Mayur Gupta, Kraken’s first CMO
Cryptocurrency alternate platform Kraken has named Gannett Co. govt Mayur Gupta its first chief advertising and marketing officer as competitors within the fast-growing class heats up.
Mr. Gupta had been chief advertising and marketing and technique officer at publishing firm Gannett since 2020, and earlier than that held advertising and marketing management roles at meal-subscription firm Freshly and audio streaming service Spotify Expertise SA.
Kraken, a part of Payward Inc., intends to extend its advertising and marketing following its launch of a shopper app final 12 months, mentioned Jesse Powell, chief govt and co-founder. It beforehand targeted on the shopper expertise as its major technique of attracting customers since its founding in 2011, he mentioned.
Cryptocurrency firms have been quickly ramping up their advertising and marketing efforts, punctuated by the looks of a number of in high-profile commercials throughout this 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl. Coinbase International Inc. ran a 60-second Tremendous Bowl advert displaying a bouncing QR code, for instance, and a Crypto.com industrial through the recreation starred LeBron James.
Mr. Gupta mentioned he plans on utilizing advertising and marketing to extend understanding of cryptocurrencies amongst customers and drive Kraken’s development within the course of. He additionally plans to assist Kraken develop emotional and cultural connections with customers and shoppers equivalent to particular person buyers, drawing on his expertise at subscription-driven companies the place such relationships had been necessary, he added.
“We’re not in a race to be the loudest voice,” he mentioned.
A number of different crypto exchanges have additionally employed CMOs in current months. Coinbase employed Kate Rouch, beforehand an govt at Meta Platforms Inc., as its first CMO final August. Bittrex International GmbH employed Paul Grier as CMO in January. Regulatory challenges have spurred the adoption of CMO roles throughout the crypto sector, Bittrex Chief Govt Stephen Stonberg mentioned.
Kraken has acquired criticism for declining to close down all Russian customers’ accounts within the wake of the nation’s invasion of Ukraine, in addition to for closing its headquarters in San Francisco, calling town unsafe.
Kraken is monitoring developments in Ukraine and Russia, and has acted in accordance with U.S. sanctions, the corporate mentioned. Kraken has no plans to determine a brand new world headquarters, it mentioned.
These choices mirror the corporate’s values round independence, transparency and safety, values which might be according to what crypto represents, Mr. Gupta mentioned.
