Russell Taylor Email & Phone Number

Joined NXP to head up global marketing and revitalize the $9 billion company’s brand and value proposition following the failed merger with Qualcomm. Leading a global team of 120, predominantly located in USA, Netherlands and China, to develop and execute integrated marketing campaigns targeting B2B customers. Revenue in 2021 reached $11 billion.Strategy for Growth – Refocused support behind a smaller number of activities and crafted messaging that extended across all key product divisions. Moving away from siloed, product-led initiatives has resulted in clearer and more compelling sales propositions, increased share of voice for key focus technologies and faster (high-single digit) revenue growth.Winning Culture – Transformed the culture by building trust and collaboration between those in central roles and others who were based in the business units (and had different reporting lines). Engagement survey scores improved by 60 percentage points.Digital Strategy – Improved the effectiveness of NXP’s website, which was ranked in the top 20 of Bowen Cragg’s global survey of 200 leading companies and rated one of the best performing B2B sites. Leveraged digital platform as a key source of information, training and support for customers. Net promoter score increased by 7 percentage points (from 51 to 58) and generated 30,000 new leads, with dollar value up 43% year on year.

Appointed to lead marketing for Samsung’s fifth largest subsidiary in the world and grew turnover from £2.5 billion to £3.5 billion. Responsible for all product categories across B2B and B2C, with a remit spanning the entire spectrum from consumer insight, media, PR, social, sponsorship, CRM to channel marketing, ecommerce, and governmental affairs. Heading up a team of 100 people, I drove the company's digital agenda and transformed marketing culture within the organisation, strengthening capabilities and increasing effectiveness. Brand preference and market share increased across both consumer and business-to-business markets.Strategy for Growth – Aggressively grew mobile phones by focusing on premium segment and improving loyalty. Drove flagship launches as engines for category growth and switching, with 2017 models generating 40% more revenue than previous years. Increased market share across the portfolio, growing washing machines from 5.5% to 10.9% and refrigeration from 14.1% to 16.5%. Building Brands – Developed a strong influencer and social strategy around passion points (music, sport, education), sustained with experiential marketing and sponsorship. Grew affection and affinity for the brand, increasing key equity metrics. Most Preferred Single Answer rose from 31.3% to 38.6%, whilst Proud to Own increased by over 10 percentage points. Consumer and Customer Focus – Successfully managed a product recall and led crisis management response following the launch of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 whose batteries overheated, resulting in fires. Within 6 months of the incident, trust on the brand had returned to pre-launch levels and sales of company products continued to grow throughout the period.Marketing Effectiveness – ROI improved by an average 7% year on year through a combination of focused investment, better performing marketing collateral, media mix optimization, backed up by rigorous econometric modelling.

Uk

Increased revenue on Unilever’s flagship male brand from €750 million to €1.4 billion, growing share in both developed and developing countries. whilst enhancing the brand’s “coolness” credentials and retaining its footprint of young users. Responsible for all innovation and communication on the brand, with a team of globally dispersed marketers across three separate category organisations.Market Development – Growth on the core business was boosted by a strategy to encourage all over body use, which resulted in average pack life reducing by 6 days. Expansion into new categories followed a market development roadmap to ensure the core stayed healthy, with 70% of deodorant businesses gaining share. An “adopt and adapt” model ensured that communication resonated with local consumers, resulting in successful positions being built in markets as diverse as Japan, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Annual growth averaged 7%, despite 65% of the brand’s sales being in the developed world. Integrated Communication – Developed consistently effective and award-winning advertising that helped to sustain long term competitive advantage for the brand. Won over 60 advertising awards, including Gold Lions at Cannes and Grand Prix for Effectiveness. Also blazed a trail for Unilever in digital and innovative media. Innovation – Led the ideation, development and launch of annual fragrance variants, which were critical drivers of growth and essential for recruitment of new users. Responsible for the successful introduction of eight years’ innovations, the last of which accounted for almost €0.5 billion turnover in its first year. Winning Culture – Carved out a clearly defined, independent identity for the team working on the brand, with a set of simple principles designed to produce great work and ensure the brand values were fully understood and embraced by everyone. This was important as the marketing leads in the countries often worked across multiple brands.

Colombia

Appointed to lead marketing for the newly formed Unilever Andina, which was made up of the businesses in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia and had a combined turnover of $350 million. Responsible for defining the new organisation and operating framework, as well as leading the marketing strategy and P&L for the region. Transformed a slow growth, low profitability business into Unilever’s fastest growing in the region. Accounted for almost 50% of the entire growth across Personal Care in Unilever Latin America. Strategy for Growth – Refocused efforts behind higher margin brands and categories in Personal Care, directing funds into a smaller number of big bets. Resulted in compound annual growth of over 20%, with rapid share gain in the competitive markets of haircare, deodorants and personal wash. Cultural Transformation – A change management program resulted in a high performing team. Redefined roles and responsibilities following the move to a regional organisation, with some tasks done centrally and others performed at a local country level. A few team members were switched out, but by and large results were obtained with the same personnel. P & L Management – Profitability of the business increased even faster than the topline, boosted by the growth of higher margin products and attention given to the pricing and cost structure of the lower margin home care brands. This was achieved in a highly complex and volatile environment.

Peru

Appointed to transform the $65 million Peruvian business which had been losing money following the return to full ownership after a lengthy joint venture. Restored profitability in the first year and put in place a growth strategy for the company, which included divesting some low-margin, non-strategic categories and pioneering the launch of affordable mixes for the Latin America region. Successfully introduced many of the Unilever processes, whilst reshaping the local portfolio of brands and products. Trading Margin reached 10% within three years.Business Turnaround – Initiated strategy leading to radical overhaul of entire portfolio, targeting immediate increase in profitability and long-term sustainability of marketing mix. An aggressive cost cutting exercise was put in place. Higher contribution product lines were supported, and a more streamlined product portfolio was created. Market Development – A new strategy was implemented involving higher margin single use sachets (that were more affordable for low-income consumers who earned daily wages). As a result, market leading positions were created in deodorants and skincare and new markets were created. This approach gained traction across the region and the focus on Low Income Consumers became a key strategic thrust for Unilever Latin America in subsequent years.

France

I led innovation, strategy and advertising development for Unilever’s key hair brand across Europe

Uk

I held several brand management roles after completing graduate trainee programme