Apple acquired shortly after she arrived. Previously, she was Pepsi-Cola North America’s head of music and entertainment marketing.
Earlier in her career, Bozoma served as VP of marketing for women’s fashion brand Ashley Stewart and managed accounts at ad agencies Arnold Worldwide and Spike Lee’s SpikeDDB. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Wesleyan University in African-American studies and English.
She has also been vocal about inequality in corporate America and her appointment comes at a time as U.S. companies are looking to diversify their workplace.
Earlier, Netflix had said it will allocate 2%, or about $100 million, of its cash holdings to financial institutions and organizations that directly support African-American communities in the United States.
