Kimberly-Clark’s New Top Marketer Has a Plan and Money to Spend

Kimberly-Clark’s incoming chief growth officer, Patricia Corsi, who will start the role on July 1, is in a good position.

Prior to the pandemic, the company’s chief executive, Michael Hsu, was reluctant to invest more money in marketing.

“Back in 2018, 2019, I did not feel we had all the capability we needed to spend that significantly,” Hsu told analysts during an April earnings call. “I wasn’t confident what the advertising was going to do.”

After years of testing, restructuring and pouring more money into digital channels, the Texas-based manufacturer behind Kleenex tissues, Huggies diapers and Cottonelle toilet paper has changed its tune. Last year, Kimberly-Clark’s advertising budget represented 5.3% of net sales, up from 4.5% in 2022. The difference amounted to a $174 million increase, and the company plans to increase ad spend again in 2024.

Besides marketing, Corsi will also be responsible for design, insights, analytics, innovation and revenue growth management — like other top marketers tasked with doing more in the current environment. She will succeed Alison Lewis, who is retiring after serving in the position for five years. Corsi declined to discuss which media channels she plans to invest the company’s ad budget, stating she still has yet to start the job.

One area she has earmarked for growth is Kimberly-Clark’s Depend and Poise brands, which offer incontinence products for adults. As the world’s population ages, demand for such products is bound to rise, she told ADWEEK.

Yet, these topics are not something everyone feels OK talking about, she noted.

“Not being able to get out of the house and have social connections because you have incontinence is something quite dreadful,” said Corsi, who is planning to get consumers comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Kimberly-Clark’s feminine care brand Kotex presents another opportunity: “Imagine a consumer being embarrassed to even be seen in front of some store shelves,” said Corsi.

Corsi has experience with trying to remove the taboo from certain categories. In her former role as chief marketing and information officer of Bayer’s consumer health division, Corsi and her team created the Vagina Academy. The educational online platform, which featured frank discussions and images about vaginal health, was a vehicle to promote the pharmaceutical giant’s dermatology brand Canesten, which treats vaginal yeast infections.

The power of brand

Corsi is aware she can drive sales by leveraging Kimberly-Clark’s 150-year history as a pioneer and authority in the marketplace.

She plans to use that brand value not just to market sensitive products, but also to give consumers a good reason to remain loyal to Kimberly-Clark, as years of inflation have tempted shoppers to find cheaper alternatives.

“In every single country I’ve lived and worked, if you deliver products that deliver an outstanding experience, consumers will stay with you,” said Corsi, who has held marketing positions at Unilever and Heineken. “And this is not something just for rich consumers.”

While the situation isn’t unique to Kimberly-Clark, the company has generated more revenue in recent years from charging higher prices than increasing the number of items sold. In 2023, for example, Kimberly-Clark’s $20.4 billion in net sales benefited from a 6% price increase amid a 2% decline in volume.