Sponsorship

September 2025 - The Sponsorship Shake-Up

Sponsorship Shake-Up: Who Moved Where in September 2025

Global brands have had a busy September, resulting in major shifts in CMOs that control huge global sponsorship budgets. Honch tracked more than 8,700 global marketing hires, thousands more promotions and hundreds of CEO hires.

As we head into the final quarter of 2025, these moves will have big ramifications for where these brands allocate budgets moving forward. Here's a summary of some of the key updates from September 2025.

4,471 UK Appointments

UK companies kept their sponsorship and marketing engines running this September, bringing in new leaders across key brands, including:

Pret A Manger – Matthew Bresnahan – Chief Marketing Officer
NET-A-PORTER – Laurelle Gilbert – Global Brand & Marketing Director
BNY – Louise Shelley – Global Marketing Director
Mindful Chef | B Corp – Mary Rochester Gearing – Chief Marketing Officer
Ten Entertainment – James Croxall – Chief Marketing Officer

3,320 US Appointments

US agencies and tech companies added a wave of new marketing and sponsorship talent this month, including:

Hublot – Mickael Berend – Chief Marketing Officer
Suntory Global Spirits – Rashmi Raine – Vice President Marketing
Flowdesk – Tyler Fleischer – Vice President of Marketing
Playboy – Reese Lasher – Vice President, Brand
Lenovo – Santi Pochat – Vice President, Brand and AI

758 European Appointments

European marketing and sponsorship teams welcomed new leaders across multiple regions and business units, including:

Nestlé Purina Petcare – Elisa Riboldi – CMO & Head of Vet Healthcare Business Unit
Saab – Felicia Leksell – VP Marketing I Group Head of Brand & Marketing
Atosimage – Penelope Fouquieres – SVP, Chief Communications Officer
Workday – Stephanie Lohmann – VP EMEA Marketing
Coty – Amanda Widmann – Vice President Marketing Prestige DACH
Saint-Gobain – Claire Garnier – Chief Communications Officer (CCO)

ROW Marketing Hires

Across the rest of the world, companies continued to hire key marketing leaders, including:

East Delta Saudi Co – Rabah Hussein – Chief Marketing Officer (Saudi Arabia)
Glassbox – Roy Klein – Vice President Marketing (Israel)
Keeta – Rami Dalal – Marketing Director (UAE)
Al Ghurair – Bayan Kairat – Senior Vice President Marketing (Saudi Arabia)
Northern Offshore – Jan Samuelsen – Vice President Marketing (UAE)

2,762 Global Marketing Promotions

Internal talent continues to step up across global brands, signalling potential shifts in budgets, campaigns, and sponsorship partnerships. Promotions this month represent fresh opportunities to engage newly elevated decision-makers, including:

Harvey Nichols – Victoria Walker – Chief Marketing Officer
Silversea Cruises – Annette Diaz – Chief Marketing Officer
L’Oreal / Prada Beauty – Martin Breban – Global Communications Director
William Grant & Sons – Conor Neville – Marketing Director – Incubation Brands
PepsiCo – Stephanie Herbert – Marketing Director, Functional Beverages
Hollister Incorporated – Amanda Robinson – Vice President Global Marketing
The LEGO Group – Beau Encarnacion – Marketing Director Lead, LEGO Gaming IPs
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. – Lana Jarrah – Director – Digital Commerce & Marketing (Assignment)
Renewi – Marieke Van Wichen – Director Marketing Communications & Corporate Affairs
BP – Kiran Amin – Global Brand and Communications Director

771 New CEOs Driving Strategic Sponsorship Directions

Leadership changes at the top frequently trigger reviews of sponsorship strategy, partnerships, and marketing plans. September saw 771 new CEO appointments worldwide including:

Uber Freight – Rebecca Tinucci – Chief Executive Officer
Kering – Luca de Meo – Chief Executive Officer
Signify – As Tempelman – Chief Executive Officer
Gold's Gym – Bradford Reynolds – Chief Executive Officer
Ipsos – Jean Laurent Poitou – Chief Executive Officer
Lacoste – Eric Vallat – Chief Executive Officer
Rackspace Technology – Gajen Kandiah – Chief Executive Officer
Arsenal FC – Richard Garlick – Chief Executive Officer
CityFibre – Simon Holden – Chief Executive Officer
ALDI USA – Atty McGrath – Chief Executive Officer

201 Funded Companies Signalling Growth

Funding rounds indicate expanded budgets, new teams, and increased potential for sponsorship investment. September’s funded companies include:

Paragraf – £412.50 million – Series C
Big Potato Games – £14.22 million – Private Equity
Phoebe – £12.75 million – Seed
Bumper – £8.14 million – Series B
Irys – £7.50 million – Series A

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