Health & beauty brand director
I joined Unilever more than thirteen years ago on the Unilever Graduate Leadership Programme and have had many great opportunities in the world of marketing, including:
- living in Rome for more than three years; a life enhancing experience
- managing Birds Eye beef burgers during two BSE crises – a massive but rewarding learning curve
- launching a vegetarian range in response to BSE. As a self confessed foodie I even went veggie for two months to experience life on the other side
- trying to get the British, Germans and Italians to agree to the same recipes in the fish market - I learned a lot from my failure!
- owning Magnum ice cream as Brand Director for Europe
- tailoring the Seven Deadly Sins idea for Magnum & launching in Europe. Making sure we wowed consumers without upsetting them.
- delving deep into the psyche of female indulgence and learning what women really want!
- meeting my wife on day one of joining the company!
Now I am Brand Director for Health & Beauty in the UK deploying more than £100m in communication support to ensure brands like Dove, Lynx and Sure have real consumer appeal. The biggest challenge is managing a portfolio of very different brands and making sure that what we do is really relevant to the British consumer.
I work with a brilliant group of people and never have the same day twice. I love the mix of activities I get involved in and get real pleasure helping members of my team achieve their true potential.
Outside work I'm married with three little girls but still love food, wine and all things Italian."
