Kantar, the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company, announces the appointment of Alexis Nasard as Chief Executive Officer, effective 30 December 2020.
Alexis Nasard joins Kantar with almost 30 years’ experience in the FMCG and retail world. Mr Nasard is currently CEO of Bata. Prior to that, Alexis spent six years at Heineken, culminating in the position of President of Western Europe Business and Global Chief Marketing Officer. Earlier, he worked for 17 years with Procter & Gamble, in a variety of marketing and general management roles.
Mr Nasard holds an MBA degree from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, USA, and an MS/BS degree in Civil Engineering from Saint Joseph University, Lebanon.
Of his appointment, Mr Nasard said: “Throughout my career, Kantar has been a trusted advisor. Kantar’s data, insights and advice informed many of the strategies, as well as communication and commercial plans my teams and I led. As much as I understand Kantar’s heritage and reputation today, it is our future that excites me most. The combination of Kantar’s deep understanding of consumers around the world, our proprietary data sets and our growing expertise in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence puts us in a leading position to reshape the insights and consulting market, whilst offering clients superior analytics they can monetise. This will be all the more relevant in the volatile and fluctuating environment we are living in as a consequence of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, as clients need to operate on very steep learning curves.”
Announcing the appointment, Kantar Chairman Adam Crozier commented: “In Alexis we have appointed a world-class CEO. As a former CMO and client, he understands the value Kantar delivers, and the role it plays in advising the world’s biggest consumer brands. Throughout his career Alexis has built a reputation for innovation, creativity and operational excellence. As we transform our business and position ourselves for growth, Alexis’ leadership and international experience will be instrumental in fulfilling the ambition that we have for Kantar.”
Christophe Jacobs, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Private Equity, added: “This appointment is another important step on Kantar’s journey to become the world’s leading advisor on data-driven marketing and commercial strategies and a key ecosystem partner for global technology leaders. Mr Nasard understands first-hand the value such a strategy offers to the world’s leading consumer brands, and has the creativity and operational experience to bring that strategy to life.”