PayPal Hires New CMO

PayPal appointed Allison Johnson, a marketing veteran with over two decades of experience in her field, as the company’s new executive VP and chief marketing officer (CMO) on Monday (Jan. 14), according to a release by the company.

Johnson will lead strategic marketing for PayPal and its associated brands, to help build on transformational work that the company says is already underway. She’ll work in the company headquarters in San Jose and will report directly to CEO Dan Schulman.

“Allison is a highly experienced, much-admired marketing leader with a proven track record of building global brands, making her a natural addition to our leadership team,” Schulman said. “PayPal has made strong progress over the past several years to advance our position as the leading digital payments platform and one of the most dynamic and valuable brands in the world. Allison’s experience and vision will build on that progress and help propel PayPal forward during our next phase of growth.”

Johnson said she’s looking forward to her new job.

“I’m proud to be joining a company committed to expanding participation in the global economy through innovative and inclusive payment products and services,” Johnson said. “I was an early convert to PayPal’s vision of fast, secure online payments. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with this remarkable team to accelerate PayPal’s growth as we continue to define the future of global payments.”

Johnson brings a vast knowledge of marketing to her position. She was the founder and managing partner at hybrid marketing and venture capital firm West, where she worked with startups to facilitate product and market fit. Her past clients include Square, Twitter and Braintree, before it was acquired by PayPal. She also worked as Apple’s VP of worldwide marketing communications, where she helped with the launch of the iPod, iPhone and iPad.