Introducing the new general manager of Henkel Consumer Brands: Maurizio Salvaggio believes in the power of a team

Brand loyalty through Italian eyes

“Italian consumers love brands. This is particularly important in the FMCG sector, because only brands can generate growth through innovation and make a number of sustainable initiatives available to consumers”. At the same time Maurizio Salvaggio also sees that the conquest of private label products is taking place everywhere. “Brand loyalty isn’t a given: if you wish to retain it, you need to have relevant innovations, good ingredients, quality products, effective communication, well-chosen activation channels – and you definitely need to make sure mental and physical accessibility is there for your consumers”.

Sustainability: the green intention

As regards sustainability, Maurizio sees similar consumer behaviour in Italy as in Hungary: the intention is there, but price-sensitivity often overrides it. “In surveys many people say they are very much interested in more sustainable products, but in practice above a certain price level this rarely translates into an actual purchase” A bottle made from 100% recycled plastic which is also 100% recyclable can cost more than one made from virgin plastic, but this is a factor that the company needs to manage, finding efficiencies elsewhere, whether in the supply chain or in other functions.

Supporting women managers – a personal cause becomes a leadership priority

As a father of two girls, Maurizio is committed to supporting women managers. His experience is that change starts at university. “In Italy we tried to understand why women are under-represented in sales: most young women choose marketing, trade marketing and shopper marketing because these are what they study at university. Many of them aren’t familiar with sales, which you rarely learn from books and whatever you learn is far from reality. I told our HR team that we need to go to universities and show women students how exciting sales can be”. This is one of the initiatives within the Henkel organisation the general manager is particularly proud of. He believes that it isn’t gender that counts, but dedication and competence.

Empathy and openness: leadership done differently

According to Maurizio Salvaggio, the key to effective leadership is empathy. He doesn’t believe in rigid hierarchies, but rather in honest, open conversations and passionate, frank debates. “My first task is to create an environment of trust. A leader must also take the time to ask: how are you? Not only in relation to work, but also as a person”. He adds that if everyone is the same, people bring the same solutions to the table. From diversity comes innovation. Early in his career the general manager measured himself in KPIs, but now he does it in human indicators. Inspirational leadership creates a safe environment for people to make progress and exploit their full potential. (x)