Uber Hires Apple's Bozoma Saint John as Chief Brand Officer

Uber has hired an Apple veteran to help it tell its story better as it looks to recover from a series of reports about its troubled corporate culture.
The ride-hailing company on Tuesday announced that it has tapped Bozoma Saint John, a former Apple marketing executive, as its first chief brand officer.
Bozoma "Boz" Saint John is the Chief Brand Officer at Uber. Until June 2017, she was a marketing executive at Apple Music after joining the company in its acquisition of Beats Music. The Ghanaian-born, "Boz has a long track record of successfully creating emotional connections between people and the products they love," CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement. "Her creativity and deep understanding of consumers will allow us to build the same love and appreciation for Uber's brand as we've built for Uber's service."

Prior to joining Uber, Saint John served as head of global consumer marketing for Apple Music and iTunes, where she oversaw many of the brands' popular advertising campaigns. She even appeared in an Apple commercial alongside Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine and James Corden that aired during the 2016 Emmy Awards. Before Apple, she was head of the music and entertainment marketing group at Pepsi-Cola.
Saint John's appointment comes at a crucial time for Uber, which became the subject of a consumer backlash in January after it continued to serve JFK Airport in New York during protests over President Donald Trump's travel ban. The San Francisco-based company is also undergoing an investigation into its corporate culture following reports of sexual harassment.
Uber on Tuesday said it had terminated 20 people as a result of an ongoing investigation into claims of discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying or other incidents. An Uber spokeswoman told The Hollywood Reporter that the company has investigated 215 of these claims, the majority of which were raised in the San Francisco office.

As part of Uber's effort to address these issues, the spokeswoman said the company has established a confidential help line, created a system to log and track all complaints and updated its employee handbook, among other changes.
The company has also hired Harvard Business School's Frances Frai as its first senior vp leadership and strategy. She will be in charge of training managers and helping with human resources. 

June 07, 2017