By Martin Vedris
SYDNEY: Effective 1 July 2008, the Housewares International Australian Marketing Group will be divided into four distinct teams, each of which will be dedicated to a specific facet of the organisation.
The four new key business teams are: Breville, Kambrook, Shared Services and Strategy.
The news comes as small appliance companies face the pressures of increased costs of manufacturing in China and need to find new and cost-effective ways to maintain competitiveness.
“The restructure is designed to enhance HWI’s Product Development and Consumer Marketing efforts, to create focus within every area of the business, for ongoing success and growth both in Australia and on a global scale”, said HWI global marketing GM, Scott Brady in a statement today.
HWI advised that as part of the reorganisation, a number of new strategic positions were formed.
David Gubbin, formerly part of the Australian Sales team has been appointed Breville brand director for Australasia and will be responsible for the Product Development and Consumer Marketing program for the Breville brand in Australia and New Zealand.
David Card, formerly senior product director has been appointed Kambrook business director for Australasia and will be responsible for the entire marketing mix for Kambrook including sourcing, price negotiations, project management, pricing and consumer marketing. This role will focus on Australia and New Zealand to assist both markets maximise their growth opportunities.
Daniel Graham, formerly the product director of marketing has been appointed global marketing strategist and will be responsible for conducting analysis and strategy development.
James Robinson, formerly the brand director for Breville and Kambrook, has been appointed marketing and promotions director and will be responsible for all aspects of Shared Services for the Australian business, and will also take on a global focus in packaging, POS development and product graphics.
“Today’s announcement is an extremely exciting step forward for HWI and its stakeholders. The new team structure will provide a strong strategic platform to continue building on our growth plans”, Brady said.