Born 1963, M. Sci., Techn. Lic., Master of Strategic Marketing. Board member since 2005. Member of the Audit Committee. Business Area Manager for Feminine Care within SCA Personal Care.
Consumer insight essential for future growth
"The most important issue for Swedish Match is ensuring growth," says Board member Kersti Strandqvist. "In order to succeed, Swedish Match needs to identify what generates major growth long term, and become even better at understanding what makes consumers buy and test new products."
6 Nov, 2007
Since Kersti Strandqvist was elected to the Board of Directors in 2005, many changes have taken place in the Board's composition. New members from the United States, the UK and Sweden have been elected and, this spring, Conny Karlsson became the new Chairman after Bernt Magnusson. Strandqvist thinks these changes are exciting and positive for Swedish Match.
"The Board's work in Swedish Match is characterized by a broad range of expertise and different ways of thinking. By having members with considerable international experience and different cultural back grounds, we gain a rich dialog, which among other benefits leads to different ways of addressing problems and solving them. This results in sound decisions and, at the same time, being able to work with such competent people is stimulating.
"Both Bernt Magnusson and Conny Karlsson are knowledgeable, skilled leaders. Even if I will miss Bernt with his in-depth experience, it will be exciting to see what new influences Conny will bring as the Chairman of the Board, particularly with regards to brands and markets.
"The Nominating committee has done a good job and the Board's diversity will be important in our efforts to carry out our mission in the best way."
Impressive qualifications
Strandqvist has an impressive range of qualifications herself, from technology to marketing and brands. She is a trained chemical engineer and also has a Master's degree in marketing. Her professional experience includes roles in technical sales and product development at Neste Chemicals, marketing at Elf Atochem, as R&D Director for Incontinence Care SCA Hygiene Products and Business Area Manager for Baby Care SCA Personal Care. In her various positions over the years, she has been stationed in Belgium, Finland and France.
She is now Business Area Manager for Feminine Care SCA Personal Care in the global consumer goods and paper group SCA, based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Strandqvist is very enthusiastic when she speaks of working on the Board of Swedish Match. She feels that it contains many of the things that give her energy and motivation: innovative thinking, an international focus, and exciting people and products.
In terms of work on the Board, she feels that she contributes with her entire breadth, and specifically with her experience of acquisitions. She finds evaluating acquisitions and seeing how they fit in with Swedish Match's operations exciting. Other specialties that she masters are consumer marketing and the new development of products for different markets.
"SCA and Swedish Match are global consumer product companies and there is an interesting parallel in that several of the products address the same consumers. In both of the companies, product development and brand building also go in the same direction, towards increasingly faster product launches with new designs, new tastes and new variations. All of this is intended to keep the consumers´ interest and get them to try the products."
Understanding consumer behavior
Strandqvist believes that consumer insight, understanding what makes consumers buy a certain product, is an important success factor for Swedish Match. If the company is to ensure its long term growth, the factors that will provide major growth in ten years for instance, must be identified. A deep understanding of the consumers´ behavior and what the various brands represent to them is then needed.
"Today, Swedish Match already has a great deal of knowledge of product development and brands. But because of the restrictions on marketing tobacco products, more thought and creativity is required than for other consumer products, which can be marketed with traditional advertising. More has to be done here and I know that we on the Board can also contribute a great deal of strategic knowledge in this area."
One area that she feels Swedish Match should become better at is operating strategic product groups globally, across the organization. She explains that this work has already begun through the establishment of a global function for the growth area of smoke-free products, and adds that probably no other company is as competent in smokefree products as Swedish Match. The company also has unique competencies and strong brands in the segment for premium cigars.
Focus and resources are needed
Strandqvist looks positively on Swedish Match's future. With the right focus and resources, she is convinced that the company will grow, and she wants to stay on and contribute to this growth.
"It is inspiring to see the desire to develop and grow. Not many organizations have employees as knowledgeable as those in Swedish Match and they are really committed to the company. Personally, being able to contribute to Swedish Match's continued development energizes me. I would like to stay on the Board as long as the shareholders feel that I am doing a good job."
She is one of the youngest members of the Board and one of two elected female Board members. What is the significance of this? "Just that I represent my own experience and ways of thinking. Diversity on the Board is important to efforts to shed light on decisions and issues from multiple angles."