Henkel picks marketing chief to spearhead Glist

Henkel UK has appointed Hams Joachim Breil to lead the push behind its Glist dishwashing brand as marketing director for its detergents division.

Breil replaces Carole Armstrong-Hooper, who left after four years at the end of 2003 to take up a post at the company’s South African business.

At the time, Henkel said the marketing director role would be scrapped and marketing responsibilities handed to Gervase Cottam, who was appointed to the newly created position of general manager from his previous post as managing director for Henkel’s UK distributor, Buck Chemicals.

Breil was previously marketing director for Henkel in China. He will be responsible for building the Glist brand into a credible competitor to Reckitt Benckiser’s dominant Finish brand, which is to undergo a packaging rethink later this year.

Glist, which is a popular dishwashing brand in Europe, has so far failed to make much of an impact in the UK. The brand has struggled to win shelf-space from Finish in major UK retailers, and was delisted by Waitrose last year (MW March 20, 2003).

Breil says he has no plans to review the company’s advertising and media account. Abbott Mead Vickers.BDDO creates advertising for Henkel, while Mediaedge:CIA handles media duties.