Newell Brands CEO retires; Instacart Ads names VP

CEO, board chair succession at Newell Brands

Chris Peterson was appointed CEO of Newell Brands, the owner of Sharpie markers and Yankee Candle.

With the move, CEO Ravi Saligram will retire, effective May 16.

Peterson joined the company in December 2018, and has served in a variety of senior roles including CFO, president of business operations and interim CEO. Prior to joining Newell, he held senior executive roles at Revlon Inc., Ralph Lauren and Procter & Gamble.

The company also announced changes to its board of directors: Retired 3M executive Patrick Campbell will transition out of the chair role, and be succeeded by former Procter and Gamble executive Robert Steele. Gary Hu, a portfolio manager with Icahn Capital, is also joining the board.

The moves come after a reorganization was initiated at the consumer goods company that saw the company lay off 13% of its workforce.

Newell Brands saw revenue decline 10.7% year-over-year in 2022, and said it faced a “difficult second half” amid consumer pullback as a result of inflation. In 2023, the company said it is planning for a “recessionary environment” as headwinds continue.

Meta business chief to leave

Marne Levine is leaving Meta, exiting the role of chief business officer after 13 years with the company.

Before stepping into the CBO role in 2021, Levine led policy, served as COO of Instagram and led ads and partnerships at Facebook.

With this move, Meta is making a pair of promotions in its ad and business executive ranks:

Nicola Mendelsohn is adding leadership of global partnerships and engineering to the role of head of global business group.

Justin Osofsky, who currently serves as head of online sales, operations and partnerships, will add revenue generation responsibilities, leading sales and operations targeted to small and medium-sized businesses.

“Nicola has a strong, well-earned reputation in the ad industry, and Justin has a unique combination of product, operations and business experience that will serve him well in this new role,” said Meta COO Javier Olivan, in a statement.

Instacart Ads gains VP

Tim Castelli was named VP of global advertising sales at Instacart.

He joins the grocery technology company from a role as chief revenue officer at iHeartMedia’s multi-platform group. He was also an SVP of sales at AOL and served as technology industry director for Google. Previously, he served as publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine, and held leadership positions at Ziff Davis Media.

“With more than 30 years of experience, Tim has deep expertise and a proven track record of innovating in traditional industries, creating high-impact advertising strategies, and leading large, effective sales teams,” said Chris Rogers, Chief Business Officer at Instacart.

Shipt names chief people and community officer

Amy Benson joined Shipt as chief people and community officer, leading human resources and DEI at the 1,500-employee delivery service. Benson will also lead national and local corporate giving, economic development and community engagement.

Benson joins Shipt from parent company Target, where she served as a VP of human resources, supporting merchandising, strategy, product design and sourcing capabilities.

"Amy's reputation as a strategic leader in developing talent and fostering community brings the expertise we need to continue building upon Shipt's strong company culture,” said CEO Kamau Witherspoon, in a statement.

Kohl’s names chief of merchandising, digital

Nick Jones was appointed chief merchandising and digital officer at Kohl’s.

Jones will be responsible for buying, digital and omnichannel merchandising, product design and development, and product portfolio strategy. Jones was most recently CEO of Joules Group, and previously managed the George brand at ASDA/Walmart UK and served as the chief merchant at the UK retailer.

Jones’ appointment comes a week after Kohl’s named Tom Kingsbury as the permanent CEO of the department store retailer.

Thrasio adds Amazon veteran as CCO

Steven Shure is joining Amazon aggregator Thrasio as president and chief commercial officer.

Shure brings experience leading Amazon Prime in its early days, then served as VP of Amazon Worldwide Consumer Marketing, as well as senior roles in supply chain and Amazon Web Services.

With this hire, Danny Boockvar is taking on a new position at Thrasio as president of mergers and acquisitions and new venture, where he will oversee the company’s brick and mortar wholesale business.

Asos names interim CFO

Online apparel retailer Asos said Sean Glithero will serve as interim CFO, beginning in May. Glithero is a former CFO at Auto Trader Group, Funding Circle Holdings and MatchesFashion.

Current interim CFO Katy Mecklenburgh is set to depart as Glithero steps in.

The move comes as Asos is in the midst of changes that resulted in a new 12-member leadership team. It plans to report interim results in May.