• by Danielle Oster , 5 hours ago

The world’s largest real estate company by number of agents has a new chief marketer. Keller Williams hired Sandra Howard as its new CMO, effective Aug. 18.

In the role, Howard will be tasked with “strategic marketing, branding, and communications-driven innovation and initiatives,” according to her executive bio on Keller Williams’ website.

“With two decades of shaping brand strategy and delivering transformative results for some of the world’s most recognized companies, Sandra brings a wealth of experience to elevate our competitive position and the brands of our agents and franchisees, which is key to our continued robust growth,” Keller Williams CEO Chris Czarnecki said in a statement.

Howard joins Keller Williams from Dallas-based full-service ad agency Lerma, where she majored in campaigns for clients in the wellness and lifestyle space. Prior to that, she spent over a decade at AT&T, where she “unified the company’s messaging and brand story across all platforms and business units.”  Earlier,  she served as Southwest Airlines’ advertising and marketing communications director and held senior consumer insights roles at global consultancy Edelman and Burger King.

“In today’s market, relevance beats recognition. People don’t choose brands they know; they choose the ones that choose them back,” Howard said in a statement.

Howard’s appointment follows Czarnecki taking over as CEO earlier this year, after Mark Willis stepped down from the role and transitioned to a position as chief leadership officer. This June, Keller Williams announced a partnership with visual communications platform Canva, giving its agents enhanced access to the platform.