3 Brands Name New Top Marketers: Peloton Selects Leslie Berland as CMO and More

As it hopes to regain its footing in the home fitness and exercise category, Peloton has named Leslie Berland as its new chief marketing officer. Berland joins the company four months after Dara Treseder, the brand's former global head of marketing, departed for Autodesk. Berland will begin the role on Wednesday. Berland comes to Peloton after spending nearly seven years as CMO at Twitter. She departed Twitter in November, a period of mass exodus for several senior-level employees during Elon Musk's takeover. Berland will report to Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy and will be responsible for leading brand and product marketing, creative, consumer insights, membership and global communications. "Peloton is at a unique moment in its transformation journey, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it!" Berland said in a statement. "I'm a huge believer in the product, the company and its potential. I'm inspired by Peloton's continued innovation and commitment to its current and future members and see amazing opportunities ahead." Peloton CEO John Foley Hands Reins to Ex-Spotify Finance Exec Barry McCarthy Once a brand on the rise during the heat of the Covid-19 pandemic, Peloton has fallen on hard times over the past year. Peloton laid off more than 500 staffers—with the bulk of the cuts coming from its marketing department—after posting six consecutive quarterly losses. In its most recent quarterly report in November, Peloton's revenue fell 23% year over year. Back to beauty Ulta Beauty has hired Michelle Crossan-Matos as the company’s new CMO, effective today. In the new role, Crossan-Matos will oversee all integrated marketing, loyalty, creative operations, store design, public relations, consumer insights and Ulta Beauty Media activities. Before taking on the new role, Crossan-Matos served as the chief marketing, citizenship and communications officer at Samsung Electronics America. In that role, she led the company’s U.S. consumer and b-to-b marketing and communications strategy. She also oversaw corporate citizenship and social impact programs, including Samsung’s philanthropic, giving and volunteerism initiatives. Crossan-Matos has experience in the beauty category; she spent 16 years at Procter & Gamble in various roles, some of which included leadership positions in skin care, cosmetics and fragrance. "I am beyond thrilled to announce that I am joining Ulta Beauty as their chief marketing officer," Crossan-Matos said on LinkedIn. "This is a poignant moment for me, as it has always been a dream of mine to return back to the beauty care industry and there is no better way doing that, than joining the largest U.S. beauty retailer with over 1,300 retail stores across the U.S." Before Crossan-Matos, Shelley Haus was CMO of Ulta Beauty before she died from cancer last June at age 49. Haus had been with Ulta Beauty for nearly eight years. Neiman Marcus creates two positions while CMO departs Neiman Marcus has made two senior-level hires, bringing in Nabil Aliffi as chief brand officer and promoting Stefanie Tsen Ward’s to chief retail officer. Both positions are newly created and report to Ryan Ross, president of Neiman Marcus Brand. CMO Darren "Daz" McColl has left the brand. Both new roles are a part of Neiman Marcus' pursuit of accelerating its growth strategy to "revolutionize luxury experiences." Aliffi's duties will revolve around elevating the brand's creative and customer touchpoints. Promoted from svp, customer engagement and west region integrated retail, Tsen Ward will work on the brand vision and on the company's integrated retail strategy. McColl spent about three years in the role of CMO with Neiman Marcus and played a central part in the brand's recent efforts to redefine luxury. "Over the last three years, I have been privileged, blessed and so lucky to have worked for one of the great brands in the U.S.—Neiman Marcus," McColl said in email Adweek acquired. "So of course leaving is tinted with sadness, but it's also filled with joy and love in the true spirit of the brand."