Kimberly-Clark hires global chief for data strategy boost

kleenex2Kimberly-Clark, the personal care giant behind brands including Kleenex, Kotex and Huggies, is aiming to put digital and data at the heart of its marketing strategy with the appointment of its first global chief digital and marketing officer.

Zena Arnold (pictured below) joins from Goggle to lead Kimberly-Clark’s global marketing teams and drive the acceleration of the firm’s digital transformation.

She will be responsible for consumer relationships and engagement, media and content, data analytics and innovation, and agency operations.

The agencies which are likely to benefit from the new drive include data-driven marketing specialists Merkle, MRM McCann and Accenture Interactive.

Accenture was hired in November, along with Droga5, to handle integrated marketing for its babycare and childcare business globally, including the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa markets. The company also works with FCB Inferno.

The company’s data platform – which includes internal sources such as sales and marketing spend, Nielsen data, web applications, store performance and purchasing information – is powered by Tableau.

At Google, Arnold spent the past seven years in marketing and general management roles, most recently as global head of growth of the Chrome OS business. Prior to that, she held global and US brand management positions at the Kellogg Company and Procter & Gamble.

Arnold succeeds Giuseppina “Giusy” Buonfantino, who quit the role of chief marketing officer last November after only 18 months. She had joined Kimberly-Clark in 2011 as vice president of global adult and feminine care brands.

zena-arnoldKimberly-Clark chief growth officer Alison Lewis said: “Zena brings a unique skillset from top-tier consumer packaged goods and technology companies to help us build our marketing capabilities to deliver in a digital-first world.

“In addition to her passion for digital marketing and technology, Zena has great experience leading transformational change which is integral to our future growth.”

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