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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Kevin Hunter has been named president & CEO at data-driven, omni-channel media provider Catalina, effective immediately. Hunter will also serve on Catalina’s board of directors.
Kevin Hunter
A six-year veteran of the company, Hunter had been serving in this role on an interim basis for the past three months. Previously, he was Chief Commercial Officer & Head of Innovation.
Since joining Catalina in 2017 as Vice President of Digital & Consumer Products, Hunter has helped drive the evolution of the company’s Omnichannel Managed Media Services portfolio to provide some of the world’s leading and emerging brands and retailers with full-funnel marketing solutions. Having pioneered the first 1:1 personalized in-store media channel 40 years ago with innovative technology that provided value-driven coupons at check-out, Catalina’s aggressive diversification now enables it to precisely target, deliver and measure personalized advertising and promotional messages across In-Store, Connected TV (CTV), Out of Home and Digital Media channels.
“Kevin’s deep knowledge of Catalina’s business and differentiated data-driven portfolio of offerings, as well as his understanding of ever-evolving consumer and market trends, make him an excellent choice to lead the company,” said Mike Iaccarino, chairman of Catalina’s board of directors. “Over the last six years, Kevin helped build a commercial organization focused on innovation and collaboration, and he’s been instrumental in completing the company’s omnichannel transformation. Today, Kevin and team are focused on delivering strong results for Catalina’s retail, brand, and agency partners by helping them maximize consumer relationships, personalize shopping experiences and, most importantly, drive growth.”
Said Hunter, “I am humbled and excited by the opportunity to lead Catalina in a broader way. As we celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary, it is an opportune moment to reflect on our remarkable journey and the transformation we’ve achieved. It started with delivering value for shoppers inside a retailer’s four walls and now we are helping our clients across the US and Europe reach shoppers – and measurably impact purchasing behavior – wherever they may be. We have a differentiated set of capabilities, a knowledgeable go-to-market team focused on meeting our clients’ needs, and talented cross-functional teams focused on further advancing our AI-enabled data science capabilities, including advanced personalization, across our portfolio of full funnel marketing solutions.”
Catalina’s rich, real-time blend of granular, purchase-based data and shopper insights into nearly all U.S. households help marketers understand what motivates buyers, both offline and on. In addition to identifying the right audiences and engaging shoppers anywhere through precisely orchestrated, highly personalized messages in-store and across digital, TV and OOH media, Catalina measures the success of its campaigns and even tracks the responsiveness and sales impact across channels during a campaign, enabling inflight adjustments that help marketers optimize their media spend.
Earlier in Hunter’s 25-year career, he held several senior leadership positions, including: President, Head of Americas, Corporate Development and Product Strategy for Walkbase; President of inMarket; co-founder, and COO of Gimbal; and occupying various senior roles with Qualcomm such as Head of Strategy & Product for the Retail Solutions Division, Global Marketing Development, and Product Management for Qualcomm Labs, among other Business Development and Product Management positions. He is the co-inventor of over 50 U.S. granted and pending patents.
Hunter succeeds Wayne Powers, who assumed the top leadership role at Catalina in October 2019. Powers left the company in early August to pursue new opportunities.
