HUL Names Four Young Leaders To Join HUL Management Committee
Anuradha Razdan, executive director of HR at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and chief human resources officer at Unilever South Asia, emphasized the one core characteristic of Unileverites that set them apart from the competition and drove their expansion. She ascribed it to the idea that “leaders build leaders,” which united them and prevented HUL from producing a succession of leaders. Following a recent leadership change, Shiva Krishnamurthy, Harman Dhillon, Arun Neelakantan, and Vipul Mathur joined HUL’s top table, the management committee.
Shiva Krishnamurthy
At Hindustan Unilever Limited, Shiva Krishnamurthy serves as executive director of food and refreshment. He was Unilever South Asia’s vice president of foods and beverages prior to this. Over the last ten years, under Krishnamurthy’s leadership, HUL rose to the top of the Indian tea market. The first transgender band in India, the Brooke Bond Red Label 6-Pack Band, was awarded the coveted Glass Grand Prix by HUL at Cannes.
Under Krishnmurthy’s direction, numerous other brand campaigns have won important industry honors in India. Shiva has broad experience in mix design, end-to-end P&L leadership, and brand creation. His creative thinking has significantly improved HUL’s core portfolio, which includes Lux and Lifebuoy. Notably, he led innovation for the Singapore-based Radiant brand in the Southeast Asian home care market. XLRI Jamshedpur is the school that Krishnamurthy attended. After a brief period with PepsiCo, he joined HUL in 2000 and served on the Customer Development team as an area sales manager. While earning his MBA, Krishnamurthy, a devoted follower of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, managed an Amitabh Bachchan fan club.
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Harman Dhillon
Harman Dhillon is the general manager of Unilever’s Beauty and Wellbeing division in South Asia as well as the executive director of the Beauty and Wellbeing division of Hindustan Unilever Limited. Dhillon is a versatile business leader and marketer who excels at P&L management, brand creation, consumer insights, strategic thinking, and managing diverse teams. She has a proven track record of establishing and expanding significant brands in the personal care and cosmetics industry, with increasingly responsible assignments spanning South Asia, North America, and Europe.
She oversaw HUL’s premiumization portfolio and showed thought leadership in the FMCG beauty sector while serving as Head of Skin Care. She has also spearheaded the industry’s shift in the skin care sector, bringing a complete makeover to names like Lakmé. Dhillon developed extensive experience in the hair care industry during her tenure as vice president of hair care. She introduced TRESemmé and Dove hair to India and oversaw the creation of well-known advertising campaigns like Clinic Plus’ “Meri Beti Strong” and Dove’s “Stop the Beauty Test.” She served as global brand director for TRESemmé’s global business in 2015, spending two years in London.
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Arun Neelakantan
In January 2024, Arun Neelakantan was named HUL’s chief digital officer. He oversaw HUL’s digital transformation and growth strategy in South Asia in his prior position. He has been instrumental in establishing the foundation for HUL’s digital agenda throughout the value chain, as well as in identifying and seizing growth opportunities.
HUL has expedited its transition to an intelligent enterprise under his direction by increasing people’s digital quotient, unlocking cross-functional ecosystems, and consolidating capabilities. Along with driving HUL and Unilever’s growth agenda in South Asia, he has also taken a holistic approach to media, marketing, and commerce, and has identified specific opportunities across business fundamentals, particularly in emerging channels and businesses.
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Vipul Mathur
As executive director of personal care, Vipul Mathur will join the HUL Management Committee on June 1, 2024. Following his graduation from the Indian Institute of Management – Calcutta with an MBA, Vipul, who is currently Head of Growth and Transformation, began his career at HUL in 2003 as a management trainee. He has over 20 years of experience in customer development and marketing, working in the fields of nutrition, personal care, and home care. Mathur had incredibly successful periods in the laundry industry from 2012 to 2017 and again in 2020–2021. He oversaw Wheel’s rural and mobile marketing efforts and was a key player in the introduction of India’s first mobile radio platform, Kan Khajura Teshan (KKT), which won a Cannes award and featured branded content from ten Unilever brands.
In his role as Category Head, he oversaw the program for portfolio transformation, grew the Liquids division, and produced profitable and competitive growth. Between 2017 and 2020, Mathur was a member of the Global Tea Leadership team, collaborating with teams in South Asia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Australia. He was successful at securing new blends for the category and creating award-winning marketing campaigns for Brooke Bond. He led customer relationships and developed internal cross-functional capabilities in his previous position as Vice President for Modern Trade and eCommerce, strengthening the company’s omnichannel strategy and driving portfolio transformation for HUL in high-growth emerging channels.
Read More: HUL Promotes Vipul Mathur to Executive Director – Personal Care
