Aspirational local consumers key to Henkel brands

KASPER RORSTED heads up one of Europe’s largest brand portfolios. As CEO of Henkel he is responsible for consumer brands such as Pritt adhesive sticks, RightGuard deodorants and Schwarzkopf hair products. The group has been a regular sponsor of ice hockey in its home market of Germany and last year signed up to a $570,000 sponsorship with Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf. However, Rorsted’s attention is now focused mainly outside Germany with Asia and Latin America top of his list. He is buoyed by his belief that local brands in these markets will have to play catchup as consumers there strive to buy up global branded products. 7/3/2011