Lee Brown, vice president and global head of advertising at Spotify, will leave the company to become DoorDash’s chief revenue officer in late August.

Brown has spent six years managing Spotify’s advertising operations and will report to DoorDash president and COO Prabir Adarkar.

During his tenure, Brown significantly expanded Spotify’s ad business.

He launched the Spotify Ad Exchange in 2023, helped more than double ad revenue, and introduced new products for ad automation.

After his departure, Spotify’s ad division will be co-led by Per Sandell and Brian Berner.

The company will look for a permanent replacement both internally and externally.

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🔗 Source: Axios

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ DoorDash’s advertising business shows rapid scaling momentum

DoorDash’s decision to hire an experienced advertising executive reflects the company’s impressive growth trajectory in retail media.

The delivery platform crossed $1 billion in annualized ad revenue in 2024, representing significant momentum since launching its advertising solutions in October 20221.

This growth contributed to DoorDash’s improved take rate, which increased to 12.9% with advertising revenue helping drive profitability gains2.

The company reported 40% revenue growth in Q1 2023, reaching $1.8 billion, while simultaneously improving its contribution margin to 3.3% of marketplace gross order value3.

Industry analysts estimate the digital retail advertising market could reach $250 billion, positioning DoorDash to capture a meaningful share as it scales its advertising platform4.

Brown’s track record at Spotify, where he more than doubled the ad business and launched programmatic advertising capabilities, aligns with DoorDash’s need to accelerate its advertising technology and expand advertiser relationships.

2️⃣ Delivery platforms are building advertising ecosystems beyond their core business

DoorDash’s expansion into multiple categories creates a compelling advertising proposition that extends beyond restaurant delivery.

The company has built a multibillion-dollar grocery business over just two and a half years, while also holding a 45% market share in convenience-market delivery through its 25 DashMart locations45.

This diversification gives DoorDash access to over 42 million monthly users across food, grocery, convenience, and alcohol categories, creating multiple touchpoints for advertisers6.

Major CPG brands like Clorox and PepsiCo are already investing in DoorDash’s advertising due to its ability to provide product placement control similar to traditional grocery store slotting fees4.

The alcohol category represents a particularly lucrative opportunity, as it aligns with impulse purchases often made during food delivery1.

This multi-category approach differentiates DoorDash from single-category competitors and creates the kind of comprehensive advertising ecosystem that requires sophisticated leadership, which explains why the company prioritized hiring an executive with Brown’s programmatic advertising expertise.

Recent DoorDash developments

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