Circana Names New CFO
Consumer insights firm Circana, has promoted Holly Knightly, currently EVP of global finance, performance and transformation at the company, to the role of CFO, effective Aug. 12. Already a member of Circana’s executive leadership team, Knightly will now lead Circana’s worldwide finance and strategy organization, including planning, strategy, accounting, treasury, tax, reporting and investor relations.
Knightly succeeds Anne Bramman, who will transition over the next few weeks after a successful tenure helping to unite the strategy, growth, financial planning, systems and operations for Circana’s heritage companies, IRI and The NPD Group, as the company became one merged entity.
“We are delighted to appoint Holly as CFO as we continue to drive Circana’s financial strategy forward, accelerate growth across our business, and provide differentiated consumer insights and category expertise to help our clients succeed,” noted Kirk Perry, president and CEO of Chicago-based Circana. “Holly is an accomplished finance and business executive who has successfully delivered strong results in dynamic environments at both public and private companies. Throughout her time with Circana, Holly has continuously demonstrated effective leadership and instilled excellent operating discipline within our teams globally, and we look forward to her continued contributions in this new role.”
“It is an honor to serve as CFO at such an important moment in Circana’s continued evolution as a unified organization,” said Knightly. “Circana is well positioned to continue its leadership advising brands and retailers across sectors on how to grow well into the future, and I firmly believe in our strategy to continue delivering exceptional outcomes for our more than 7,000 clients across the globe. I look forward to continuing to work with Kirk and the leadership team, alongside our talented finance and strategy team members, to build on our strong foundation.”
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“We thank Anne for her leadership in helping to execute our successful post-merger integration, building momentum across teams globally, and positioning Circana’s leading technology and capabilities to deliver long-term value creation for all stakeholders,” added Perry. “Anne played a key role in enhancing the organization’s strategic capabilities, including deploying our finance technology platform and launching Circana’s global transformation program, and we wish her all the best in her next chapter.”
“I am pleased to have been part of Circana at such a pivotal time for the business and proud of the many accomplishments we achieved as a team while elevating our finance and growth function,” said Bramman. “The company continues to make transformational progress as a leading advisor on the complexity of consumer behavior. I look forward to seeing Circana continue to succeed well into the future.”
Earlier this year, Circana named Jeremy Allen chief commercial officer, overseeing the commercial organization that includes the company’s global client verticals and solutions group. Previously, he was president, consumer packaged goods, a role taken on by Wei Lin Wong.
At the same time, Circana made the following appointments:
Joanne Sackett, formerly the head of Circana’s beauty, sports, apparel, footwear, accessories and luxury verticals, became president, general merchandise.
Rob Hill, most recently president of retail for North America, became president, global retail.
Brad Shelton, formerly president of collaborative gateway solutions, took on the newly created position of president, retail and manufacturer collaboration.
Patty Altman, previously EVP, consumer and shopper insights became president, consumer and shopper insights and e-commerce.
