Cart.com taps Kate Gunning to lead marketing following funding round

Cart.com has hired Kate Gunning to lead its marketing efforts as the ecommerce software and services firm looks to establish itself in the space between Amazon and retail platforms like Shopify.

In her new role, Gunning will head up all aspects of brand strategy and marketing. She will officially start Nov. 8.

Most recently, Gunning was CMO at fin-tech brand IEX for the past two years. In that role, she helped IEX launch a new type of stock exchange that now handles $18 billion in daily trading. Under Gunning’s leadership, IEX grew brand awareness of its intangible services by creating experiential products Liquidity beer and Lit hot sauce.

“At IEX, I saw the power of using new fin-tech innovations to move finance forward for everyone, not just a select few,” Gunning said in a statement. “That’s why I’m so thrilled to be joining Cart.com as they use their disruptive ecommerce-as-a-service (EcaaS) model to bring best-in-class capabilities to brands of all sizes.”

Blending culture and business

Gunning is an Adweek Executive Mentor. In a Q&A with Adweek’s Julian Gamboa earlier this year, Gunning mentioned that she sees marketing as a blend of culture and business.

“When you think about those two things together constantly, you’ll start recognizing signs and signals all around that give guidance on how to engage with your community,” she said. “They’re in music, art, food, blog feeds, parks, the way other brands engage with their audiences. Observing, seeing and recognizing this leads to new ideas. That discovery is one of my favorite parts about marketing.”

Gunning also served as executive director and global head of brand at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and has worked with a variety of branding and advertising agencies including JWT, Portas, McGarry Bowen and dentsuMB.

“I’m beyond excited to welcome Kate to the Cart.com family,” co-founder and CEO Omair Tariq said. “She is a marketing mastermind behind some of the most successful recent b-to-b tech stories, and she will build a memorable and lasting experience to support our brands. Her leadership will be invaluable as we build out Cart.com’s one-stop ecommerce platform and help our 2,500 customers to become category leaders in all areas of commerce.”