Unilever’s appointment of Jopa Malantic as Global Brand Vice President for Sunsilk and TRESemmé signals a sharpened focus on scaling its flagship haircare brands in an increasingly competitive and innovation-driven global market. With over 14 years at Unilever and two decades across iconic FMCG brands, Malantic steps into a role that sits at the intersection of global strategy, product innovation, and cultural relevance.
Haircare remains one of Unilever’s most strategically important categories high-frequency, brand-led, and deeply influenced by local rituals, beauty standards, and digital-first discovery. Managing global brands like Sunsilk and TRESemmé today requires more than consistency; it demands adaptive brand architecture, fast innovation cycles, and relevance across both mature and high-growth markets.
Malantic’s elevation reflects Unilever’s broader playbook: placing deeply embedded leaders those who understand the organisation’s scale, supply chains, and consumer data at the helm of global brands. This allows Unilever to balance centralised brand direction with local-market agility, a critical advantage as haircare trends fragment across textures, routines, and price tiers.
Strategically, the move also underlines Unilever’s push to future-proof its power brands. With indie challengers, salon-born labels, and influencer-led brands reshaping consumer expectations, global incumbents must innovate faster while protecting brand equity. Leadership that can connect innovation, sustainability, and storytelling at scale becomes a competitive differentiator.
From an industry lens, this appointment highlights how FMCG majors are doubling down on portfolio depth rather than breadth investing leadership and resources behind brands that already command trust, distribution, and global recognition.
Overall, Jopa Malantic’s role is less about maintenance and more about re-energising two global haircare icons for the next phase of growth, ensuring Sunsilk and TRESemmé stay relevant, desirable, and resilient in a fast-evolving beauty landscape.
