Boston — WHOOP said it has named Dirk-Jan “DJ” van Hameren as chief marketing officer as the company surpasses 3 million members worldwide.
Van Hameren, a former Nike global chief marketing officer and two-time Olympian, joins WHOOP as the company seeks to expand its global brand in human performance and proactive health.
WHOOP said it recently added its latest 1 million members in seven months. International membership has grown more than 11 times since January 2023, and 58% of members now live outside the United States.
The company said it is also reaching a broader audience, with teen membership growing more than 10 times since January 2023, women’s membership more than doubling over the past year, and membership among adults over 60 increasing more than 130% year over year.
Van Hameren spent more than three decades at Nike, where he rose from the mailroom at the company’s European headquarters to executive vice president and chief marketing officer of NIKE Inc., leading the company’s global marketing organization.
“The next great health company will do more than deliver breakthrough technology,” said Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of WHOOP. “It will also inspire people to take control of their health every day. DJ has spent his career building brands that shape culture and motivate millions of people, and I’m excited for him to bring that experience to WHOOP.”
At WHOOP, van Hameren will lead global marketing across brand, creative, international markets, media, athlete and sports partnerships, and product storytelling.
“What attracted me to WHOOP was the scale and importance of the opportunity,” said van Hameren. “The company has earned extraordinary credibility with elite athletes and built an incredibly engaged, global community of more than three million members. But I believe we’re still at the very beginning. Proactive health will become one of the defining categories of our generation. WHOOP will build the global brand that defines it.”
Before becoming Nike’s chief marketing officer, van Hameren served as global vice president and general manager of Nike Sportswear, where WHOOP said he led $7 billion of Nike Sportswear revenue growth and helped drive franchises including Air Max, Air Force 1 and Tech Fleece.
During his Nike tenure, he also led the ideation and execution of the Livestrong initiative, the “Dream Crazy” campaign, and the company’s global marketing for the 2004, 2012 and 2024 Olympic Games.
Before his business career, van Hameren represented the Netherlands as a track cyclist at the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Van Hameren has been recognized by Campaign US CMO 50 and Forbes’ World’s Most Influential CMOs. After leaving Nike, he co-founded Superconnector Sports, launched his advisory firm Mailroom Marathon 7, and serves as an operating advisor to Arctos Partners.
