Snap names Time Warner’s former CMO as its VP of US Global Business Solutions

Reporting to Snap’s Chief Strategy Officer, Kristen O’Hara will oversee the Business Solutions groups tasked with building advertiser relationships.

Snap Inc. has hired Kristen O’Hara, the former CMO for Time Warner (now Warner Media), as its vice president of US global business solutions.

O’Hara will report to Snap Chief Strategy Officer Imran Khan and oversee the company’s US-based sales leaders charged with building advertiser relationships and helping marketers on the platform drive bigger results via Snapchat’s recently introduced data and analytic capabilities.

“Kristen knows what the top CMOs want because she was one of them herself. Her experience working with us as a client, invaluable insights as a member of our Partner Council, and track record as an agency and marketing leader will help us to better serve our partners,” says Khan.

Before joining Snap’s executive team, O’Hara led the Time Warner marketing team behind the $100 million deal with Snapchat to create shows and ads.

Working as a conduit between Snap’s chief strategy officer and the Business Solutions group, O’Hara will be responsible for the East Coast, West Coast and Central Business Solutions teams.

“Snapchat is a platform that offers marketers an unmatched combination of authenticity, creativity and scale. I’m excited to help brands unlock the true power of the platform to drive their business,” says O’Hara.

With this hire, Snap steps up its efforts to further its advertising business. In addition to broadening its advertising offerings this year — launching things like Sponsored Snappables and its ad marketplace for Discover partners — the company recently renamed its Sales division as its Business Solutions group, putting more emphasis on the consultative approach it is aiming to take with advertisers and marketers.

These moves are all part of the uphill battle Snap is facing around ad revenue. According to its Q2 2018 earnings report, the company saw a 44 percent year-over-year increase in revenue, but the $262 million it brought in during the second quarter of this year was nearly $25 million short of the $286 million it earned during the last quarter of 2017. Snapchat also experienced a two percent drop in its daily active users between Q1 and Q2 of this year.

As Snap puts more focus on its ad platform and builds out its sales staff, it will need to simultaneously drive more engagement with users if it hopes to deliver real ROI for advertisers.

O’Hara’s official start date is today, September 4. She will be located in Snap’s New York City office.