Company appoints Gerard Smith and Sam Whitmore to accelerate regional growth and enhance new and existing partnerships.
BRISBANE, AU, March 13th, 2024 — Constant Contact, a digital marketing and automation platform used by millions of small businesses and nonprofits globally, today announced Gerard Smith as its new Asia Pacific (APAC) Head of Partnerships. The addition of Smith follows the recent appointment of Sam Whitmore as its new APAC Head of Commercial, with both executive hires supporting the company’s commitments to rapid growth and the support of small businesses across the APAC region.
Smith joins from WP Engine where he held the role of APAC Head of Agency Partnerships. In that role, Smith was responsible for fostering greater growth among digital marketing, web development, e-commerce, and media agencies across the region, and engaging and growing the company’s reseller community.
Based out of Constant Contact’s regional headquarters in Brisbane, Smith will focus on providing support to the hundreds of resellers currently driving new business across Australia and New Zealand.
“Our agency partners continue to be important drivers of expansion and we intend to double down on our commitment to them in-region to help their businesses be more successful in 2024,” said Renee Chaplin, Vice President Asia Pacific, Constant Contact. “Bringing Gerard Smith on board as our APAC Head of Partnerships further demonstrates how important this region is to Constant Contact,” said Chaplin.
“I’m excited to join Constant Contact and look forward to unlocking new growth opportunities and fostering stronger collaboration with our partners across the APAC region,” said Gerard Smith, APAC Head of Partnerships.
Smith joins Sam Whitmore, who was appointed in January as the company’s APAC Head of Commercial. Whitmore has held numerous executive roles at Salesforce in the United Kingdom, largely focused on SMB customers, most recently as the Regional Vice President for the Travel, Transport and Hospitality industries.
“Sam Whitmore is a commercial powerhouse and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to bring her on board to lead our customer success, customer support and inside sales functions for Constant Contact in APAC,” said Chaplin.
“I’m thrilled to have joined Constant Contact in APAC at this exciting phase and to be driving strategies that will support our customers and their own growth journeys,” said Sam Whitmore, APAC Head of Commercial.
Chaplin said that there are more than 2.5 million small businesses across Australia and New Zealand, of which the majority do not have the expertise, time or budget to market their business. The new executive hires at Constant Contact will allow the company to focus on helping small businesses to compete in these difficult economic times.
“Now is a critical time for small businesses to focus on driving new customers and loyalty amongst their existing customer base if they are to weather the economic storm. Small businesses can leverage tools like Constant Contact to take on the bulk of the marketing grunt work for them. The power of AI is undeniable and anyone from a local florist to an automotive dealership or not-for-profit can utilise this kind of technology in seconds with a secure and reliable platform like Constant Contact,” said Chaplin. Constant Contact offers free trials of its digital and email marketing platform via constantcontact.com
