Rocket Cos., the Detroit-based fintech platform company including mortgage, real estate, and other financial services businesses, has named Jonathan Mildenhall as its first group Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), effective Jan. 8.
In this new role, Mildenhall will be responsible for creating a unified voice for all businesses under the Rocket Cos. umbrella, with all marketing and communications teams for the company’s brands reporting directly to him.
“Jonathan is one of the top marketing minds in the world, with a strong reputation for consistently delivering compelling campaigns that break through the clutter and become socially relevant,” says Varun Krishna, CEO for Rocket Cos. “I have been highly impressed by the number of incredible stories we have to tell. Countless customers, team members and vendors have told us how working with Rocket changed their lives. I am looking forward to Jonathan and the team creating new and innovative ways to share these inspiring narratives with the world.”
Mildenhall brings more than 30 years of experience building and promoting large, brand-focused companies. In 2018, he co-founded TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, a branding and marketing consultancy. Over the past five years, the business has helped some of the world’s most influential companies scale their impact including Pinterest, LinkedIn, Zalando, PepsiCo, NextDoor, and Walmart. Mildenhall will remain chairman of the business.
“The role Rocket plays in helping people achieve the American Dream through home ownership and financial freedom is massive and cannot be overstated,” says Mildenhall. “I am honored to be given the opportunity to work with this talented team, led by Varun, to tell stories that will inspire and motivate. It will be our mission to create integrated marketing campaigns that live up to the extraordinary social impact that Rocket makes every day.”
Prior to founding his own firm, Mildenhall served as the first CMO of Airbnb and led the marketing through a period of unprecedented growth of the company.
He and his team helped the brand become a household name while the short-term rental company expanded from 400,000 homes on the platform to more than 4.5 million residences in 191 countries in just three and a half years. Airbnb aired its first Super Bowl commercial under Mildenhall.
Before his time at Airbnb, Mildenhall led Coca-Cola’s marketing as vice president of global advertising strategy and content excellence. He and his team help create Coke’s global marketing campaign “Open Happiness,” which helped the brand see its most profitable growth period in 20 years.
During his time leading Coke’s marketing, it was named the creative marketer of the year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Mildenhall, a British-American, is also a board member of GoFundMe and Fanatics. He has been included on Forbes’ list of the World’s most influential CMOs, Business Insider’s list of the most innovative CMOs and won Adweek’s Brand Genius award.
