Banking big Citigroup has appointed veteran monetary companies govt Alex Craddock as chief advertising and content material officer in a newly created title, the corporate mentioned.

Craddock was most not too long ago the CMO of BlackRock which, with some $10 trillion beneath administration, is the most important world funding supervisor on this planet. Craddock has additionally served as world CMO for HP’s Private Programs Group and has held down a number of advertising posts over a 12-year tenure at Visa, most not too long ago senior vice chairman, head of worldwide model and product advertising.

Craddock’s appointment comes at a knotty time for Citigroup. In September 2023, CEO Jane Fraser commenced an intensive reorganization that included stripping out a layer of senior administration, closing down some operations and eliminating 5,000 jobs, all with the purpose of “placing us on the entrance foot and enhancing our competitiveness,” Fraser mentioned in a memo reported by Reuters. In January, Citigroup reported a $1.8 billion loss for This autumn.

The highest marketer’s chair at Citi has been empty since October 2021, when CMO Carla Zakhem-Hassan left for JPMorgan Chase, the place she stays as CMO.

The job Craddock is assuming will likely be bigger than the one Zakhem-Hassan left. In response to an inside memo from chief shopper officer David Livingstone, “we created the Chief Advertising and marketing and Content material Officer position to supervise Citi’s enterprise and enterprise advertising and set the technique for producing authentic content material and thought management.”

Craddock’s résumé contains greater than 25 years of expertise in enterprise growth and worldwide advertising. He holds a B.A. in European Enterprise and French from Nottingham Trent College. He’ll report on to Livingstone, a Credit score Suisse veteran who joined Citigroup in 2016. Livingstone’s full memo seems under.

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All,

I’m happy to announce that Citi’s new Chief Advertising and marketing and Content material Officer will likely be Alex Craddock, a confirmed business chief who most not too long ago served because the International Chief Advertising and marketing Officer of BlackRock. 

As a part of the agency’s enhanced concentrate on purchasers, we created the Chief Advertising and marketing and Content material Officer position to supervise Citi’s enterprise and enterprise advertising and set the technique for producing authentic content material and thought management. These actions are central to how purchasers expertise Citi. Bringing them collectively within the Consumer organisation improves their co-ordination and ensures our purchasers are on the coronary heart of our advertising and content material supply methods. 

Alex is aware of firsthand what our purchasers anticipate from Citi, given his sturdy document of main advertising for one in every of our greatest purchasers, BlackRock. Throughout a 30-year profession, Alex additionally led world advertising for Hewlett Packard’s PC and cellular machine enterprise. Moreover, he spent 12 years at Visa Inc. the place he held numerous govt advertising management roles, his final place being International Head of Model and Product Advertising and marketing.

Alex’s determination to affix Citi is one other instance of our capability to draw the business’s finest expertise to our agency. At BlackRock, he was chargeable for growing and executing a world advertising technique that accelerated the industrial development of the corporate, enhancing BlackRock’s company model and driving development for its core merchandise. I anticipate him shortly to place that have to good use as we combine our enterprise and enterprise advertising, set up management with our top quality insights and content material, and speed up income development by way of better affect with purchasers.