Michael Cramer appointed Vice President Consumer Care Business EMEA

Kao has announced a new leadership team for its EMEA Consumer Care Business which includes renowned brands such as John Frieda and Guhl. With these changes Kao aims to be better able to address its key growth strategies for its Consumer Care Business which include growth in new channels, new categories, and new markets.  

Moving forward Michael Cramer will lead the business in the EMEA region as Vice President supported by Wendy Brown, Country Manager UK, René Heiligenstein, Country Manager DACH, and Sébastien Viennot, Regional Manager France & Benelux. 

Michael Cramer has been with Kao since 2006 after gaining experience in Marketing and Sales positions at
Gillette and Reckitt. During his career with Kao, Michael Cramer has successfully led the Kao Consumer Care Business in the Benelux and DACH and he has also been acting as Head of Managing Directors for Kao Germany since 2016.
 
“I am excited to lead the EMEA Consumer Care Business for Kao together with a strong expert team and strong brands”, says Cramer. “It is my goal to build on the success we had over the past years in which we have brought the John Frieda brand back to growth and have successfully entered into new channels such as E-Commerce while considerably expanding our distribution in the grocery channel.”
 
Debbie Rix, who has been co-leading the EMEA Consumer Care Business together with Michael Cramer, has
taken over responsibility for the global John Frieda business as Vice President, Global John Frieda. In this role, Rix will also lead Kao´s ESG efforts for the AEMEA region and be responsible for New Business in EMEA. Debbie Rix has joined Kao in 2016, after having held leadership positions at Revlon, DB Apparel and Sara Lee.
 
“Both Debbie and Michael have extensive General Management, Sales and Marketing experience, which positions them perfectly to continue to strengthen the business foundation, while driving sustainable, profitable growth in the EMEA region”, says Karen Frank, President Consumer Care Business AEMEA.