Dive Brief:
- The Clorox Company announced via a news release that current CMO Eric Reynolds has been promoted to EVP, Cleaning and Burt’s Bees. He will be responsible for the Laundry, Home Care, Professional Products and Burt’s Bees businesses.
- Stacey Grier has been promoted to CMO. She currently serves as VP, Brand Engagement and Enhanced Wellness Marketing. She has led brand purpose development for different brands and oversaw marketing for the Nutranext business and RenewLife brand. She has led channel, content and commerce activation.
- The executive changes follow the resignation of EVP and COO Dawn Willoughby, which is effective Jan. 4.
Dive Insight:
Clorox shifting its marketing team comes as consumer packaged goods brands are grappling with increased competition from Amazon and are feeling the pressure to beef up their e-commerce offerings to meet consumer demands.
Reynolds has been candid about areas where Clorox marketing has been lacking. Speaking at the ANA Masters conference in October, he referenced a campaign for probiotic brand RenewLife that wasn't effective because the company failed to take care and understand the consumer journey to enhance personal wellness. He suggested that Clorox and all modern brands need to be human-centered, purpose-driven and technology and data-enabled.
During his tenure as CMO, Reynolds helped make e-commerce an area of focus for Clorox. He told Marketing Dive that he expected e-commerce to account for about 7% to 8% of the company's business this year, as online shopping for groceries and household items grows, especially among younger shoppers.
Voice was also a focus of his tenure. Clorox, along with Procter & Gamble, was in talks with Amazon earlier this year about promoting its products on Alexa-enabled Amazon Echo devices. The conversations reportedly centered on whether brands should pay for higher placement if a user asks for product listings on Amazon’s e-commerce platform. Marketers have been experimenting with voice technology to offer product recommendations, tips and other information. The number of consumers with smart speakers is growing, and the devices are expected to be a popular holiday gift this year. However, an Episerver study released in March revealed that 60% of people with devices with voice assistants never use them to browse for products, and even fewer use them to make purchases.