Unilever appoints savoury chief to lead ‘vitality’ drive

Unilever has promoted former Dove marketing chief Silvia Lagnado as group vice-president for savoury, overseeing marketing for key food brands including Knorr.

Lagnado, who took over the role earlier this month and is based in London, replaces Leo Oosterveer, who has moved to take up the role of group vice-president of FoodSolutions.

She has been replaced at Dove by Fernando Acosta, the global vice-president for the brand who is based in the US but will move to London to take over the role in the near future.

In her new role, Lagnado will take on responsibility for brands such as Bertolli. Unilever’s food portfolio has come under increasing pressure over recent years to develop healthier products. The company has launched a strategy to put “vitality” at the heart of all of its brands (MW June 1).

Lagnado was responsible for developing this strategy in the Dove portfolio, with new products and the Campaign For Real Beauty.

The strategy has also been rolled out to brands such as Knorr with its Vie product, the drink that contains 50% of the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables.

The company has spent the majority of its &£1bn annual research and development budget on “vitality-driven” innovation.