Levi's appoints CMO and first product chief in executive revamp

Leading fashion brand, Levi’s, has brought on a new global CMO among a raft of senior management appointments aimed at increasing its share of consumer wallets.

Jennifer Tey was formerly senior vice-president of ecommerce and takes the reins as global CMO with responsibility for marketing strategies across all brand product categories. She fills a role that has been empty since February last year, following the departure of former CMO, Rebecca Van Dyck, to head up consumer marketing at Facebook.

Tey is joined by Levi’s first chief product officer, Karen Hillman, who will be responsible for innovating the company’s men and women series worldwide. She was most recently global head of product creation at Calvin Klein Jeans and Accessories and previously spent 20 years with Gap.

Levi’s has also promoted head of men’s merchandising, Grant Barth, to the newly created role of chief merchandising officer. All three roles will report directly to Levi’s executive vice-president and president of the Levi’s brand, James Curleigh.

“We’re evolving the Levi’s brand leadership team to include a global product creation, merchandising and marketing structure to help increase our share of consumers’ closets around the world,” said Curleigh.

“We are confident that the changes we’re making will allow us to build on the brand’s heritage, expand the relationship with our loyal fans and continue to create innovative product solutions to connect with a new generation of fans.”

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Tey has 20 years’ marketing experience across brands such as Banana Republic, Foote, Cone and Belding. She joined Levi’s in 1999 and has had a variety of roles during that time including senior vice-president of marketing for the Dockers brand and vice-president of global marketing for the Levi’s brand. She was responsible for reintroducing the Dockers brand, globally relaunching Levi’s 501 jeans in 2008, and repositioning the company’s women’s business through the Curve ID ‘shape not size’ initiative.

The news comes just a month after parent company, Levi Strauss and Co, introduced several regional presidents for the Americas, Europe and Asia to strengthen its global brands, as well as a new chief communications officer, Kelly McGinnis. All report to company president and CEO, Chip Bergh.

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