Business strategy director, Essity
Well into her third decade with global hygiene group Essity, Nicola Coronado has steadily climbed up its ranks, consistently demonstrating vision, boldness and a commitment to break down the stigma that still clings to many personal care categories.
In fact, undeterred by creating the most complained about ad in 2022 - Bodyform’s ‘Periodsomnia’ campaign - the business strategy director kicked off 2023 with the award-winning ‘Vaginas Uncensored’ initiative, which sought to challenge the status quo around women’s health and “uncensor” words commonly banned by social media.
It isn’t only “shock and awe” marketing that characterises Coronado’s success at Essity, however. She’s also been part of a strong leadership team at the Swedish company, which has successfully weathered the inflationary storm of recent years.
In 2023, the group achieved 6.7% revenue growth and its highest profit ever, thanks in part to a strategic restructuring by its leadership team that saw it sell its 51.59% shareholding in China-based personal hygiene company Vinda in December. ■
Marketing director, No7 Beauty Company
It’s now been three years since the No7 Beauty Company, which includes No7, Soap & Glory, Liz Earle, Botanics, Sleek and Aromatherapy Associates, stepped out from under the Boots banner and established itself as an independent business. Following the restructure, it was up to marketing director Richard Bowden to capitalise on this new independence and drive demand in new retailers.
To do so, Bowden drew on his six years of experience at Unilever, treating the No7 portfolio in much the same way a major FMCG firm would. He’s drilled down on the “fundamentals” of brand building, including a big focus on customer-centricity and distinctiveness. This has been coupled with “game changing innovation”, including No7’s Future Renew range, which follows 15 years of research into skin ageing and is part of a wider strategic plan to hone the brand’s scientific credentials.
It's still early days but it’s been a strong start for the senior marketer, with No7 the top-selling skincare brand in the UK by sales value in 2022, according to Kantar. It also outperforms all competitors in the cosmetics and skincare category on YouGov’s BrandIndex. ■
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CMO, Karo Healthcare
Anna Hale has been clear on her plans for Karo Healthcare since taking over as CMO in 2021. “Our vision is ambitious; we aim to build a highly profitable, fast-growing pan-European consumer healthcare company,” she said.
As part of that growth strategy - and less than a year into the role - Hale was at the helm as Karo announced its plans to acquire E45, one of the UK’s best known skincare brands, from Reckitt for £200m. Last year, she oversaw its relaunch into the UK market with the ‘This is ME45’ campaign, which rolled out a new identity and tone of voice for the brand, as well as confirmation of a pipeline of product innovation set to land on shelves this year.
As part of the new platform, E45 launched its ‘This Is Me. This Is My Space’ campaign in May. The campaign, which looks to “alleviate some of the hostility faced by the trans community” using “empathetic, human storytelling”, was the winner of Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising award last year.■
Chief growth and marketing officer, Unilever
Esi Eggleston Bracey was appointed in January as the new top marketer at Unilever, having previously headed up its US business. Though an internal hire, unlike her predecessor Conny Braams, Bracey has spent the majority of her career outside the company. Most recently she was president of consumer beauty at cosmetics business Coty and before that she spent 25 years at rival FMCG giant P&G.
Described as “part of an exceptional generation of Unilever leaders who combine world class marketing skills with frontline experience”, Bracey’s appointment came as CEO Hein Schumacher outlined his plan to create a “performance culture” at the brand owner, with a “renewed team leading the change” of which Bracey is a key figure.
The business clearly sees the value in marketing, with brand and marketing investment representing 15.1% of turnover in the first half of 2024 - around €700m (£589m) - helping it achieve a rise of 4.1% in sales and 2.6% in volumes.■
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Northern Europe marketing director, Nivea, Beiersdorf
Nivea has had an incredible 12 months, with owner Beiersdorf’s CEO Vincent Warnery saying it had been the “brand’s best this century” on an earnings call in February.
The business passed the €5bn sales threshold for the first time and it achieved double-digit growth in every region and every category. The success has followed a brave reinvention of the flagship brand in recent years with a shift to more targeted, premium skincare products using active ingredients.
In key Northern European markets, this repositioning has been led by Andrew Rawle, a passionate marketer with nearly two decades spent at Beiersdorf over two stints. Rawle has overseen Nivea’s venture into new sub-categories, with the launch of a new facial serum designed to combat the ageing effects of sun damage in April, while also forging brand new purpose-led partnerships. In December, Nivea partnered with NaviLens, a technology provider that empowers shoppers who are blind or partially sighted to navigate retail environments.
He's been rewarded for his efforts, with Beiersdorf’s CEO committing to bumping up marketing budgets for Nivea in the year ahead as it looks to replicate its success.■
Chief commercial officer, UK & Europe, Who Gives A Crap
A clever, creative and occasionally disruptive marketing strategy has been a cornerstone of the rapid growth enjoyed by sustainable toilet paper brand Who Gives a Crap in the last year. Though the brand only launched in the UK in 2017 it’s now the third biggest toilet roll brand in the country, with its annual report for the financial year 2022 showing revenue growth of 26%.
Initially established as a direct to consumer business, Who Gives a Crap secured its first retail listing with Waitrose last year. First as managing director and now chief commercial officer, Emily Kraftman has carefully cultivated the brand's distinctive tone of voice and invested in values-led campaigns. These have included calls to ban VAT being charged on toilet rolls, and its rework of the classic Winnie the Pooh tale to focus on deforestation.
Though Kraftman understands the need to be discerning with when and how it communicates with consumers, she doesn’t miss an opportunity to get the brand’s message across. “Every interaction with the brand has the opportunity to be a marketing moment,” she told Marketing Week this year.■
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Senior director, brand function and media operations, Northern Europe, P&G
Matt Thomas has positioned himself as a fierce advocate for more inclusive, accessible marketing since taking up the senior director role at P&G Northern Europe. Thomas, who has been with the consumer goods giant in various marketing roles since 2011, is behind its ambition to achieve 100% accessible advertising across Europe. Not just because it’s the right thing to do but because there is “real business value” to be gained by making advertising accessible to all. He was behind an accessible ad break takeover on ITV, which featured ads for Flash, Lenor, Aussie and Pampers, with audio description, captions and sign language.
Thomas is juggling this important external work with P&G’s internal efforts to combat an industrywide squeeze on volumes. The brand owner has put marketing front and centre of these efforts, increasing investment by some 14% and gearing the majority of spend toward what it calls “expandable” categories. It insists superior product quality has seen it hold its market share firm, with 7% growth in focus European markets, supported by a strong pipeline of innovation to prevent consumers trading out of brands to cheaper alternatives.■
CMO, Haleon
Haleon’s Tamara Rogers isn’t afraid to take on a challenge. In 2022, when the consumer healthcare company behind Panadol, Advil and Voltaren, split from GlaxoSmithKline, Rogers was central to the development of its new corporate identity, telling Marketing Week it was both a “massive responsibility” but also “the best job ever”. Amid that transformation, Rogers committed to positioning marketing as a growth function, aligning it with ambitious plans to increase market share. She’s already made a strong start. Last year, 58% of the business gained or maintained market share.
Now Rogers has set herself an even bigger challenge: addressing women’s pain. The CMO has committed to using the platform of Haleon’s global healthcare brands to talk about misconceptions about female pain. Haleon’s '#ListenToPain' campaign already supports health professionals to improve communication with patients on their pain and in 2023 Rogers and her team launched Advil’s ‘Pain Equity Project’, an initiative to champion accessible and equitable pain relief.
During her time at the brand, Rogers has encouraged closer collaboration between marketing and other disciplines, which she believes is crucial when it comes to innovation.■
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Marketing and digital director - consumer brands, Henkel
Nikki Vadera has taken on an expanded role at Henkel following its restructure and now oversees marketing for its entire roster of consumer brands, which includes Schwarzkopf, Live, Bloo and Colour Catcher.
The role sees Vadera head up a team of 23 marketers, overseeing both an internal cultural transformation as the two divisions merge and a shift in outward focus and priorities to reflect the challenging market. To achieve this, Vadera is actively reviewing its portfolio, messaging and marketing mix to better reflect consumers’ lived experience, proof that she isn’t afraid to make bold moves.
Highly personable and a strong communicator, Vadera is both an ambitious marketer with plans to build a “powerhouse” of brands following the restructure, and a strong leader.
She places huge emphasis on skills like compassion, empathy and awareness. Authenticity is also key, something she ensures is at the heart of decision making. She has also worked hard to ensure all functions within Henkel understand the role of marketing and her team’s ambitions.■
Chief brand and experience officer, Mars Petcare
Najoh Tita-Reid joined Mars Petcare in November 2023, with Leonid Sudakov, the brand’s president for growth, digital and platforms, describing her as “an exceptional marketer and globally recognised leader, known for building strong, diverse and inclusive teams”.
The business has openly spoken about its efforts to “demystify digital transformation” as part of its growth strategy going forward, with the integration of its growth, digital transformation and service platform units into one “unique function”. Having spent nearly two decades and P&G before most recently leading worldwide marketing, brand equity, creative development, as well as ecommerce and reinvention, at tech firm Logitech, Tita-Reid is perfectly equipped to take on the challenge.
Tita-Reid is passionate about the challenge, describing Mars Petcare as a business she has long admired for its “inspiring purpose, great people and amazing brands”.
Ensuring her teams have the right skills to lead is a big passion of Tita-Reid. Taking her own advice, she is also one of The Marketing Academy’s 2024 fellows.■
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