Kaboodle Appoints New Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Content and Community

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaboodle (www.kaboodle.com), part of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, and the largest and fastest-growing social Web site for passionate shoppers, has announced two key changes within its executive management team. Shari Gunn, previously Vice President of Advertising and Business Development has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Erika Lenkert, previously Vice President of Content, has been promoted to Vice President of Content and Community. In their expanded roles, Gunn and Lenkert will continue to drive Kaboodle's overall business strategy, focusing on further developing and monetizing Kaboodle as a socially driven product-discovery engine.

As CMO, Gunn is responsible for achieving top-line growth objectives in both revenue (primarily display advertising and affiliate programs) and audience share. In 2009, Gunn lead a team that developed programs resulting in Kaboodle's display advertising revenues more than doubling over the prior year. Gunn has conceptualized and executed ground-breaking online advertising campaigns, including an initiative that received recognition in the 2009 Internet Advertising Competition for "Best Consumer Goods Integrated Ad Campaign" for a national retailer. Gunn now also leads Kaboodle's consumer marketing function, including its long-term brand development strategy, audience acquisition and consumer insights initiatives, marketing communications, and the development of strategic partnerships. While supporting Kaboodle's overall business objectives to generate new revenue opportunities, Gunn will continue to work closely with Lenkert to optimize the overall shopping discovery experience for the site's users.

Prior to joining Kaboodle in 2008, Gunn led the advertising solutions group for Hearst Magazines Digital Media in New York where she directed the development of online advertising programs and platforms for a network of more than a dozen magazine and non-magazine sites, including Cosmopolitan.com, GoodHousekeeping.com, MarieClaire.com and Seventeen.com. Gunn was also responsible for managing business integration activities for two acquisitions in the digital media space, Kaboodle and RealAge, Inc. Before joining Hearst, Gunn spent four years at PRIMEDIA in Los Angeles and also co-founded the online media company, FreeRealTime.com, in the financial information services space.

As VP of Content and Community, Lenkert oversees the site's overall content strategy, including its look, feel, and voice; social media and community engagement initiatives, and connection between people, the products they love, and their ability to share their style and help others discover great finds. She is also responsible for syndicated content strategies, content partnerships, and sponsored content quality control. She was the driving force behind the recent Kaboodle redesign, which focused on heightening user engagement and offering immediate value to the user through visual, functional, and content-related site improvements.

Today Lenkert continues to drive an editorial strategy that helps surface and define the latest fashion and lifestyle trends and make them easily accessible to users. She also works closely with Gunn to forge new content partnerships and create advertising opportunities that are honest, contextually relevant, and truly useful to users and successful for clients.

Prior to joining Kaboodle, Lenkert, a fifteen-year media industry veteran and lifestyle expert, was the founding editor for Glam Media and WineShopper.com (now Wine.com) where she built the editorial teams, established style guidelines, conceptualized site navigation, forged content partnerships, and played key roles in business development. Her work has appeared in dozens of national magazines, including In Style, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Food Network magazine, Elle Decor, Real Simple, Food & Wine, and Travel & Leisure. She has also written for various online destinations, including iVillage.com and Epicurious.com and penned several lifestyle books. She continues to be a highly sought-after expert in all matters lifestyle.

"These expanded-role appointments reinforce the strength of our senior management team," said Manish Chandra, founder and CEO of Kaboodle. "Shari and Erika's strengths complement each other. Together, they provide Kaboodle with the strategic support and leadership necessary in order to continue to truly innovate for our community, partners and the shopping world in general, further underscoring Kaboodle's dominant position in online shopping."

The ongoing development of Kaboodle's shopping community coupled with site enhancements and innovative monetization strategies resulted in an increase in total revenue of more than 70% from 2008 to 2009 in a challenged economy, and will continue to be the primary focus for the leadership team. Kaboodle works directly with Hearst Magazines Digital Media to deliver compelling advertising and strategic social media programs to its partners.

About Kaboodle

Kaboodle (www.kaboodle.com) a Hearst-owned and operated property, is the Internet's largest and fastest-growing social website for passionate shoppers. Kaboodle's shopping tools allow users to add products from anywhere online to their Kaboodle lists. As a result, it is home to the world's most exclusive catalog of user-curated products, making it the trusted source for discovering, sharing, and buying products from retailers large and small. With more than 16 million unique monthly visitors and a devoted community perpetually adding more finds, Kaboodle provides the ultimate platform for connecting people with products. Kaboodle was acquired by Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) in August 2007 and is part of the Hearst Magazines Digital Media site network.

SOURCE Kaboodle