Algorand Adds Ex-Comms Head at Visa, Fidelity as CMO

Algorand has hired a former communications executive at Fidelity Investments and Visa as its chief marketing officer as the blockchain company seeks to build its brand and reach through strategic growth initiatives.

Michele Quintaglie is tasked with helping the company with its narrative development and influencer marketing, and will be on the lookout for sponsorship opportunities, Algorand told Blockworks Wednesday. 

“Algorand represents the key values I look for in any great brand — amazing technology, global reach, proven leadership, and most importantly, a purpose-driven ethos to create technologies that offer meaningful societal and environmental impact,” Quintaglie said in a statement.  

The incoming Algorand CMO was head of communications for Fidelity Investments’ asset management arm from 2005 to 2014, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was global head of communications for Visa for three years after that.

More recently, she was the global external communications and corporate marketing head for United Technologies and head of global media relations and public affairs for Raytheon Technologies after it merged with United. She left the latter post in July 2021. 

Earlier in her career, Quintaglie spent more than a decade based in Africa working as an information officer and crisis spokeswoman for the United Nations World Food Programme and UNICEF.

“With an extensive track record of proven success in global communications and marketing across the corporate, agency and UN development world, Michele will continue to strengthen Algorand’s profile as a leading provider of Web3 infrastructure,” Algorand Interim CEO Sean Ford said in a statement. 

Algorand Foundation CEO Staci Warden told Blockworks in February the blockchain was seeking to bolster its marketing efforts by quadrupling the size of its community engagement team and expanding its developer relations unit. 

Algorand revealed in May that it would become the official blockchain platform of FIFA, serving as a regional supporter in North America and Europe for the FIFA World Cup — which begins in Qatar in November — as well as a sponsor for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The CMO hire comes after Algorand appointed Ford, formerly the company’s chief operating officer, as its interim CEO in July. He replaced Steven Kokinos, who is set to stay with Algorand as a senior advisor until mid-2023.

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