STAMFORD, Conn. - Pitney Bowes Inc. today announced that Abby F. Kohnstamm is joining the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer reporting to President and Chief Executive Officer Marc B. Lautenbach effective June 17, 2013. She has also been elected an Officer of the company.

Kohnstamm is a globally recognized marketing leader who served as Chief Marketing Officer of IBM Corporation for over 12 years. In that capacity, she had overall responsibility for all aspects of marketing across IBM on a global basis. Some of Kohnstamm’s major accomplishments at IBM included developing IBM’s first professional marketing function and key marketing processes, as well as repositioning and relaunching the IBM brand from a weakened position to one of today’s top global brands. In addition, Kohnstamm had a pivotal role in re-engineering IBM’s go-to-market approach and was instrumental in the evolution of the company’s SMB strategy. Before joining IBM, she held a number of senior marketing positions at American Express from 1979 through 1993. Kohnstamm is currently president and founder of Abby F. Kohnstamm & Associates, Inc., a marketing consulting firm which she founded in 2006.

Kohnstamm serves on the Board of Directors of Tiffany & Co., World Fuel Services Corporation and the Roundabout Theatre Company. She is also a Trustee Emerita on the Board of Trustees of Tufts University.

Pitney Bowes President and Chief Executive officer Marc Lautenbach sees Kohnstamm’s appointment as instrumental to the team he is assembling to unlock greater value for the company, “I am delighted that Abby is joining our team. She has a brilliant mind and has been the marketing leader for two of the most valuable brands in the world – IBM and American Express. Her expertise in technology and financial services as well as her record as an inspiring global team leader make her a strong asset to the company. Abby’s marketing credentials are unparalleled, but more than that, I have known her as a trusted advisor. I know she will make many contributions to Pitney Bowes.”

A graduate of Tufts University, Kohnstamm also holds an MA in Education from New York University and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.