Wolverine World Wide, Inc. has promoted Brett Parent to chief strategy officer (CSO), a newly created role for the parent company of the Merrell, Saucony, Wolverine Brand and Sweaty Betty brands. The bump up from his prior role serving as VP of strategy was effective on February 3.
Parent will continue reporting directly to Chris Hufnagel, president and CEO of Wolverine Worldwide, and will now serve on the company’s Executive Team.
“I am honored and grateful to serve as the company’s first chief strategy officer. We have great brands with tremendous opportunity, and I look forward to building on our current momentum with the global teams to realize Wolverine Worldwide’s full potential around the world,” said Parent.
The newly christened CSO will be responsible for developing and driving the company’s enterprise strategy, along with assessing growth opportunities for the company’s brand portfolio across a global footprint spanning 170 countries and territories. In addition to leading the Strategy function and team, Parent will also oversee the company’s Consumer Marketing team – responsible for supporting enterprise-wide e-commerce growth initiatives across the portfolio.
Parent reportedly joined Wolverine Worldwide’s Direct-to-Consumer division almost two decades ago and has since held a variety of increasingly significant leadership roles across the organization – both in brand and corporate functions, the company said in a media release.
“In his time with the company, Brett’s seen virtually every aspect of our global operations and he has a long track record of success in both building great teams and driving the business,” said Hufnagel. “Perhaps most importantly, Brett has been a key architect, trusted advisor, and integral leader of our company’s turnaround effort over the past 18 months. We look forward to continuing to benefit from his deep experience and strong partnerships to help identify and drive our strategic objectives and deliver better returns for our shareholders.”
Image courtesy Wolverine Worldwide
