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Unilever's Keith Weed to Step Down as Chief Marketing Officer

Unilever's Keith Weed to Step Down as Chief Marketing Officer

(Bloomberg) -- Keith Weed, who overhauled Unilever’s engagement with customers for the digital era, is planning to step down as chief marketing officer after 35 years at the consumer-goods giant.

Holding the reins of one of the world’s biggest marketing budgets, Weed has been an instrumental figure in the industry, pushing for greater accountability for advertising spending. He’s led calls for tech giants like Facebook to provide greater transparency on the audiences brands reach via online platforms and urged them to police extremist content.

His departure comes just days after the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream named personal-care chief Alan Jope to succeed Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman in January. Weed has been a key figure in the departing CEO’s sustainability efforts, as a leader of the company’s Purpose movement and other programs, the company said in a statement. He’ll retire at the beginning of May.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Lauerman in London at jlauerman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net

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