The toy company introduces a new channel-led commercial structure across Core Europe, with a dedicated lead for Smyths Toys “due to its scale”
Mattel has announced a new channel-led commercial structure for Core Europe, designed to enhance customer focus, deepen channel expertise and enable more consistent and scalable execution across the region.
The model reshuffles Mattel’s Core Europe Commercial organisation around five key channels: Toy Specialists, eCommerce, Grocery and Mass, Value, and Growth. Smyth Toys will also receive dedicated commercial leadership within the Toy Specialists channel due to its scale.
“Our ability to respond to the distinct needs of different retail channels and develop shopper propositions tailored to our partners will be an important driver of growth across Core Europe,” said Apostolis Karampatzakis, SVP and Head of Core Europe. “This new structure enables us to develop more targeted plans, execute our strategy faster and scale successful approaches across markets, helping us better serve our customers as the retail landscape continues to evolve.”
Each area will have dedicated commercial leadership, creating clear ownership across Mattel’s key routes to market and customer relationships. The newly appointed Core Europe Commercial team is:
- Fernando Marco has been appointed Commercial Lead for the Toy Specialists channel. With 17 years at Mattel, Fernando brings extensive experience in commercial strategy, customer management and sales leadership across Iberia and Italy. In addition, he has been appointed as the Country Lead for Iberia.
- Richard Skelton has been appointed as Commercial Lead for Smyths. With 12 years at Mattel and close to 20 years in the toy industry, Richard brings broad experience across sales, commercial development, insights and channel leadership. In addition, he has been appointed as the Country Lead for the United Kingdom.
- Tania Peres Karmann has been appointed as Commercial Lead for the Value channel. Since joining Mattel in 2013, she has held senior marketing and sales roles across DACH, most recently as Sales Director, strengthening retail partnerships in the region. In addition, she has been appointed as the Country Lead for Germany, Austria & Switzerland.
- Tanja Ohnesorge has been appointed as Commercial Lead for the eCommerce channel. With 11 years at Mattel and almost 20 years of experience across sales, eCommerce, category management, marketing and commercial strategy, she has held a range of commercial and marketing leadership roles. In her new role, she will lead eCommerce sales across Core Europe, covering eCommerce accounts.
- Joel Sidney has been appointed as Commercial Lead for the Growth channel. Within the Growth channel, he will manage the network of distributors as well as actively pursue new business development opportunities. With 12 years at Mattel, Joel brings broad European commercial leadership experience across sales, alongside strong retailer relationships and previous experience in fast-moving consumer goods. In addition, he has been appointed as the Country Lead for Benelux and the Nordics.
- Yves Mommaerts has been appointed as Commercial Lead for the Grocery and Mass channels. With over 15 years at Mattel across Belgium and France, most recently as Senior Manager, Toy Specialists France, Yves brings extensive sales experience, including several years managing the Grocery channel in France and leading international customer negotiations.
- Pauline de la Riviere has been appointed as Omnichannel Retail Marketing Lead. With 19 years at Mattel, she has held senior local and regional marketing roles across the business, most recently as Senior Director of Marketing in France, with experience spanning brand marketing, retail media and activations across France, the UK and Spain. In addition, she has been appointed as the Country Lead for France.
- Anna Laura Siracusa has been appointed as Channel Strategy and Differentiation Lead. With nine years at Mattel, Anna Laura has held a range of marketing and commercial roles across Italy and EMEA, building broad experience across brand and category management, go-to market strategy, retail activation and regional channel strategy. In addition, she has been appointed as the Country Lead for Italy.
Core Europe sits alongside Pan EMEA Markets (PEM), led by Sebastian Trischler, Vice President and Head of PEM, within Mattel EMEA, the company’s largest commercial organisation outside the United States.
