Claire Dixon, who was VP-global communications at eBay, is the new senior VP/chief communications officer at VMware, cloud infrastructure outfit.
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Claire DixonA key player at eBay, Dixon led global external communications duties including management of media, consumer PR, thought leadership, content and digital/social channels.
She helped fend off corporate activist Carl Icahn and spearheaded communications surrounding the high-profile spin-out of PayPal.
Earlier, Dixon was in charge of GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer division’s European PR and did stints at Unilever and Weber Shandwick.
At VMware, Dixon is responsible for PR, analyst relations, stakeholder engagement and thought-leadership.
The Palo Alto-based company wants to bolster its position in the software-defined data center, mobile and cloud, and increase its value to customers, according to Sanjay Poonen, COO /customer operations.
VMware generated more than $7B in 2016 revenues.
The “waiting period” that was once set aside for CEOs to develop their strategies before facing media scrutiny may be better used for corporate comms leaders get to know their CEO and what his or her short-term priorities will be.
Senior-most communications executives in the Fortune 500 earned between $50,000 and $100,000 more this year than they did two years ago, according to a recent survey of chief communications officers.
The pressure is on PR pros to make sure corporate messaging remains clear and cohesive. Business jargon is an obstacle to achieving this goal.
