Michael Distefano Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President Los Angeles
“Brands like ours are built on a promise to make good on the services we provide. The Korn/Ferry brand implies trust which is the cornerstone for our success.”
Mr. Distefano is responsible for worldwide branding, advertising, media relations, employee communications and all other aspects of public relations for the Firm.
Mr. Distefano brings more than 15 years of experience in marketing to Korn/Ferry. Between 2001 and 2007, he was Vice President, Global Marketing and Communications for Korn/Ferry. Initially, Mr. Distefano was the Chief Marketing Officer of Futurestep, the wholly owned middle-management recruitment subsidiary of Korn/Ferry.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Distefano was vice president of acquisition marketing and new channel development at GetSmart.com, acquired by Providian Financial Company in 1999 and now part of LendingTree.com.
There, Mr. Distefano was responsible for Internet advertising and marketing. He was part of the senior management team that successfully led GetSmart.com through its acquisition to Providian Financial in February 1999. Thereafter at Providian, Mr. Distefano oversaw online marketing responsibilities for Providian’s credit card offerings in addition to GetSmart.com.
Before joining GetSmart, Mr. Distefano served as director of marketing at Benefits Consultants, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD). Mr. Distefano began his marketing career at TIAA-CREF, the international pension-management giant, as a marketing communications specialist.
He is an active member of the Public Relations Society of America, the Professional Services CMO Forum and the CMO Club.
Mr. Distefano earned a bachelor’s in economics from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
