Former Uber Executive Becomes First CEO of SMC
Stagwell , the challenger network built to transform marketing, has promoted Elspeth Rollert to chief executive officer of the Stagwell Marketing Cloud (SMC), the company’s proprietary suite of SaaS products built for modern marketers. In this new role – SMC’s first CEO appointment – she is responsible for overall strategic direction, management, and performance of the organization. She also currently serves as an executive in-residence at the NYU Stern School of Business, where she mentors MBA students interested in careers in technology.
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“Elspeth has helped accelerate SMC into an industry-leading suite of martech innovation, one of our fastest growing business units, and a core part of our business strategy,” said Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn. “From Microsoft to Uber to working with us, I know she can drive business results for legacy and challenger brands alike and am looking forward to building SMC to be a great brand in modern marketing.”
Rollert, who works closely with SMC Chief Technology Officer Mansoor Basha, has served as SMC’s chief marketing officer since February 2022. In this role she’s helped shepherd the growth of the unit via product development and acquisition, content marketing, event activations, and strategic partnerships into a suite of tech-powered marketing solutions driving the future of business transformation, including:
- Entering into a partnership with Google Cloud to develop marketing-focused generative AI solutions
- The formation of Harris Quest, a suite of AI-powered real-time research products
- The launch of ARound, the stadium-level shared augmented reality platform, with the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Royals, and Cleveland Cavaliers
- The acquisitions of AI-powered SaaS platform Apollo Program, insights platform Maru, and location-based consumer behavior platform, Epicenter Experience (now The People Platform)
As part of Stagwell’s commitment to founder-led entrepreneurship, Rollert also oversees the company’s internal “Shark Tank” competition, designed to unleash employee innovation and fund up to $1M for transformative technology ideas that solve modern marketers’ pain points. Previous winners include SmartAssets, ARound, PRophet, WonderCave, and Harris Brand Platform, now part of the SMC portfolio of in-market products.
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Elspeth previously spent six and a half years at Uber, where she last served as Global Head of Partnership Marketing, providing strategic leadership and global coordination across Uber’s portfolio of brands, including Uber Rides and Eats. Prior to that she held product management, analyst and consultant roles at Microsoft, Penn Schoen Berland and IBM.
“I’m delighted to have been appointed to lead Stagwell Marketing Cloud. It is an extraordinary company passionate about building data-driven software solutions for the modern marketer,” said Elspeth Rollert, CEO, Stagwell Marketing Cloud. “As a marketer myself, I deeply understand and empathize with the modern marketer whose breadth of responsibilities are ever increasing. They need the latest technologies that truly understand their workflows to keep up and drive outcomes, and that’s what we’re committed to delivering at Stagwell Marketing Cloud. I’m grateful to Mark for this opportunity and for his steadfast belief in the power of technology to transform marketing.”
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