Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has finally filled one of its most important leadership roles after nearly a seven month vacancy. According to a TechCrunch post, Nicola Mendelsohn will take the position of Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. On today’s market, shares in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) fell by more than 1.5 percent to $27.09 at time of writing.
Mendelsohn joins Facebook in a position left vacant by Joanna Shields, who left the company in October 2012. Shields left the company in order to take a position at the head of Tech City, a British government initiative designed to drive tech start ups and innovation in London’s East End. Before joining Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) Shields worked at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) among other companies.
Mendelsohn has a big role to fill in what is sure to be a major market for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in the company years. Although the company is concentrating on monetizing North America right now, Europe is sure to be next on the company’s list. Operations in the EMEA markets tend to lag North American moves because, right now, North American users are much more valuable to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
Before taking the job at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) Nicola Mendelsohn has held many executive positions in the advertising industry. She joins the company right out of Karmarama, a London based ad agency that concentrates on diverse media campaigns. Mendelsohn was a partner at that agency and served as its executive chairman.
Before Karmarama, she worked at Grey London and was once a partner at BBH. Her most recent accomplishment was her stint as president of the ad industry body the IPA. She was the first woman to hold that position in 96 years. Mendelsohn is an accomplished ad executive, and her body of work speaks for itself, whether or not she has exactly what Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) needs to hit untapped markets is unclear, but Facebook brass clearly think she does.
Advertising revenues in the regions under the EMEA umbrella actually saw a drop in revenue from $440 million to $423 million year on year in the first quarter of 2013. Mendelsohn brings vast experience, but whether or not she can leverage that to drive ad growth in the European, Middle Eastern and Asian markets is something Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shareholders will be watching closely.
