Dive Brief:
- Coursera, the for-profit massive open online course provider, has hired former Walt Disney Co. and eBay Inc. executive Kurt Apen as chief marketing officer.
- At Disney, Apen led teams for the Playdom unit, marketing free social and mobile-device games, including several top-10 apps, according to a blog post from Coursera.
- In all, Apen brings two decades of marketing experience to the company.
Dive Insight:
This hire may indicate a heightened interest by Coursera in introducing gaming qualities into its platform to better engage its students, and it certainly indicates that the company will be embarking on a beefed-up marketing effort. According to Coursera, Apen let several marketing teams for eBay — he was the first marketer hired for eBay Motors in 2001 and he led the creation of the eBay Bucks loyalty program.