Momentive has appointed Eric Johnson as its new CEO, following nine months as CMO.
Johnson took that position shortly after the company’s acquisition by a consortium for $1.5BN.
The agreed sum was a considerable drop from Zendesk’s offer of $4.1 billion in October 2021, which was later withdrawn due to strong opposition from Zendesk stockholders.
Nevertheless, Johnson hopes for a bounce back, and – as his first order of business – the CEO will revive its former SurveyMonkey brand name.
Indeed, the company once operated under the SurveyMonkey banner but seemingly made the switch to reflect the other products within its portfolio.
Yet, the name never quite caught fire, and – as such – Johnson has undone the move of outgoing CEO Zander Lurie, who steps down after seven years of serving in the role.
Eric Johnson, CEO at Momentive, said: “As a longtime fan and user of SurveyMonkey, I am honored to step in as CEO.
“With nearly one million paying users, a talented team, and an unwavering commitment to serving our customers, we have the building blocks for a bright future.
Returning to the SurveyMonkey brand will unify our products under a single iconic name that has been synonymous with helping customers gather insights and engagement data for decades.
Johnson added: “I’d like to thank Zander for his many years of service to the company as a board member and CEO.
“Under his leadership, we transformed from a survey provider to an insights company with a strong global footprint and significant market opportunity. We all wish Zander the best.”
The online survey tool, Survey Monkey, is a subsidiary of Momentive, alongside GetFeedback and Momentive Insights.
It provides people with insights via online surveys and forms to help them make more informed decisions.
Described by Momentive as an “intuitive feedback management platform”, SurveyMonkey gives access to real-time AI insights for millions of users from around the world.
SurveyMonkey offers answers to over 20 million questions every day, helping individuals and businesses to draw new audiences, improve customer experiences, create advocates, and gain an advantage over competitors.
It has built a familiar brand name that Johnson is presumably looking to leverage.
Before his spell as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Johnson served as CEO at LaneOne and EVP and General Manager at CBS Interactive.
Johnson has also worked as President of Wolfgang’s Vault, a music streaming and e-commerce business, and he began his career at JPMorgan.
Former Momentive CEO, Zander Lurie, commented:
I’m filled with gratitude for the past seven years I have spent serving as CEO and working alongside this outstanding team to grow the business.
“Together, we completed our IPO and more than doubled our annual revenue,” he continued. “I have tremendous confidence in my colleagues and Eric, and know that with him at the helm, the company is well positioned for success.”
Lurie’s reign has overseen considerable change at the company after he took over from Dave Goldberg, including acquisitions of Usabilla and GetFeedback – alongside the Momentive rebrand.
