Data insights company, Kantar, taps Bata’s Alexis Nasard as CEO

MUMBAI: Kantar, the data, insights and consulting company, has named Alexis Nasard as its chief executive, effective December 30th, 2020.
He will replace Eric Salama, who stepped down in February this year, months after WPP sold 60% in Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital in December last year.

Nasard, currently CEO at Bata, comes with close to 30 years of experience in the FMCG and retail space. Prior to joining the shoemaker in 2016, he spent six years at Heineken, where he served as president of Western Europe Business and Global Chief Marketing Officer.

“Throughout my career Kantar has been a trusted advisor… As much as I understand Kantar’s heritage and reputation today, it is our future that excites me most,” said Nasard. “The combination of Kantar’s deep understanding of consumers around the world, our proprietary data sets and growing expertise in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence puts us in a leading position to reshape the insights and consulting market, whilst offering clients superior analytics they can monetise. This will be all the more relevant in the volatile and fluctuating environment we are living in as a consequence of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, as clients need to operate on very steep learning curves.”

Nasard has also worked at Procter & Gamble for 17 years, in a variety of marketing and general management roles.

He holds an MBA degree from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, USA and an MS/BS degree in Civil Engineering from Saint Joseph University, Lebanon.

“In Alexis we have appointed a world-class CEO,” said Adam Crozier, chairman, Kantar. “As a former CMO and client he understands the value Kantar delivers, and the role it plays in advising the world’s biggest consumer brands. As we transform our business and position ourselves for growth, Alexis’ leadership and international experience will be instrumental in fulfilling the ambition that we have for Kantar.”

Crozier had joined Kantar in February from ITV, where he was CEO.

Christophe Jacobs, a managing director at Bain Capital Private Equity, added, “This appointment is another important step on Kantar’s journey to become the world’s leading advisor on data-driven marketing and commercial strategies and a key ecosystem partner for global technology leaders.”