WP ENGINE APPOINTS MARY ELLEN DUGAN AS CMO

Veteran Brand Executive To Lead Global Marketing Efforts; Marketing Team Bolstered With Addition Of Communications VP

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 24, 2016 – WP Engine, a leader in powering amazing digital experiences for websites and applications built on WordPress, today announced the appointment of Mary Ellen Dugan to Chief Marketing Officer. Mary Ellen will lead all global marketing activities ranging from brand and product marketing, partner enablement to demand generation, corporate communications and integrated marketing efforts worldwide. She joins the executive team at WP Engine’s headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Mary Ellen is an accomplished senior marketing executive with 20 years’ experience in strategic marketing, brand building, business development and advertising. Her leadership skills and impressive track record of achieving ROI and business results span her diverse career at consumer and B2B corporations, technology companies and brand agencies.

“Mary Ellen is an expert at elevating brands at an international level through highly strategic, integrated campaigns. Her broad proficiency across paid, earned and owned media will be key to accelerating our marketing efforts and expanding WP Engine’s global footprint,” said Heather Brunner, CEO of WP Engine. “Having an experienced marketing leader who isn’t afraid to take risks is critical as we look to elevate our brand, highlight our enterprise grade platform and forge relationships with new constituents.”

Prior to joining WP Engine, Mary Ellen was the Vice President of Global Marketing at Indeed.com, where she led corporate marketing for the world’s #1 job site. She launched the company’s first ever integrated campaign across eight global markets which resulted in significant increases in awareness and share of voice. Mary Ellen’s expertise also includes several leadership roles at Dell. During her tenure there, she served as Executive Director of Global Brand & Advertising and developed marketing initiatives for both enterprise solutions and consumer products. Additionally, Mary Ellen has held extensive management roles at a variety agencies and corporations, including Landor Associates and WestRock.

“I love the challenge of transforming a brand, bringing it into new markets and developing integrated marketing strategies. Throughout my career, I’ve been tasked with uniquely positioning brands and implementing new initiatives that drive business results,” said Mary Ellen Dugan, CMO of WP Engine. “WP Engine has achieved incredible success, but it is still a young company. I am very excited by the opportunity to introduce new programs, thought leadership and evolve the brand into a globally-recognized authority on powering digital experiences.”

WP Engine has also made an additional appointment to further drive the strong momentum the company has seen over the past year. Eric Jones joins as Vice President of Global Brand and Communications. Eric most recently served as Marketing Partner for North Bridge Growth Equity and Venture Partners, a seed-to-growth venture capital firm, and before that was the Group Head of the New York Technology Practice at Edelman, one of the world’s largest communications marketing firms.

Thousands of customers across 133 countries, from entrepreneurs and bloggers, to massive enterprise organizations such as AMD, Siemens, Uber and VentureBeat depend on WP Engine (https://wpestaging.qa) to ensure their websites are safe, fast and scalable. Founded in 2010, WP Engine has grown alongside WordPress, the most popular content management system on the Internet.

ABOUT WP ENGINE
WP Engine powers amazing digital experiences for websites and applications built on WordPress. The company’s premium managed hosting platform provides the performance, reliability and security required by the biggest brands in the world, while remaining affordable and intuitive for smaller businesses and individuals. Companies of all sizes rely on WP Engine’s award-winning customer service team to quickly solve technical problems, and create a world-class customer experience. Founded in 2010, WP Engine is headquartered in Austin, Texas and has offices in San Francisco, California, San Antonio, Texas, and London, England.

Media Contact:
Eric Jones
WP Engine
[email protected]
917.488.4214

Ashley Levine
Text100
[email protected]
415.593.8434

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