Viber appoints Mark Hardy as CMO

Hardy is tasked with the leadership of local Viber marketing teams in Brazil, India, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Viber, a mobile communications platform offering free messaging and HD-quality phone calls, has appointed Mark Hardy as CMO. Hardy brings a wealth of experience in digital, entertainment and branded content to the growing communications platform after previous senior positions at Bauer Media, Sony Music, Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment and Sony PlayStation.

Hardy is tasked with the leadership of local Viber marketing teams in Brazil, India, the Philippines and Vietnam. After establishing a global marketing office in London, he will expand Viber's network of marketing teams to new international territories.

"We are delighted Mark is joining our leadership team to head up brand development, marketing strategy and campaign development across the world, as part of Viber's global expansion. We have built an incredible platform since Viber launched just over three years ago and we have grown an enthusiastic and engaged community of users. Now we want to reach an even larger community and expand and deepen our presence in strategic global markets," says Talmon Marco, CEO, Viber.

"Joining Viber's leadership team is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Viber is already a huge success story. The team has created an amazing mobile platform and I look forward to building the brand and introducing new Viber experiences to an ever-growing audience," comments Hardy.

Before joining Viber, Hardy held senior marketing positions at leading entertainment, digital media and technology companies. Hardy comes to Viber from Bauer Media, where he served as group digital director, launching the 'The Debrief', the company's first digital-only media brand.

Earlier, he was strategic planning director at Sony Music and marketing director at Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment, where he led marketing for the company's entertainment brands, including the global launch of One Direction. As European product marketing director at Sony PlayStation, Mark oversaw the launch of PlayStation hardware formats including PS3, as well as leading game titles such as 'SingStar' and Gran Turismo racing.