Unilever appoints John Rice to Lever Brothers' top spot.
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
UNILEVER TAPS RICE TO HEAD LEVER BROTHERS as exec VP and chief operating officer, the company announced Dec. 2. Reporting to Robert Phillips, president, Unilever Home and Personal Care-North America, John Rice will be responsible for the total management of the Lever Bros. unit, including marketing, finance and sales.
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UNILEVER TAPS RICE TO HEAD LEVER BROTHERS as exec VP and chief operating officer, the company announced Dec. 2. Reporting to Robert Phillips, president, Unilever Home and Personal Care-North America, John Rice will be responsible for the total management of the Lever Bros. unit, including marketing, finance and sales. Rice most recently served as senior VP and general manager of Lever Bros. personal wash and home care business group, where he managed the Dove, Caress and Lever 2000 bar soap brands as well as Sunlight dishwashing detergent. In his new position, Rice will also handle Lever's fabric products, such as Snuggle fabric softener. His successor as senior VP has not yet been chosen. During his tenure as general manager, Rice "made significant contributions to the growth and success of leading brands," Unilever said. Before joining Lever Bros. in 1994, Rice served on the executive board of Unilever's food company in the U.K., Birds Eye Walls. Rice has exhibited a "strong team-oriented leadership style" and "sound business judgment" throughout his time with Unilever, the company noted. Rice's promotion is part of a broader Unilever restructuring program that the company announced in March and expanded in July ("The Rose Sheet" March 18, p. 3). As chief operating officer, Rice fills a spot vacated when Lever Bros. CEO Charles Strauss was promoted to business group president of Unilever Latin America in July under the restructuring. In the interim, the top spot at Lever was filled by Stuart Blinder, who now moves to Unilever's home and personal care division. Unilever's reorganization resulted in the formation of 14 business groups spanning the company's global markets in an effort "to create a sharper regional focus and a clearer separation of corporate strategic leadership from operational execution," the company said. The business group heads report to Unilever's eight-member executive committee. As part of the restructuring, Unilever placed Phillips at the helm of Unilever's North American Home and Personal Care division. In addition to Lever Bros., the segment includes Elizabeth Arden, Calvin Klein Cosmetics and Chesebrough-Pond's. |