Dive Brief:

• Citi has hired BlackRock’s global marketing chief, Alex Craddock, to serve as the bank’s chief marketing and content officer, according to an internal memo issued Tuesday.
• Citi hasn’t had a CMO since 2021, when Carla Zakhem-Hassan left the bank to take the same role at JPMorgan Chase.
• A number of big banks have done away with the CMO role in recent years. Wells Fargo retired the position in 2021. Bank of America, in the same year, said it would not rehire for the position when its last CMO, Meredith Verdone, left. And Truist in October parted ways with CMO Vinoo Vijay.

Dive Insight:

Like Citi, some banks have re-molded the CMO role to include other facets of communication. Craddock’s title includes “content,” where Zakhem-Hassan’s did not, for example. By the same measure, Zakhem-Hassan, previously Citi’s chief brand officer, became CMO in 2020 when the bank combined its marketing and branding functions.

Likewise, at Truist, Vijay’s successor, Sherry Graziano, had previously served as head of digital banking and, as part of the bank’s reorganization last fall, her new title became head of digital, client experience and marketing.

Bank of America in 2021 set about to merge its 1,400-person global marketing team with the chief digital officer’s team after Verdone left.

In his LinkedIn post Tuesday announcing the move, Craddock noted he’s joining Citi as the bank’s leadership undertakes “a significant transformation.” That’s been a buzzword for Citi, referring to the years-long modernization of its tech systems the bank has undergone since an errant manual transfer of $900 million put a spotlight on its aging infrastructure.

But more recently, Citi has undergone a massive reorganization, cutting about 5,000 employees and doing away with layers of management. The overhaul is meant to save the bank $1 billion in annual costs. 

Craddock’s role was created “to oversee Citi’s enterprise and business marketing and set the strategy for producing original content and thought leadership,” Citi’s chief client officer, David Livingstone, wrote in Tuesday’s memo. Craddock, who will start next month, will report to Livingstone.

Craddock had been BlackRock’s marketing chief for the past two years and had also served stints at Visa and Hewlett-Packard, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

At BlackRock, he was tasked with developing and executing a global marketing strategy aimed at accelerating the company’s commercial growth, as well as boosting the asset manager’s brand and fueling growth for its core products, Livingstone wrote. 

“I expect him quickly to put that experience to good use as we integrate our enterprise and business marketing, establish leadership with our high quality insights and content, and accelerate revenue growth through greater impact with clients,” Livingstone wrote.

The bank reports its first-quarter earnings Friday.