Anora - going global with an industry forerunner in sustainability
Anora - going global with an industry forerunner in sustainability
Anora is a leading wine and spirits brand house in the Nordic region and a global industry forerunner in sustainability.
“We instructed Alumni at the point we were seeking someone exceptional to expand our Nordic stronghold and make a significant impact on the global opportunities available. We knew that we were seeking someone to take ownership of Ecommerce and the commercial relationships that it entails but Alumni helped us to distil our thinking around whether we wanted an expert that would hit the ground running or someone who would grow into the role. When we found the perfect match Alumni went the extra mile to ensure that any difficulties around location were not an impediment to delivering the very best person for the role.”
Anora is a market leader in the Nordic wine and spirits industry.
Anora operates across the Nordics as well as in the Baltics, Germany and France.
Anora has a broad portfolio of iconic brands, including: Koskenkorva Vodka, Linie Aquavit, Larsen Cognac, Skagerrak Gin, and a wide portfolio of wines including: Chill Out, Ruby Zin, Wongraven, O.P. Anderson and Falling Feather.
Anora’s business operations also include world-class industrial operations in distillation, bottling and logistics services as well as the production of technical ethanol products, neutral potable ethanol, feed components and barley starch.
The requirement
Anora approached us at a time when they were looking to build on their Nordic success and significantly expand into global markets. Anora’s strategy required relationship building with international retailers and related ECommerce environments and continuing to build their own ECommerce platform to create better direct to consumer propositions.
Anora needed a Head of Ecommerce with skills in brand marketing and global positioning. On commencement of the assignment, they were still undecided about the balance of seniority the individual might hold. Anora were interested in exploring both very senior candidates who could make an impact from day one, and less experienced candidates with exciting potential who could learn and grow with the business.
The solution
Ecommerce leadership skills are in high demand and can be hard to find, especially when the search is limited to the Nordics. To counter this Alumni opened up their extensive global network to search for the perfect candidate for the role. Alumni worked with Anora to identify a candidate shortlist with varying profiles in order to enable them to decide on seniority.
As a result of the search and assessment process, Amsterdam based Austin Malcomb was appointed as International eCommerce & Brand Director in April 2022. Alumni worked with Anora throughout the process and provided invaluable support to location-based hiring obstacles in order that Anora could get their champion and Austin could work in a location she was already established within, without any barriers to business success.
For more information and a confidential discussion about how Alumni can help your organisation please reach out to one of our Consultants.
