Pinterest has opened its first Australian office with Carin Lee-Skelton appointed as country manager, and Spotify’s former head of sales Cassie Gilbert on board.
Lee-Skelton had previously been at Facebook for more than six years, most recently as a business account manager. She was named country manager for Australia and New Zealand in April after serving as its partner manager in the UK for four years and has been building its local team.
Also already confirmed for the Sydney-based team is Gilbert, who recently left her position at Spotify and will be stepping into the same role at Pinterest.
Frank Masterson has also joined the team as its partner manager after leaving Buzzfeed as brand development strategist.
Also joining as partner managers is Kimberley Hollis, previously at ComScore, Scott McIntyre, previously at Google, and Shannon Rootsey, also previously at Google.
The discovery social media platform currently has a team of less than 10 people and is currently recruiting for additional people for its sales team.
Pinterest recently posted a 62% increase in global revenue after rolling out its advertising business to more countries.
Since rolling its advertising business in Australia in 2017, Pinterest says its seen a steady increase in demand from advertisers in Australia and New Zealand.
“With Carin’s proven industry knowledge and years of experience driving results for brands on Pinterest, we’re looking forward to further developing the opportunities for businesses in Australia and New Zealand with a local team under her leadership,” Jon Kaplan, global head of sales at Pinterest says.
Pinterest has 7.5 million monthly unique visitors in Australia and New Zealand according to Nielsen and has already been working with local advertisers across retail, home beauty and technology. Big brands such as Myer, Domain and Woolworths are already advertisers on the platform.
Myer on Pinterest
The opening of a Sydney office makes it the third office for the company in the Asia Pacific region, following one in Tokyo and Singapore’s office which was opened in July.
"People go on Pinterest to try new things like outfit ideas, recipes, beauty looks, dream trips and even home remodels,” Lee-Skelton says.
“As people come to Pinterest full of intent, businesses have a unique opportunity to inspire them to bring their ideas to life.”
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