SmileDirectClub CEO David Katzman recently made a statement that would seemingly make its marketing department nervous. While announcing the teeth straightening and whitening brand’s second-quarter results on Aug. 8, he foreshadowed a “new go-to-market strategy [that] transforms SmileDirectClub from a marketing-led approach to growth to a technology-led company.”
But John Sheldon, SmileDirectClub’s chief marketing officer since 2019, said he welcomes the shift. “I am the marketing guy, should I be disappointed? I'm not. In fact, I am really excited about it,” he said, reacting to the news during the latest edition of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast. “These innovations are really powerful and they are going to make our marketing work all the more harder for the business, and that is a really good thing.”