Updated: Mars Wrigley Australia, Bega get new marketing chiefs

Former Bega head of marketing, innovation and corporate affairs director joins snacking brand group; Bega confirms its new marketing leader

Mars Wrigley Australia has brought on Bega's former marketing and innovation director as its new local marketing chief across its 17 iconic brands including Mars, Snickers, Maltesers, Skittles, Eclipse and M&Ms.

Ben Hill comes with 20 years’ experience in the FMCG space, working in marketing, category, shopper insights and planning and activation for brands such as Mondelez, Coca-Cola Amatil, Nestle and Unilever. Most recently, Hill was marketing, innovation and corporate affairs director at Bega Cheese, and was heavily involved in work to transition the Vegemite brand back to Australian ownership as well as setting up Bega’s marketing function. Bega acquired Vegemite from Mondelez in early 2017.

His career encompassing working in Australia, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

Hill replaces Suzanne Morrison, who left the marketing director’s post in November 2019 after 18 months in the position and nearly 18 years with the Mars group. Morrison was recognised in the top 25 of the 2019 edition of the CMO50 for her marketing efforts during and post-merger between Mars and Wrigley in 2017.

Mars Wrigley Australia general manager, Andrew Leakey, said Hill’s experience made him a welcome addition to the leadership team as the business looked to try and reinvent the snacking category.

“Ben’s experience, coupled with his energy and creativity, will be invaluable as we drive category growth for our customers and transform our portfolio for tomorrow,” he stated.

Hill said he was looking forward to spearheading a new growth agenda for some of Australia’s most iconic brands.

“With a fresh perspective, I’m most looking forward to working with the team to unlock the power of our gum, bite-size and bars brands, ensuring we continue to evolve our portfolio through world-class innovation and bold thinking to connect with the evolving preferences and values of our customers.”

Meanwhile, Bega Foods confirmed to CMO it has appointed Matt Gray to the role of head of marketing, and Julia Glass to head of strategy, insights and innovation. Gray was most recently responsible for leading Vegemite as senior marketing manager, while Glass moves into her new role from consumer insights and innovation.

Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, follow our regular updates via CMO Australia's Linkedin company page, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia. 

 

 

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.
Show Comments

Latest Videos

More Videos

More Brand Posts

What are Chris Riddell's qualifications to talk about technology? What are the awards that Chris Riddell has won? I cannot seem to find ...

Tareq

Digital disruption isn’t disruption anymore: Why it’s time to refocus your business

Read more

Enterprisetalk

Mark

CMO's top 10 martech stories for the week - 9 June

Read more

Great e-commerce article!

Vadim Frost

CMO’s State of CX Leadership 2022 report finds the CX striving to align to business outcomes

Read more

Are you searching something related to Lottery and Lottery App then Agnito Technologies can be a help for you Agnito comes out as a true ...

jackson13

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Thorough testing and quality assurance are required for a bug-free Lottery Platform. I'm looking forward to dependability.

Ella Hall

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Blog Posts

Marketing prowess versus the enigma of the metaverse

Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.

Liz Miller

VP, Constellation Research

Why Excellent Leadership Begins with Vertical Growth

Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?

Michael Bunting

Author, leadership expert

More than money talks in sports sponsorship

As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.

Simone Waugh

Managing Director, Publicis Queensland

Sign in