Uber has appointed Thomas Ranese as vice-president global marketing, weeks after announcing a major streamlining of its marketing operations.
Ranese joins from Google where he spent 10 years, most recently as VP of global hardware marketing. He also held roles including VP marketing for Android, retail, hardware and was director of Google's brand studio.
He will be responsible for marketing Uber products and businesses around the world and will report to senior VP of marketing and public affairs, Jill Hazelbaker, who took over responsibility for marketing in June from global chief marketing officer Rebecca Messina, who departed after less than a year in the role.
Ranese's appointment follows a significant streamlining of Uber's global marketing operations. In July it announced it would axe 400 marketing jobs – around one third of all marketing roles – in a cost-cutting drive.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the layoffs were necessary because many teams were too big, with overlapping work, which created "mediocre results".
That announcement followed disappointing first quarter results in May, which saw bookings increase but losses reach $1bn (£829m). In its second quarter results, posted last week, losses increased to $5.24bn with revenues falling short of analysts expectations.
"Thomas is a brilliant strategist and a beloved people manager with deep global marketing expertise – exactly the right person to help take us to the next level," Hazelbaker said.
Ranese added: "Uber is one of the rare companies that’s become a verb – and an iconic brand that’s redefining how we move, eat, work and more in cities around the world. As Dara has said, marketing is more important to Uber than ever, and I’m excited to work with teams around the world to strengthen our marketing capabilities, drive growth and help transform the Uber brand."
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