Within weeks of the new CMO starting, it became clear he brought a rigid, outdated playbook he's applied at multiple companies. His public reputation prior to KDP is marked by poor leadership, and direct warnings from peers at his previous employer who said he was pushed out despite PR spinning his exit as a choice to "spend more time with family." That company is still rebuilding what he destroyed.
We braced for layoffs – his trademark move. Since November, he's executed them in ongoing waves. His town hall speech after the second wave was tone deaf once he realized he was on mute for the first 4 minutes. He assured us that he "doesn't take this too seriously" before being visually prompted by someone behind the camera to correct his statement to "taking things seriously" regarding laying people off.
He has prioritized outsourcing everything externally, most notably to Publicis – a pattern repeated at previous jobs. Internally, people speculate about the motivations for his loyalty. Last week, he laid off the in-house agency with zero warning or handoff period. It's resulted in chaos and panic.
Morale has plummeted. Leadership communication consists mostly of buzzwords, recycled anecdotes, and the CMO name-dropping his time at Google – so much so that we've started to count how many times he says "Google" as a way to cope. Monthly "Donuts with Drew" sessions are one-way keynotes dressed up as team engagement. Tone-deaf moments are frequent, and genuine culture-building is nonexistent.
The former CMO, Andrew Springate, was a people-first leader who built a collaborative and safe culture. I'd welcome his return, and many others would too.
Bottom line: if you're considering a marketing role at KDP, give it time. This was a great place to work – and hopefully will be again. But under current leadership, the organization is in turmoil with no end in sight.
