Motorway swipes right to bring in senior Bumble chief

walklandMoving from online dating to online motor sales might not be a well-trodden path but Bumble’s marketing chief has made the leap to used car marketplace Motorway as the firm seeks to shift its marketing up a gear.

Naomi Walkland takes up the role of chief marketing officer at the UK business on May 20, having worked at Bumble since 2018. She joined as marketing lead for EMEA before taking on the role of vice-president of EMEA and APAC marketing in 2021, responsible for leading the international marketing team, driving new customer and revenue growth outside of the US.

Walkland was also part of the team which took Bumble public in 2021 and built and scaled the marketing team and operations across EMEA and APAC.

During her time at the company, she expanded Bumble’s brand presence into over 15 markets worldwide and led some of Bumble’s most impactful global campaigns, including My Love is Black Love, a celebration and representation of Black Love in Britain.

However, she was not involved in the dating site’s latest global campaign for which Bumble has apologised after it appeared to make fun of celibate women, with slogans including “you know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer”, and “thou shall not give up dating and become a nun”.

At Motorway, Walkland will report to the CEO, and be responsible for Motorway’s marketing strategy and oversee brand and product marketing, growth marketing, communications, and business marketing and aim to help accelerate Motorway to the next stage of growth.

She is passionate and committed to diversity and inclusion in the marketing and creative industries. She sits on the global board of the Marketing Society and is an advisor for OK Mentor, which provides free in-person training and mentorship programmes for women graduates looking to break into creative industries.

Motorway CEO and co-founder Tom Leathes commented: “We are so excited to welcome Naomi to the Motorway team. Her track record of leading world-class teams and developing innovative marketing strategies at high growth companies is exactly what we need to take Motorway to the next level.”

Walkland added: “Motorway has defined a whole new market within the used car industry. I’m thrilled to join the Motorway team and contribute to the company’s momentum and growth. Their plans for continued innovation for their consumer and dealer partners are exciting, and I’m looking forward to being part of Motorway’s next phase of growth.”

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