• by Tanya Gazdik , April 9, 2024

Citi is hiring BlackRock Inc.’s Alex Craddock to oversee its marketing and content work.

Craddock, who joined BlackRock in 2015 after spending 12 years at Visa, will be Citi’s chief marketing and content officer, according to a memo. 

“New York-based Citigroup hasn’t had someone dedicated to running its marketing operations since Carla Zakhem-Hassan moved to rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2021,” according to BNN Bloomberg. “An expanded role means Craddock will oversee Citigroup's enterprise and business marketing and strategy for original content and thought leadership, according to the memo.”

Citi chief client officer David Livingstone announced the hire on Tuesday in a memo to staff that was seen by various media outlets. 

“As part of the firm’s enhanced focus on clients, we created the chief marketing and content officer role to oversee Citi’s enterprise and business marketing and set the strategy for producing original content and thought leadership,” Livingstone said in the memo. “These activities are central to how clients experience Citi. Bringing them together in the client organization improves their coordination and ensures our clients are at the heart of our marketing and content-delivery strategies.”

Craddock will lead Citi’s enterprise marketing and brand engagement team, as well as the marketing teams for services, commercial banking, wealth and U.S. personal banking, client access and strategic engagement, according to PR Week.

Along with new hires, CEO Jane Fraser has overhauled Citi’s sprawling structure, which includes cutting costs by laying off 5,000 employees. 

“Next, they want to see growth in wealth management and investment banking,” according to Reuters. “Wall Street investors have welcomed Fraser's overhaul, but warned the CEO has major challenges ahead to boost returns and catch up with rivals, including regulatory problems, lackluster earnings and an unsettled workforce.”