Brands
HUL shakes up top deck as D2C challengers bite into FMCG turf
MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever has overhauled its leadership ranks across beauty and foods as chief executive Priya Nair moves to counter rising disruption from nimble direct-to-consumer brands reshaping India’s fast-moving consumer goods market.
The reshuffle signals a strategic pivot, blending long-serving executives with external talent to inject fresh thinking into slower-growing divisions.
In beauty and personal care, Nair has leaned on in-house leadership, naming Sunanda Khaitan as chief marketing officer and Abhinav Ravikumar as cmo–personal care. For foods and refreshments, she has turned outside the group, appointing Rajneet Kohli, former chief executive of Britannia Industries, as executive director, foods.
Industry watchers say the hybrid leadership approach aims to preserve HUL’s institutional strength while importing competitive agility.
“It’s a deliberate strategy to stay ahead in India’s fast-evolving FMCG market,” said Rahul Shah, co-founder of WalkWater Talent Agency.
Experts argue the pressure on HUL is structural rather than cyclical, driven by low barriers to entry, social media-led marketing and the rapid rise of digital-first brands.
“Consumption has not fallen, but demand has shifted channels,” said K Sudarshan, managing director – India and regional chair – Asia at EMA Partners. “Traditional strengths such as mass distribution and television advertising are no longer decisive.”
Unilever’s 2022 shift to a matrix structure organised around five business groups was meant to sharpen growth. Yet between FY2023 and FY2025, HUL’s revenue compound annual growth rate hovered at just over 2 per cent.
Revenue from the beauty and personal care segment has remained largely flat since FY2023. The foods and refreshments business grew modestly at around 2.8 per cent annually between FY2022 and FY2025, rising from Rs 14,105 crore to Rs 15,294 crore.
“The ecosystem is improving now,” said Naveen Trivedi, senior vice-president and research analyst at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “If performance does not pick up in this environment, that could raise concerns.”
HUL is set to report its third-quarter earnings on 12 February.
The company, which runs 19 brands each generating more than Rs 1,000 crore in annual sales, has outlined four priorities to reignite volume growth. These include sharper targeting of three consumer cohorts: power spenders, premiumisers and democratisers, alongside brand renovation, stronger online discovery and disproportionate investment behind select growth bets.
“As we reimagine our brands, they need to be more modern and youthful,” Nair said on the company’s second-quarter investor call.
Global parent Unilever has publicly backed Nair’s leadership, with chief executive Fernando Fernandez last year reaffirming “100 per cent trust” in her stewardship of the India business.
Sector-wide headwinds remain mixed. FMCG volume growth slowed to 5.4 per cent in the September quarter amid GST-related disruptions, though value growth rose to 12.9 per cent, according to NielsenIQ.
With inflation easing, consumption sentiment is improving. “Large FMCG firms will find a way through this disruption,” Sudarshan said. “They have deep product insights and invest billions in research and development. This phase is likely to pass.”
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
