Bozoma Saint John’s resume looks like a roster of major American corporations — Apple, Uber, PepsiCo and now Netflix. The marketing guru is leaving renowned talent agency Endeavor to join the Netflix family as chief marketing officer, according to a report from The Wrap.
By hiring 43-year-old Saint John, Netflix has finally added a Black person to its C-suite, Morning Brew reported. She is one of the very (very) few Black women CMOs in the U.S.
After graduating from Wesleyan University with a degree in English, Saint John went to work at advertising agencies Arnold Worldwide and Spike Lee’s Spike DDB, as well as the fashion brand Ashley Stewart, where she was vice president of marketing. She led PepsiCo’s entry into music festival-based marketing as head of its music and entertainment marketing, staying with the company for nearly 10 years. Then she was lured away by Beats Music in 2014 when Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Beats, personally recruited Saint John. When Beats was purchased by Apple, Saint John became the head of global consumer marketing for iTunes and Apple Music. She stayed until June 2017 before heading to Uber for one year as chief brand officer. Then she became CMO at Endeavor. In 2018, she also briefly worked for troubled pizza empire Papa John to help it re-culture its brand.
Saint John joins Netflix at a critical moment for the company as it deals with increasing competition from new entrants like Disney+, HBO Max, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock, AdAge reported.
“I’m thrilled to join Netflix, especially at a time when storytelling is critical to our global, societal well-being,” Saint John said in a statement. “I feel honored to contribute my experience to an already dynamic legacy, and to continue driving engagement in the future.”
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Saint John’s contract with Endeavor was up at the end of the year and her exit followed a slew of other executives exits from Endeavor. The entertainment company has been hit hard by the shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, MSN reported. Also, Endeavor had to pull its IPO late last year, which left the agency holding on to nearly $5 billion in debt.
