Unilever reshapes global marketing leadership as senior executive exits
Chief Growth and Marketing Officer Esi Eggleston Bracey to depart after eight years.
UK – Unilever has announced a change in its senior marketing leadership, saying the move is intended to push decision-making closer to its Business Groups as the company continues to reorganise its portfolio.
The consumer goods group said the adjustment reflects the point it has reached in a multi-year overhaul of how its brands are marketed and how it connects with consumers across regions and channels.
Under the new structure, Leandro Barreto will take on responsibility for Unilever’s company-wide marketing agenda while continuing to oversee marketing for the Beauty and Wellbeing Business Group, with the new role taking effect on 1 January 2026.
Barreto currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer for Beauty and Wellbeing and will assume the title of Chief Marketing Officer for both Unilever and the business group, linking central marketing direction more directly with operating units.
Unilever said Barreto brings more than two decades of marketing experience and has been involved in developing brand strategies within the group’s beauty and health-related businesses.
The company added that the revised structure is designed to align execution at business group level with longer-term marketing capabilities across the organisation.
Departure of current marketing chief
As part of the leadership shift, Esi Eggleston Bracey will leave Unilever at the end of January 2026, concluding an eight-year period with the company.
Eggleston Bracey joined Unilever in 2018 and previously led Beauty and Personal Care in North America before becoming Chief Growth and Marketing Officer, a role that placed her in charge of global demand creation.
Unilever said she will work alongside Barreto during January to manage the handover before her departure.
Chief executive Fernando Fernandez said the company had completed key stages of its marketing overhaul and that the new structure would support its next phase of execution.
Ice cream business now operating independently
The marketing announcement comes shortly after Unilever confirmed it had completed the separation of its global ice cream division, which is now operating as The Magnum Ice Cream Company.
The process followed a revised schedule after a recent shutdown of the US federal government delayed regulatory approvals.
The newly formed business has begun trading as a standalone company, with brands including Magnum, Ben and Jerry’s, Wall’s and Cornetto, and its shares are listed in London, Amsterdam and New York.
Chief executive Peter ter Kulve said the independent structure is expected to allow the ice cream company to set its own priorities around growth, efficiency and reinvestment.
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