Santhi Ramesh is a transformational leader known for accelerating through future-forward strategies. Recognized as Forbes World’s Most Influential CMO, Santhi brings over 25 years of strategy, marketing, sales and innovation experience to her position as Chief Commercial Officer for Wells Enterprises (the makers of Halo Top Icecream, Blue Bunny and Bomb Pop Frozen desserts). In her previous role, Santhi was CMO for Hershey International, where she led a global team to set the international marketing strategy, uncover relevant consumer needs, design differentiated innovation, commercialize customer-centric marketing programs and drive growth in traditional channels as well as E-commerce. From ensuring their marketing campaigns were suitable for a social distancing context to leveraging the uptick in at-home baking, Santhi and her team increased market share and strengthened Hershey’s brand power across markets. She most recently launched “HERSHE campaign” to celebrate the accomplishments of women and make the invisible women visible. She also advanced e-commerce by institutionalizing capabilities to deliver a seamless omnichannel experience for the consumer.
Prior to joining The Hershey Company, Santhi was focused on creating consumer centric business opportunities at Colgate-Palmolive, McCain Foods and Wal-Mart. Santhi is a strategic, purpose driven leader who is always curious about consumer across markets. She has driven profitable growth across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Australasia and has a knack for leading teams through ambiguity with cultural sensitivity. Santhi believes in empowering teams, fostering critical thinking and creative problem solving, and partnering with cross-functional teams to deliver results.
Santhi is a graduate of the MBA program at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Passionate about teaching, she is happiest when she is lecturing in universities and gaining inspiration from the diverse ideas of students or coaching entrepreneurs in Africa.