LinkedIn has appointed Heather Freeland as its first Chief Brand Officer. This marks a major step for the professional networking site as it seeks to strengthen its global brand and customer marketing strategy.

Freeland joins LinkedIn from Adobe, where she served as Chief Brand Officer for almost three years. During that time, she also sat on Spotify’s CMO Advisory Council. With over two decades of experience in brand building, digital marketing, and creative leadership, she brings a wealth of expertise to the role.

Her career spans senior roles at Digitas, MTV Networks Digital, and Gilt City. She later spent seven years at Meta as Head of Global Marketing Communications. At Meta, she founded The Guild, the company’s in-house creative and digital agency. She also helped launch key ad solutions such as mobile ads, News Feed advertising, Custom Audiences, and video ads.

Freeland then joined Lyft as Vice President of Marketing, leading a 150-person team across brand, product, and creative marketing. In 2022, she moved to Adobe before her current appointment at LinkedIn.

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In a LinkedIn post, Freeland expressed excitement about her new role. She described herself as a long-time fan of the brand and praised its mission to help people find jobs, gain knowledge, build skills, and grow businesses. She added that she is eager to elevate LinkedIn’s vision of creating economic opportunities for every member of the global workforce.

LinkedIn continues to show strong growth. The platform now has 1.2 billion members worldwide, with revenue rising 9% year-on-year as of June 30. Engagement is also climbing, with comments up more than 30% and video uploads increasing by over 20% in 2024.

The company is also rolling out new innovations. These include an AI Hiring Assistant for recruiters and an expanded BrandLink offering to support video, one of the platform’s fastest-growing formats. Earlier this year, LinkedIn Premium subscriptions rose by 75% quarter-on-quarter, reflecting a rising demand for professional tools and insights.

Freeland’s appointment underlines LinkedIn’s focus on brand storytelling and global expansion at a time of rapid innovation and user growth.

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