HomeAway today named Visa’s Mariano Dima as chief marketing officer (CMO). In this position, Dima will oversee all global marketing, corporate communications and brand initiatives.
As former Visa Europe CMO, Dima oversaw strategic marketing, brand communications, advertising, sponsorships, and insights and analytics. Additionally, Dima managed a product portfolio that included credit, debit, commercial and new payment developments such as e-commerce, digital wallet, mobile payments and contactless technologies.
Dima’s seven-year tenure with Visa Europe was punctuated by the company’s wildly popular 2012 Olympic-integrated marketing campaign, “Life flows better with Visa,” that featured a series of ads including “Running Man” with Usain Bolt and “Flow Faster.” Under Dima, the company was also recognized by BrandZ as one of the 10 most valuable brands in the world in 2013.
“Mariano has elevated some of the world’s most recognizable brands,” says Brian Sharples, chief executive officer of HomeAway. “As our industry continues to grow, he has the experience and passion to create an emotional connection between our brand and the families and groups who stay in vacation rentals.”
“HomeAway is more than the leading online marketplace for vacation rentals; it is a brand that connects families and friends to share the most memorable experiences of their lives,” says Dima. “I look forward to the opportunity to help transform the vacation rental customer experience, creating platforms for connection and enjoyment and telling the HomeAway story in a very impactful way.”
The announcement comes after institutional criticism about HomeAway’s marketing allocation. JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth observed in late May, “We believe increasing marketing spend is appropriate to grow the PPB business and we are also encouraged by healthy renewal rates and strong subscription pricing growth, but we believe visibility will be limited in the near-term and return on marketing spend could take some time.”
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