NPR Names Chief Marketing Officer
• Michael Smith, a recognized brand marketing executive has been named Chief Marketing Officer of NPR, starting April 6. Smith brings with him more than 30 years of experience in entertainment brand marketing, content, digital, and revenue generating brand extensions, most recently as SVP, GM Digital Channels for Scripps Networks.
The announcement of Smith’s hire was made by John Lansing, President & CEO of NPR, who said, “Michael is a strategic thinker and an extremely creative media executive who has spent his career finding new ways people consume content across an increasingly diverse audience population. He is joining NPR at a time when we must extend the reach of our content beyond our traditional audiences to fully serve the American public and he is uniquely qualified to help us do so.”
Smith remarked, “It’s essential to NPR’s future that its content and audience reflect America’s full diversity. As a Jamaican immigrant and avid NPR station and podcast listener, I’ve been personally engaged by the new and diverse voices in NPR’s content. But NPR’s overall audience is still not very diverse. I believe the content has broad appeal to the next generation of audiences, we just need to get our story out to more people. I’m so excited to join a team of talented marketing and communications pros committed to this effort.”
Smith earned his MBA in Marketing & Finance from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and received his bachelor’s in Science, Technology and Society from Stanford University. [Photo courtesy of Michael Smith]
