LONDON – Esi Eggleston Bracey is leaving as Unilever’s chief growth and marketing officer as part of a wider restructuring at the consumer products giant.
Unilever, parent of brands including Dove, Vaseline and Liquid I.V., said Leandro Barreto, currently chief marketing officer for Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing business group, will “extend his remit” to take accountability for Unilever’s marketing agenda.
He will become chief marketing officer, Unilever and beauty and wellbeing, from Jan. 1, while Eggleston Bracey will leave at the end of January, following a handover period.
Unilever said the changes are part of a wider transformation in the way it markets its brands and engages with consumers “at a time of remarkable industry change, and in an era of digital revolution.”
The company said its transformation has now reached a stage “where even greater ownership, and proximity to Unilever’s business groups, will drive increased impact.”
Leandro Barreto, who will become will become chief marketing officer, Unilever and beauty and wellbeing, from Jan. 1, 2026.
Chief executive officer Fernando Fernandez said Eggleston Bracey made a “significant contribution to Unilever,” in her eight successful years there. “With strong groundwork now in place, I know Leandro will make a big impact in his expanded role as we accelerate desire at scale and turn Unilever into a true marketing and sales machine.”
Eggleston Bracey joined Unilever in 2018 to lead beauty and personal care for North America. Unilever said she delivered “a step-change in performance, and helped lay the foundations for breakthrough growth momentum in the U.S. business.” The company added that during her tenure “she redefined how Unilever builds demand globally.”
Barreto has more than 20 years of marketing experience and Unilever said he is recognized both internally and externally “for his disruptive creativity and ability to build culturally relevant brands. He is perfectly positioned to lead the next stage of Unilever’s marketing transformation and connect business group level execution with Unilever’s long-term capability ambitions.”
Over the past five years Unilever has undergone an organizational overhaul, restructuring the portfolio, shedding and acquiring businesses, and putting an accent on beauty and wellness as twin engines for growth.
Earlier this year Fernandez said he expects two-thirds of sales to come from beauty and personal care in the medium term. Those divisions currently generate around 51 percent of sales.
Fernando Fernandez, CEO of Unilever.
Courtesy of Phoebe Cheong/Unilever
“Looking ahead, our priorities are clear: more beauty and well-being and personal care; disproportionate investment in the U.S. and India, and a sharper focus on premium segments and digital commerce,” he said.
“We are building a marketing and sales machine that drives desire at scale in our power brands and ensures execution excellence across all channels, to deliver consistent volume growth and gross margin expansion,” the CEO added.
Unilever’s beauty and well-being division is valued at around 13.2 billion euros, and includes “power brands” such as Dove, Vaseline, Nutrafol, and Liquid I.V. Unilever is increasingly focusing on its 30 power brands, which generate more than 70 percent of turnover.
As reported, the ongoing corporate restructuring will result in thousands of layoffs across the company. Fernandez said earlier this year that Unilever plans to review its top 200 management roles as part of the wider operational and organizational changes the consumer giant unveiled in July 2024.
Unilever plans to slash 7,500 office-based roles globally and achieve total cost savings of around 800 million euros between 2024 and 2027. As part of that plan, the group is aiming to cut a third of all office roles in Europe by the end of this year, or around 3,200 jobs.
Separately, Unilever has not yet named a successor for Priya Nair, formerly president of the company’s beauty and well-being division. As reported, Nair became CEO and managing director of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in August. She also joined the HUL board, and is a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive.
