Mars CMO tasked with ‘driving growth’ in new role as president of confectionery business

Andrew Clarke has been with the business for 18 years in various leadership roles and has a track record for “driving ambitious change while delivering results”.

Mar’s chief marketing and customer officer, Andrew Clarke, has been promoted to global president of Mars Wrigley Confectionery.

Clarke, who has been with the company for 18 years and CMO since 2015, will take on the new role in September.

Mars CEO Grant F Reid says Clarke’s “track record for driving ambitious change while delivering results is the fuel our business needs to thrive in an ever-changing consumer and retail landscape”.

He adds: “Andrew brings great global perspective, combined with a principled approach to leadership and passion for engaging and inspiring teams.”

READ MORE: Mars’s CMO on driving growth and the evolution of evidence-based marketing

As Mars’ marketing boss Clarke’s most significant contribution has been integrating the sales and marketing strategy more closely.

Since joining in 2000 as category leadership director for Mars Chocolate, Clarke has gone through various general management roles spanning across the chocolate, petcare and food segments, including general manager of Ireland and regional president of petcare in Latin America.

He replaces Martin Radvan who is retiring after 32 year with the business. He was responsible for the merger between Wrigley and Mars Chocolate.

Clarke says: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead this iconic business with some of the world’s most loved brands and to drive growth with our talented associates, customers and partners.”

Mars has not confirmed who will take over as CMO in September.

Clarke’s promotion follows a number of other moves at Mars. Former UK marketing director Michele Oliver was promoted to global corporate brand and purpose director at the end of April, as the business looks to expand the work she did in the UK around diversity and inclusiveness. She is replaced by former US brand director Kerry Cavanaugh.

Meanwhile, Helen Warren-Piper moved from her role as marketing director role at Premier Foods to become sales director at Mars’ Pet Nutrition business in the UK, setting sales strategy for brands including Pedigree and Whiskas.

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