The craft marketplace merged its marketing and operations team after a major round of job cuts. Its newly appointed chief brand officer shares the early lessons from this unique way of working. 'Keep commerce human' campaign / Etsy YouTube Etsy recently launched its new brand platform, ‘Keep Commerce Human,’ and with it a suite of policy updates , genAI tools and UX improvements for its sellers.
The campaign puts a stake in the ground for what the retailer wants its brand communications to look like: not just nice marketing but marketing backed by policy and a functioning product. Etsy is a marketplace hosting 7 million sellers and 100 million buyers. Since it doesn’t have complete control over the user experience, the product images you see are posted by sellers, for example, its brand must be strong.
Last month, Etsy appointed its first chief brand officer, Brad Minor, who stepped into the role after two years as the company’s head of brand marketing and communications. “Over the last few months, Etsy has doubled down on protecting and strengthening its brand,” he says. “Etsy wants to send a signal to all stakeholders, to buyers and sellers and even the broader community, that it is focused on brand at the highest level.
” In December, Etsy cut 225 jobs , equivalent to 11% of its staff, after its sales had remained flat for two years. Its chief marketing officer, Ryan Scott, was let go in the restructure and marketing was consolidated into the operations team.