Carlsberg Group accelerates growth with new CMO role

Carlsberg Group has appointed Yves Briantais (pictured) as its new chief marketing officer and member of the executive committee, effective from 19 August.

Briantais joins from Colgate-Palmolive, where he most recently served as global executive vice president, design and creative capabilities. This aims to support the company's further growth as part of the "Accelerate Sail" strategy. 

His new role will cover Carlsberg's global markets and he will report to the group's CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen.

Braintais is a seasoned executive with 25 years of global, regional and local experience across marketing disciplines. During his time with Colgate-Palmolive, he held a range of senior leadership roles with marketing responsibilities for clusters, regions, categories, and global functions, including as vice president global design and packaging, vice president of marketing Europe, and executive vice president marketing Asia-Pacific.

On the other hand, the company has named Esther Wu as its new chief information officer and member of the executive committee as of 3 June 2024.

With extensive technology experience, deep strategic and operational knowledge of Carlsberg’s IIT function, and growth-centered leadership, Wu will take lead on driving Carlsberg’s digital transformation journey, which is a key priority in the Accelerate Sail strategy.

Carlsberg Group CEO Andersen, said: “I am very pleased to welcome both Wu and Briantais into their new roles and as members of the Executive Committee. With their solid experience and global background, they are well positioned to enhance and support the further execution of our Accelerate Sail strategy.”

The Group’s strategy, SAIL’27, was developed by a broad group of leaders and employees in late 2021 and early 2022. However, with the impact of COVID 19 and high inflation, the group decided to sharpen the longer-term focus on its future growth, leading to the refreshed "Accelerate Sail strategy."

As part of the Accelerate Sail strategy, the group's opportunities in Beyond Beer will initially be captured through the Somersby and Garage brands, which are well established in many markets.

"The category currently accounts for 2% of our total volumes. We aim to grow the Beyond Beer category in our business through increased investments in brand building, innovation, footprint expansion and execution. We will also explore opportunities to expand our Beyond Beer portfolio through partnerships and local brand extensions, leveraging our strong route-to-market," said the company.

Furthermore, the group remains committed to growing in China, which is the group's largest market. "We still see attractive volume and value growth opportunities in this market in the coming years for our strong premium portfolio of local and international beer and Beyond Beer brands, both in our strongholds in the western part of the country and in the big cities," said the statement.

Moving forward, the group will strengthen its presence and market share in existing big cities by developing and advancing its route-to-market, while continuing to seed for the future in recently entered and new cities.

As a result of Accelerate Sail, the group is raising its long-term growth ambitions, including an organic revenue growth of 4-6% CAGR (previously 3-5%); and an organic operating profit growth ahead of revenue growth.

"Consequently, we expect marketing/revenue to reach around 9%. We will increase sales expenses, but aim to keep SG&A/revenue flat through continued tight G&A cost control. The higher commercial investments will be financed by gradually restoring the gross margin to pre-COVID levels through supply chain productivity improvements," said the company. 

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