Why Premier Foods has a CMO and chief customer officer
Premier Foods is hoping to fuel its next stage of growth by creating two new roles – CMO and chief customer officer – to get marketing and sales working closer together.
Premier Foods, the company behind brands including Mr Kipling, Sharwood’s and Homepride, has eliminated the role of managing director in favour of a CMO and chief customer officer, a first for the FMCG business.
To mark the success of its turnaround strategy, it has elevated both roles to the executive leadership team in a bid to turbocharge future growth.
Having previously served as marketing director of the UK business unit, new CMO Yilmaz Erceyes is now responsible for all marketing, consumer insights and analytics, research and development (R&D), as well as international marketing. He is being joined on the leadership team by Richard Martin, formerly general manager for commercial, who has been appointed chief customer officer.
Whereas the CMO role is focused on the consumer, as CCO Martin is responsible for all retail customers and channels, both in the UK and international, alongside the trade promotional strategy. Premier Foods made a deliberate decision to opt for the chief customer officer title, over chief sales officer, in recognition of the relationship the company has forged with retailers.
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