Hyatt Appoints Maryam Banikarim as Global Chief Marketing Officer

Hyatt Hotels has appointed Maryam Banikarim as the company's global chief marketing officer.

In this role, Banikarim will be responsible for driving the company's individual brands and the experiences they offer online and offline while working across the organization to facilitate innovation around the guest experience.

Banikarim will assume her new role at Hyatt effective 26 January 2015, reporting to Mark Hoplamazian, president and chief executive officer.

"Maryam is an exceptional leader. She brings to Hyatt a wealth of experience working with brands that are experiential, emotional and brought to life in many ways, including through storytelling, all things we believe are essential to our brands and will help us achieve our goal of becoming the most preferred hotel company," said Hoplamazian. "Her energy, creativity and focus on people, along with her passion for innovation and proven track record of results, make Maryam a perfect fit."

Banikarim joins Hyatt with more than 20 years of marketing expertise across multiple industries. Most recently she was the first-ever chief marketing officer at the Gannett Company, responsible for national sales, company-wide marketing, communications and research. Prior to Gannett, Banikarim was senior vice president at NBC Universal and chief marketing officer for Univision Communications, Inc. Before that Banikarim founded a strategy firm, consulting for such clients as Deutsche Bank, Bacardi and Time-Warner. She also worked at Turner Broadcasting, MacMillan Publishing, and was a lead team member for the launch of CitySearch, an early Internet start-up. Banikarim began her career in account management at Young & Rubicam.

Banikarim earned a B.A. in political science from Barnard College where she was a Harry S. Truman scholar. She also holds an MBA and Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and serves on the boards of Reporters without Borders, Columbia University’s Alumni Association, the Ad Council, Advertising Week and the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center.

Banikarim’s achievements have been widely recognized: The New York Post’s “50 Most Powerful Women in NYC”, Fast Company’s “Fast Fifty” list of corporate trailblazers and trendsetters, Fast Company’s “Top 10 Disrupters”, Crain’s New York Business and Advertising Age’s “40 under 40”, Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch” and most recently Fast Company’s “Most Creative People In Business 1000.” Additionally, she is recognized as a Woman of Distinction by the League of Women Voters of the City of New York and was honored by the Girl Scouts Council of Greater New York.

Banikarim and her family will relocate to Chicago from New York this summer.