
Netflix red Envelope – H 2011
Getty ImagesAfter months of public-relations missteps, Netflix is shaking up its marketing management.
Leslie Kilgore, the company’s chief marketing officer for the past 12 years, will step down but join the board as a nonexecutive director, Netflix said Friday.
Kilgore will be replaced on an interim basis by Jessie Becker, an 11-year-veteran who is vp marketing.
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Also getting a boost is Jonathan Friedland, a former Disney executive who joined Netflix a year ago. Friedland will become chief communications officer at Netflix.
Becker and Friedland will report to Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings.
Netflix suffered several embarrassing marketing and communications blows in the latter part of 2011 revolving around a price increase and a hasty retreat from its plans to carve off its DVD service from its streaming product.
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“Leslie has been instrumental in our long-term success and our recent return to solid growth,” Hastings said. “We are delighted she is joining our board of directors and will continue to be a key part of Netflix.”