LEGO Introduces New Executive Team
The LEGO Group announced a new executive leadership team consisting of seven members. The new team replaces the previous management board and will continue to drive the globalization of the LEGO Group.
The executive leadership team will consist of President and Chief Executive Officer Bali Padda, Chief Business Transformation Officer Ulrik Gernow, Chief Marketing Officer Julia Goldin, Chief Financial Officer Marjorie Lao, Chief Operating Officer Carsten Rasmussen, Chief Commercial Officer Loren I. Shuster, and Chief People Officer Padma Thiruvengadam. Goldin, Shuster and Padda were all members of the previous management board, while Gernow, Lao, Rasmussen and Thiruvengadam join the executive leadership team from the corporate management team.
“I am excited to introduce the LEGO Group Executive Leadership Team, which consists of a talented group of leaders who combine a rich diversity of skills, experiences and backgrounds with a deep passion for the LEGO brand and a strong LEGO Group heritage. This is critical to continuing the process of further global expansion,” says Padda. “With the new team, we will focus more intensively on the areas where we need to succeed in achieving our ambition to bring LEGO experiences to more children around the world.”
Gernow was previously senior vice-president, Product Group 1. Gernow joined the company in 1994 and during that time has held innovation, operations, and marketing leadership roles of increasing scope and responsibility. He will be responsible for teams that support the Group’s growth and transformation agenda. This includes corporate business services, procurement, IT, change management, value chain innovation, and executive strategy and agenda.
Lao joined the LEGO Group in 2014 as senior vice-president, Corporate Finance. Previously, Lao was CFO at Tandberg ASA and held finance, strategy, and business development leadership roles in Cisco, Procter & Gamble, and McKinsey & Company. She will be responsible for the Group’s finance, legal, government affairs, and environment and social responsibility teams.
Rasmussen joined the LEGO Group in 2001. In that time, he has held a broad range of global leadership roles in organizational capability building, shopper marketing and channel development, operations, and procurement. Rasmussen will be responsible for the Group’s global manufacturing operations, engineering, quality, distribution, and supply planning.
Thiruvengadam joined the LEGO Group in 2016 as senior vice-president, People Operations & Development. She brings to the role more than 25 years’ experience leading global people and business teams for companies including Bank of America, Pfizer, and Integra Life Sciences. She is responsible for all elements of the Group’s people strategy including recruitment, reward and recognition, learning and development, organizational capability, and diversity and inclusion.
Goldin and Shuster will continue in their present roles as CMO and CCO respectively.
Kohl’s Names New CMO
Kohl’s named Greg Revelle as chief marketing officer. Revelle will be responsible for Kohl’s marketing organization and overall marketing strategy, including the company’s focus on driving customer engagement through analytics, enhancing the loyalty platform, accelerating customer traffic and continuing to build Kohl’s overall brand position. He will report directly to Michelle Gass, chief merchandising and customer officer.
“Greg will be a strong addition to our senior leadership team,” says Gass. “He is uniquely experienced in reaching customers in more relevant and personal ways. We are excited to have him lead our efforts in driving omnichannel traffic, building strong customer engagement and leveraging data-driven insights to create powerful customer interactions. Greg and the marketing team will elevate and accelerate our loyalty and personalization efforts to help reach our goal of becoming the most engaging retailer in America.”
Prior to joining Kohl’s, Revelle was the CMO at Best Buy Co. responsible for marketing, customer strategy, brand positioning, and execution across all channels and customer touch points. He led efforts to redefine Best Buy’s brand positioning and customer strategy, championed a shift to digital and personalized customer communications, developed sophisticated analytics capabilities and drove significant growth in the company’s loyalty program. Prior to Best Buy, Revelle served as chief marketing officer at AutoNation. Before that, he was vice-president of worldwide online marketing at Expedia, Inc. and an investment banker at Credit Suisse.