Jonathan Mildenhall

Rocket's first chief marketing officer

Jonathan Mildenhall is chief marketing officer of Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage. Rocket named him its first-ever CMO in January 2024; RISMedia reports the appointment took effect on January 8, 2024. MPA's coverage says every marketing and communications team across Rocket's brands reports to him, and that his remit is to build a unified and compelling voice for all of the businesses under the Rocket umbrella.^[1][3]

According to RISMedia, Rocket chief executive Varun Krishna recruited him personally. Mildenhall wrote about the move in a LinkedIn post that the same article summarizes: he grew up in poverty in northern England, bought his first home at 24, and says homeownership gave him dignity, pride and security. He also says homeownership built more of his personal wealth than his career did before he moved to the United States at 38.^[3]

Airbnb: the company's first CMO

Mildenhall was Airbnb's first chief marketing officer, serving from 2014 to 2018 according to the 2026 Adweek Cannes speaker profile, and RISMedia says he left Coca-Cola for Airbnb in 2014. MPA's report on the Rocket hire repeats Airbnb's own account of the period: the platform grew from 400,000 homes to more than 4.5 million across 191 countries, it ran its first Super Bowl commercial, and it formed several co-marketing partnerships. Those figures come from a press release and describe the company's growth during his tenure, not his work alone.^[1][3][4]

Adweek's account of the consultancy he founded afterwards describes him as the former Airbnb CMO who had announced his departure just over a year before the new firm's launch.^[2]

Coca-Cola and the agency years

Before Airbnb, Mildenhall was at Coca-Cola. MPA gives his title as vice president of global advertising strategy and content excellence, RISMedia says he held it before leaving in 2014, and the Adweek speaker page dates his Coca-Cola years as 2007 to 2014. RISMedia adds that he worked at several firms in England between 1993 and 2007 before joining the beverage company.^[1][3][4]

TwentyFirstCenturyBrand

In 2018 Mildenhall co-founded TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, a brand and marketing consultancy, and he has remained its chairman since; the Adweek Cannes page calls him executive chairman. At launch he brought in Alexandra Dimiziani, Airbnb's former global marketing director, and Neil Barrie, previously chief strategy officer at TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles, Airbnb's former creative agency of record. Barrie is described as co-founder and managing partner. Adweek's headline cited Pinterest and WeWork as early clients, and MPA's later list of clients includes Pinterest, LinkedIn, Zalando, PepsiCo, Nextdoor and Walmart.^[1][2][4]

MPA reported that he would remain chairman of the firm when he joined Rocket, so the consultancy and the in-house role run in parallel.^[1]

Boards and recognition

When Rocket announced the hire, MPA reported that Mildenhall sat on the boards of GoFundMe and Fanatics. The 2026 Adweek Cannes profile lists him on the boards of Sonos and Fanatics and notes earlier service on the boards of Peloton and Northern Star Investment Corp. IV, so his board seats appear to have changed since the 2024 announcement.^[1][4]

MPA also records that Forbes named him to its list of the world's most influential CMOs, that Business Insider listed him among the most innovative CMOs, and that he won Adweek's Brand Genius award. Those recognitions pre-date his Rocket role and reflect his Airbnb-era profile.^[1]

Recent appearances

Adweek's 2026 Cannes Lions programme lists him as a speaker at ADWEEK House in a session titled "Beyond Efficiency: What Actually Drives Creative Excellence." He is currently Rocket's first CMO, overseeing marketing and communications for its brands, with TwentyFirstCenturyBrand as a continuing chairmanship.^[4]

Why he matters in brand marketing

Mildenhall's published record spans brand leadership at Coca-Cola, the first marketing function at Airbnb during its growth years, a consultancy serving large consumer and technology brands, and now the top marketing job at a financial-services group. His Rocket mandate is broad: unify several businesses under one voice in a category that is often transactional. How that unification plays out is the main thing to watch in his tenure.^[1][3][4]

On The Executive List

Jonathan Mildenhall is ranked No. 72 on The Executive List (October 2026) in the Chief Marketing Officers discipline. His list row describes him as a former Airbnb CMO and founder; he is now chief marketing officer of Rocket Companies and remains chairman of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand. The ranking reflects The Executive Review's own editorial Trending Score; it is not an outside award, and placement on the list is never sold. View the October 2026 edition.