Rakuten Marketing has announced the appointment of Stuart Simms as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), moving up from his previous role as president. Meanwhile, Tony Zito, who recently held the role of CEO will be taking a new position within the business.
As CEO, Simms will support in driving more compelling, tailored and inspiring digital advertising experiences for advertisers and consumers while also investing in AI and machine learning to predict audiences’ needs, interests and preferences.
“We are committed to leveraging the latest in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, along with Rakuten’s massive data assets, to deliver ad experiences that people love, and ads that enable our brands to profit. I’m truly excited to make this promise a reality,” said Simms.
Altogether, Simms brings several years of experience in building high-growth and performance in addition to leading global digital commerce, SaaS and cloud-services organisations.
In his role as president, Simms successfully enhanced the company’s corporate structure to further align Rakuten Marketing’s product, technology and services divisions. Before his time at the company, Simms was CEO of Rakuten Fits Me, served as general for Venda (sold to Netsuite) and was GM at Rackspace where he ran the highly acclaimed European Cloud Services business.
The announcement follows Rakuten Marketing’s rebrand as an integrated marketing solutions provider, driving strategic services and consumer journey insights through affiliate, display and search to maximise total investment and performance.