Van Hameren’s three decades at Nike, including its Sportswear and global CMO roles, gives WHOOP a marketing leader with a track record at scale as its own membership base grows sharply across teens, women and older adults.
WHOOP has appointed Dirk Jan “DJ” van Hameren, former Nike global chief marketing officer, as its new chief marketing officer, the wearable health platform announced on July 8. The hire comes as WHOOP surpasses three million members worldwide after adding its most recent million in seven months.
Van Hameren will oversee global marketing across brand, creative, international markets, media, athlete and sports partnerships, and product storytelling.
Van Hameren spent more than three decades at Nike, rising from a mailroom role at the company’s European headquarters to executive vice president and chief marketing officer, leading its worldwide marketing organization. Before that, van Hameren was global vice president and general manager of Nike Sportswear, a role in which van Hameren helped drive $7 billion in Sportswear revenue growth and oversaw franchises including Air Max, Air Force 1 and Tech Fleece.
During the tenure at Nike, van Hameren also led the ideation and execution of Nike’s Livestrong initiative and the “Dream Crazy” campaign, alongside the company’s global marketing for the 2004, 2012 and 2024 Olympic Games. Van Hameren competed for the Netherlands as a track cyclist at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.
WHOOP’s growth figures accompanied the announcement: international membership has grown more than 11 times since January 2023, with 58 percent of members now based outside the United States. Teen membership is up more than 10 times over the same period, women’s membership has more than doubled in the past year, and membership among adults over 60 has risen more than 130 percent from a year earlier.
Since leaving Nike, van Hameren has co founded Superconnector Sports, launched an advisory firm called Mailroom Marathon 7, and taken on an operating advisor role at Arctos Partners. Van Hameren has been named to Campaign US’s CMO 50 and Forbes’ list of the World’s Most Influential CMOs.
