Koala hires Netflix’s Peter Sloterdyk as first CMO
Disruptive Australian furniture brand Koala has appointed its first chief marketing officer, Peter Sloterdyk, who has held similar roles at both Netflix and Grindr.
The global role is supposed to be based out of Sydney, however Sloterdyk’s relocation from Los Angeles has been delayed due to the lockdowns and travel bans associated with COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Sloterdyk will move over with his husband and two dogs when international circumstances allow
For now, Sloterdyk will be based in the United States, until he can complete the move to Sydney.
Mitch Taylor, the co-founder of Koala, noted that the CMO appointment marked the evolution of the brand.
“Since we founded the company in 2016, Dany [Milham, Koala’s co-founder and director], along with Tim Doyle in 2018, has successfully run our marketing function. As we look to Koala’s next phase of growth, Peter’s global experience at Netflix and how succinctly he’s able to understand, communicate and solve complex consumer, commercial and cultural concepts made him the perfect fit to join the Koala team as our first CMO,” he said.
At Netflix, Sloterdyk oversaw the marketing for Original series, delivering campaigns across genres including comedy, young adult, drama, fantasy and adventure, and documentary.
Prior to Netflix, he was chief marketing officer at Grindr, the social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people. While there, he launched Into, Grindr’s global media platform.
Sloterdyk said the opportunity with Koala, however, was too good to pass up.
“Koala has had a number of incredible marketing moments in its four and a half years which is a testament to the strength of the brand and the talent already present inside the company,” he said. “Preparing the brand for continued global expansion is an incredible opportunity and I look forward to partnering with Mitch, the senior leadership team, and the whole of Koala to achieve great things in the near future.”
Koala’s in-house creative team lost its head of creative Matthew Rosi in August when he moved across to be head of creative for brand at Canva.
The brand has worked with video production company Vidico on TVCs.
