Gannett names chief marketing, strategy officer

McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, announced Tuesday it has hired Mayur Gupta as its chief marketing and strategy officer, a newly created position.

Gupta most recently served as chief marketing officer at meal preparation company Freshly and, before that, was global vice president for growth and marketing for music streaming company Spotify. In his new role, he will focus on growing the company’s subscription business for its audience of nearly 175 million in the U.S. and United Kingdom.

In October 2019, Gupta joined Gannett’s board of directors, which has begun a search process for replacing him on the board.

“Mayur has a strong track record as a growth and content marketer at big CPGs like Kimberly-Clark as well as disruptive start-ups like Spotify and Freshly that have reshaped their categories,” Gannett Chairman and CEO Michael Reed said in a statement. “Mayur has already played a key role on our board over the past year and we are excited to leverage his unique capabilities to continue to transform our business model and drive purpose-driven growth.”

Gannett announced in early April that it was negotiating with its vendors, creditors and pension regulators in order to preserve the company’s liquidity. It was noticeably not on the Fortune 1000 list released in mid-May.

The company also announced mass layoffs, furlough and pay cuts in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The owner of USA Today, Gannett has a portfolio of 261 local daily newspapers in 46 states and Guam, including the Arizona Republic, the Des Moines Register and the Burlington Free Press.

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