Fab.com hires former Vonage CMO

Fab.com, an online retailer of design-forward house wares, clothing and accessories, has named Scott Ballantyne their first global CMO. Ballantyne confirmed to Direct Marketing News that he would assume the marketing duties initially performed by Jason Goldberg, the company's founder and CEO. As global CMO, Ballantyne will report directly to Goldberg.

The global CMO position formed naturally, Ballantyne said, when Goldberg decided to increase his focus on products. Ballantyne will oversee the company's marketing entities, which include brand loyalty and customer retention.

“This was the right time to relinquish the marketing reigns,” Ballantyne said. “It's focusing single-mindedly on what each of us do best, and I'm a career marketer.”

Before joining Fab, Ballantyne worked as CMO of Vonage and, prior to that, he served as SVP at Tendril, a clean energy start-up based in Boulder, Colo. According to Goldberg's blog post announcing Ballantyne's hire, Ballantyne grew Tendril's revenues by 300% and won 8 of 9 global RFPs.

Fab will continue to build its marketing team over the next year, Ballantyne said. Though the team's growth will be continuous, he added, it remains unclear at this point exactly how large the team will be.

“I was one of very many new faces at the front door this morning,” he said. “I think we're hiring fairly rapidly.”

Fab currently has 200 employees worldwide—a significant increase from the three employees the company had one year ago, Ballantyne said.

“I watched from afar with a great deal of both envy and hope for success,” Ballantyne said of Fab.com, adding that he and Goldberg have been professional and personal friends for 10 years.