Antwerp, Flemish Region, Belgium
25 years of experience in sales, marketing and general management on an international level. Skilled by world leading multinationals in FMCG and OTC, combined with 8 years entrepreneurship of own company. Executed integrations of acquisitions embedded in a buy & build strategy for both a private equity backed up companies and a multinational. I started my career in FMCG at Unilever: • I worked in both Food (retail and foodservice) and Non-food • Became the youngest key account manager of my generation • After a 5 years I was accountable for the number 1 key account in Home and Personal Care. Afterwards I was promoted to lead a Business Unit: • Responsible for the P&L of several brands, product launches and coaching a team of marketeers. • Leading a cross functional team (category management, sales, finance and procurement). • My ability to quickly adapt to changing situations, analytical skills and empowering people, pushed our brands to market share dominance. To understand another business culture moved to Beiersdorf where I quickly became responsible for the bulk of the Nivea business and coached larger teams. At Omega Pharma I worked on an international level. Being Marketing Director for the skin care business (cosmetics and non-cosmetics), I also significant increased profitability of the Sun Care portfolio. After a year I got promoted to CMO: • Broadening my scope towards other OTC categories: pain relief, cough & cold, veterinary products, gastrointestinal, food supplements & vitamins and weight loss. • Defined strategies for international roll and integrated the acquisition of GSK brands. • Drastically decreased the European media expenses and started a European digital marketing team. After almost 20 years in corporate environment I invested, together with a private equity partner, in a distribution company of baby consumer products. Being a CEO in an entrepreneurial environment developed my strategic thinking and business development skills. Business grew organically and through buy and build, by integrating a second strategic acquisition pushing growth in France. IT projects improved customer experience and online sales in a B2B to and B2C environment. The Covid 19 outbreak and inflation needed crisis management and out of the box thinking to keep the business healthy. While in 2023 product innovation winning the Baby Innovation Award. Being a CEO of distribution company requires hands-on execution, out of the box thinking, P&L management, continuous improvement of processes and coaching skills of multifunctional teams.
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• Leading the sales teams at Eltra NV, driving business development in Benelux and beyond to increase turnover. • Developing and implementing coaching strategies to enhance the performance of the sales team. • Expanding the company's market reach to achieve revenue growth through strategic sales initiatives. • Member of the Board of Directors at Eltra NV
• Full P&L responsibility of a distributor of baby care products, own sales teams in Belux and France with, supplying other countries in Europe through distribution partnerships. Defining the overall strategy of the company with focus on sales, portfolio management & pricing. • Expanded B2B partnerships with retail chains and independent stores towards direct B2C sales through marketplaces. • Coaching of multi-disciplinary teams: warehousing, customer service, sales teams in Benelux & France, product development, procurement, IT. • Successful integration of an acquisition of another distributor in 2018 resulting in upgrading the sales team, rebalancing the brand portfolio and optimizing costs. • Upgraded the IT infrastructure by developing a B2B portal for both customers and the sales teams, increasing efficiency and improving customer experience. • Build the French team from 2 to 5 people by attracting local talents. • Guided the company through the Covid19 crisis in a healthy way. • Installation of an innovation team, resulting in winning the Benelux Baby Innovation Award 2023.
• Head of Global Marketing for one of the biggest European OTC companies, responsible for all categories (Derma, Weightloss, Petcare, Cough & Cold, Alergy, Food supplements, Medeical devices, etc) • Strategic business planning of Top 20 brands, providing and deploying brand initiatives (concepts & strategies) & complete marketing toolboxes (ATL & BTL) for international roll out in 35 markets • Conducting business reviews in all markets together with the local management teams to pivot on strategies, allocate budgets, evaluate & improve implementations, explore opportunities, etc by discussing all the aspects of the business into detail: P&L, Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, HR, Legal • Successful Integration of 200M€ GSK acquisition, enabling to growing the business • Reorganized the media buying activities for the Group resulting in a 14% cost saving • Installed a digital council with 7 countries in order to improve the digital skills within the Group • Responsible for the recruitment and coaching of the Corporate Marketing Team in Belgium (20 FTE) & Germany (4 FTE) • Securing distribution contracts for the group • Set up a joint venture with a South African distributor to build a Sub Saharan business
• Defining and implementing strategies for cosmetic and non-cosmetic brands in all markets across Europe • International brand relaunch of Wartner (new pack design, NPD, TVC,…) resulting in establishing N°1 position • Introducing a multi-disciplinary team for Sun Care to streamline the portfolio of multiple brands, resulting in a significant cost saving (200K€/year) • Driving multiple workstreams with Innovation, Supply Chain & Regulatory Affairs to fuel the innovation pipeline
• Responsible for P&L of 85% of total cosmetic turnover (brand Nivea) • Successfully relaunched Nivea Hair Care & Nivea For Men • Member of the Middle Management Team • Leading a team of Product Managers (6 FTE)
• Responsible for P&L of 35% of total cosmetic turnover (brand Nivea) • Development of a growth strategy for multiple categories and regained n°1 positions in the market of deodorants & shower products • Leading a team of Product Managers (3 FTE)