Paris Hilton's 11:11 Media Snags Brand Builder Krystal Hauserman as Its First CMO

Nine months after joining eSports powerhouse Evil Geniuses, Krystal Hauserman has signed on with "pop culture genius" Paris Hilton and her 11:11 Media marketing and content studio as the company's first CMO. Over the last 13 years, Hauserman has led branding efforts at WarnerMedia and social media content startup Fullscreen. She's also handled campaign work for marketers such as the NBA, HBO, Lyft and Beats. “11:11 Media has built an incredible business and I am excited to be part of the team," said Hauserman, who is speaking at Day 4 of Brandweek Miami. "Also, working alongside an iconic and brilliant female founder who is open to pushing into emerging spaces—and who never forgets to have fun along the way is a marketer's dream. If we can dream it, we can do it, and that is incredibly exciting and creatively rewarding.” Hauserman's hire comes a year after the debut of 11:11 Media. Like Hilton herself, 11:11 is built on a mix of so many things: media, advertising, social media, ecommerce, the creator economy and fashion. At the center of it all is Hilton, the person and the brand. So 11:11 was created to house all the disparate personal and business ventures Hilton is involved in—and extend her magic marketing touch to business clients. Turning it up to 11 The company's name reflects Hilton's singular attachment to that number combination. Her Twitter followers will recognize that 11:11 is her preferred time to tweet. It was also the date—Nov. 11, 2021—that she got married to venture capitalist Carter Reum. A look at the logo of 11:11 also makes clear why Hilton has such affinity for that digital sequence: put together, the 11s resemble the letter "H." What time is it? "H" While Hilton's interests define 11:11, the business is organized by her co-founder Bruce Gersh, who serves as president and COO. Gersh has held executive posts at NBC, Disney, Meredith, Time Inc., the William Morris Agency, among other established media institutions. Hauserman's role as the marketing maven essentially complements and completes the circle that Hilton and Gersh have formed at 11:11's leadership table. "11:11 Media is a next generation studio that defines pop culture, leveraging community, commerce and content," Gersh told Adweek in a statement. "Paris and I are building a world class executive team—and Krystal is a perfect fit as the company’s first CMO. She is an experienced marketer with boundless energy and a passion for creative expression." Whether known in her earliest public incarnation as the party girl scion of a family-named upscale hotel chain (it was sold to the Blackstone Group in 2007), or through her spoiled, clueless character in a fish-out-of-water reality series—or as a more serious entrepreneur and DJ, Paris Hilton's mark on celebrity pop culture is indelible. A pop icon's worth Hilton has masterfully guided her own spotlight through all her many personas to become the architect of a thriving entertainment and consumer products empire. It's not an overstatement, at least according to 11:11's estimates of its principal's money-making acumen. A company rep said Hilton has amassed $4 billion in revenue from TV (Paris in Love, Cooking with Paris), film (This is Paris), audio (This is Paris, Trapped in Treatment), music (she claims she's the "highest paid female DJ in the world"). She's also got deals involving publishing contracts, licensing, consumer products, brand partnerships and more across emerging platforms such as Web3, the Metaverse and NFTs. Paris Hilton has translated her pop culture status into a wide array of far-flung—and very lucrative—business interests. The challenge is organizing it and helping other media and marketing brands tap into it. The company also claims that Hilton's annual ad value equivalency (AVE) amounts to $2.8 billion. But while Hilton designed the playbook for harnessing the power of superstardom—and maintains a devoted social following (over 63M across major platforms and quickly growing)—in order to transform it into a multi-billion dollar global business, she needs someone to translate Hilton's brand to outside marketers, creators and platform partners. That's where Hauserman comes in. A web3 empire built on branding Hauserman's initial goals at 11:11 include building out a "world class marketing and creative team." From there, she and her team expect to close out 2022 managing partnerships with the likes of Hilton Hotels, Zip Recruiter, Uber Eats. She also hinted at work the promises "many more surprises in the metaverse." Like most media and marketing brands of all sizes, 11:11 is gripped by the promise of web3 and the metaverse as key areas of growth. 11:11's successes in these burgeoning spaces so far have tended to be naturally self-referential. Paris Hilton Makes a Major Cameo in Hilton Hotels' Biggest Marketing Push in Years Forbes crowned her “Queen of the Metaverse.” Fortune designated Hilton "the seventh most influential person in NFTs" alongside crypto heavyweights Beeple, CryptoPunks, Mark Cuban, Jay-Z, 3LAU, Grimes and Gary Vee. In terms of examples of her web3 bona fides, Hilton teamed up with leading female crypto artist Blake Kathryn in April 2021 to create an NFT drop under the theme of "female energy and empowerment." The main piece, Iconic Crypto Queen, sold for $1.111M in 24 hours. In October 2021, 11:11 Media launched Paris World in Roblox, an interactive in-game oasis for fans to come together for exclusive experiences. In April 2022, Paris World hosted the virtual version of the legendary Coachella afterparty, Neon Carnival, opening up the exclusive event to participants around the world—and Levis was the title sponsor. It's all a fairly solid platform for Hauserman to build on. And she intends to move quickly. "My signature superpowers? Delivering breakthrough campaigns that create an emotional connection between the consumer and brand, thriving in the undefined—and making the 'impossible' a reality," Hauserman said. "All of these diverse experiences will be invaluable, as I join the other incredible executives to lead 11:11 Media through this next stage of explosive growth."