Two of the top marketers at Unilever and Kimberly-Clark Corp. have announced their departures, shaking up the leadership ranks at two of the leading U.S. personal care companies as they become increasingly eager to stay ahead of start-up brands and retailers' lower-priced private label brands.

Rob Master, VP integrated marketing and media for North America at Unilever and the company’s top marketer in the U.S., said he plans to depart “after a few months of transition” after 20 years at the company. And Zena Arnold, who was chief digital and marketing officer at Kimberly-Clark Corp. since June of 2020, left in March to become senior VP of carbonated soft drinks at PepsiCo.

A replacement for Master has not yet been named. Arnold's position will not be filled, said a spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark.

Both executives have a history of working closely with WPP’s GroupM and Mindshare. Master has worked with WPP and Mindshare on everything from pushing for tougher digital viewability standards to recently backing GroupM’s roadmap for audience measurement alternatives. Arnold worked with Mindshare to develop integrated project teams and combine Kimberly-Clark’s first-party data with digital platform and other data sources.

Restructuring underway at Unilever

Master's exit comes amid a reorganization that’s giving Unilever’s global businesses more control over brand marketing. As part of the restructuring, Fabian Garcia, president of Unilever North America, became president of global personal care in April. Unilever, home to brands such as Axe, Dove and Vaseline, ranked as the 34th biggest U.S. advertiser last year, with spending of $1.53 billion, according to the Ad Age Datacenter. Overall, Unilever is reducing its senior management positions by 15% and junior management positions by 5%, with a total of 1,500 jobs affected globally as part of the restructuring.

“As the organization launches an exciting new structure, I will be cheering them on from the sidelines, because I know that this company, full of iconic, purposeful brands and passionate people, can do anything,” Master said in a LinkedIn post. “I will be spending my last few months ensuring a smooth transition for the new organization, finalizing partner agreements, and of course hitting the company store. I look forward to sharing what’s next as I prepare to turn the page on a truly amazing chapter.”

Master has been with Unilever for 20 years, including more than a decade in global and North America media roles. He's not the only marketer in the category with an extended tenure in the industry. Procter & Gamble Co.'s Marc Pritchard has spent 14 years as that company's top marketer, currently as its chief brand officer, and in total has been at P&G for 40 years. By contrast, Arnold's stint with Kimberly-Clark was a more typically brief CMO tenure of under two years that's more common in the industry.

At K-C, Arnold, a Google veteran who also worked at P&G and Kellogg Co., led a continuing digital transformation. She declined to comment on her role at PepsiCo, but, in an interview last year, said her move back to CPG from tech owed to “my heart being at a place where marketing is really critical to driving the business.”

Arnold reported to Chief Growth Officer Alison Lewis, whose duties include overseeing marketing. Kimberly-Clark, with brands including Huggies and Kleenex, was the 104th largest U.S. advertiser in 2021, with spending of $427 million, according to the Ad Age Datacenter.

“This work remains integral to our commercial transformation program and Kimberly-Clark’s overall growth,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.

Among other things, Arnold was notable for being among the chief marketers honored in songs released last year by Spotify. “Zena with a Z!” paid homage to her skill in “driving the digital transformation” at her company, among other accomplishments.