Coty appoints UK marketing boss

Coty, the cosmetics and fragrance division of Benckiser, has appointed a vice-president of UK marketing following the departure of Margaret Donnelly.

Anastasia Ayala, who joins from Coty’s Paris office, will be responsible for cosmetics brands Cutex, Sensiq and Rimmel. She has a cosmetics background, having previously worked for Max Factor, Revlon and Clinique.

Donnelly, who has been at Coty for four years, is leaving the company’s UK headquarters in September to set up her own marketing consultancy. She will continue to work for Coty as an independent consultant.

She was responsible for appointing advertising agency J Walter Thompson in February, as part of a 6m relaunch of the Rimmel brand to re-establish it against the UK’s leading brand Boots No 7.

Benckiser bought Rimmel from Unilever last year as part of a reorganisation of its brands, which involved splitting its detergent products Vanish and Finish from its cosmetics and fragrance divisions. David Allen will remain marketing director for Coty’s fragrances, which include Adidas, Monsoon and Exclamation.