Johnson & Johnson to restructure marketing operations

The restructure, led by Jesse Wu, worldwide chairman of J&J's consumer healthcare division, abolishes the existing global reporting structure to create four geographical units, including EMEA, North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

The EMEA unit has been split into Northern Europe and Emerging Markets, with former UK managing director Juan Jose Gonzalez leading the former. Each regional head reports to Wu, along with the head of global franchise organisations, Pericles Stamatiades. Marketing teams are being shaped to match the structure.

Reporting into Stamatiades are the four franchise leads within the consumer category. Stamatiades will oversee Bill Murphy, president of Over-The-Counter; Rick Rizzo, president of Oral Healthcare; Walter Grundy, president of Women’s Healthcare; and Stefano Curti, president of Skin Care.

It is understood that reorganisation is designed to simplify the previous operating structure, which saw J&J’s global healthcare category and global markets separated into two camps, including Global Business Units (GBUs) and General Marketing Organisations (GMOs). The two divisions were not based on regional areas and, sources claim, hindered the company’s efforts to develop the global presence of its brands.

The changes follow a series of product recalls by the company in the US, which led to a US government probe into J&J’s handling of the situation last May. One of the products under mass recall was Tylenol, the popular children’s medicine. The recalls came from J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare arm, within the OTC franchise.

The company has said that the US OTC business will be a separate organisation, in order to devote greater focus to its McNeil brands. The restructure of the consumer unit is also intended to create clear lines of responsibility to prepare for any potential future product issues.

Goggins announced her early retirement from the position at the top of J&J’s consumer division in December last year.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk.