Hulu Marketing Chief Jenny Wall to Exit (EXCLUSIVE)
Hulu’s marketing chief Jenny Wall is leaving the company, Variety has learned exclusively.
Wall, who served as the company’s SVP and head of marketing for the last three years, made the decision to exit on her own, without another position lined up. She will stay on through the end of May.
Her position will be filled with a chief marketing officer, who will guide the company through its upcoming expansion to a live TV service.
“Since she first joined Hulu, Jenny has played an integral role in developing our brand, growing our audience and building us into the company we are today. She will always be part of the Hulu family,” said Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins. “While we will miss her leadership and creative sensibilities, we support Jenny’s decision, and are fortunate she has built a strong team of marketing leads who will help see us into Hulu’s next stage.”
Wall joined Hulu in 2014 from rival Netflix, where she developed new brand campaigns and promotional efforts for its original series, including “House of Cards,” “Orange Is the New Black,” and “Arrested Development.”
“It’s been an incredible three years at Hulu. I’ve had the opportunity to help elevate the brand, launch the company’s slate of originals and build a world-class marketing organization,” said Wall. “I am so thankful to Mike for his guidance and leadership, and am indescribably proud of my team and everything we’ve accomplished together.”
Wall exits as Hulu prepares for significant changes in its executive leadership and business model. The company is in the process of searching for a chief content officer who would oversee content and original programming for the streaming service. The new executive will report to Hopkins, with current head of content Craig Erwich set to stay on in a role focusing on original programming and reporting to the new executive. Erwich has built Hulu’s original programming efforts from the ground up, and developed the service’s most ambitious and anticipated original series, the forthcoming adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Hulu is also preparing to launch its own digital MVPD service this spring. The move to offer live television will put Hulu in a crowded field that already includes skinny-bundle products from Dish Network’s Sling TV, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, and Sony PlayStation Vue, with Google’s YouTube TV set debut in the next few months.
Prior to Netflix, Wall was CMO of entertainment agency BLT Communications, creating marketing campaigns for TV, films, and brands. She has also worked for multiple ad agencies, including Crew Creative, Go Marketing, and DDB Needham. In addition, Wall worked at HBO from 1995 to 2002, where she was part of the team that created the landmark “It’s not TV. It’s HBO” campaign.
Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
