Benetton: a new team to bring back growth

By

Jean-Paul Leroy

Published
Jan 20, 2015

Benetton has announced several important hires at the head of its management team.

Marco Messini is the company’s new chief distribution & sales officer; Piero Maldini is the new retail director; and John Mollanger is the new chief product & marketing officer. 

Marco Messini has long worked at VF Corp. He served as vice president of EMEA franchise for all of the group’s brands and recently served as general manager EMEA for Timberland. 

Piero Maldini has experience at Autogrill, Coin and Upim, in both wholesale and retail management. From 2011 until now, he was chief operating officer of Holding dei Giochi, the retail arm of Giochi Preziosi Group.

Finally, John Mollanager previously served as head of products and marketing for Asics in Japan, having held similar positions at Nike and Puma in the US and then in Europe. 

The hires follow the appointment of Marco Airoldi as CEO of the group at the same time that Alessandro Benetton left the group’s presidency. This new team will also benefit, according to the Corriera Economia, from an agreement between Benetton Group and the banks in order to reschedule its debt. 

The Treviso-based company has seen a significant sales decline in recent years—10%, for example, in 2013 from 2012.