Yves Briantais will join the group in August after spending 17 years with the FMCG company. He will move across from his current position of global executive VP for design & creative capabilities to become CMO, a role set up by Carlsberg at the end of April to “unlock the potential of our international and local brands”.
At the same time as announcing Briantais’ appointment, the company also confirmed that Esther Wu, the VP for information technology in Asia, has started today as chief information officer. Wu’s time with Carlsberg commenced in August 2019 following six-and-a-half years with Chanel, also in Asia Pacific, as head of strategic planning & transformation.
When contacted by Global Drinks Intel, a spokesperson said Wu has replaced Sarah Haywood, who “recently decided to pursue a career outside Carlsberg”. Haywood had been with the group since 2018, moving up to become CIO in mid-2020.
Both of the new appointments will join Carlsberg’s executive committee, sitting alongside the regional executive VPs as well as CFO Ulrica Fearn and CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen. The addition of Briantais and Wu to the board increases the number of members to nine.
Speaking to Global Drinks Intel last week, Aarup-Andersen provided some colour around Carlsberg’s premiumisation strategy. “Our premium journey is a global journey,” he said. “We have a higher premium mix in Asia than in Western Europe. The geographic focus of our strategy is about putting a lot of money behind Vietnam, India and China, all of which are premium markets for us.”
