Guest · Brand building
Kimberly Hairston-Hicks
Chief Marketing Officer, Gold Bond
Kimberly Hairston-Hicks is CMO of Gold Bond, the 100-year-old skincare brand owned by Sanofi Consumer Healthcare. She leads a modernisation strategy that balances a century of heritage with the innovation and consumer intimacy needed to reach new audiences, holding prices steady and launching new products while the category shifts.
About
Kimberly Hairston-Hicks is a CPG brand builder whose career spans two decades across some of the most recognised names in beauty, wellness, and consumer goods. As Chief Marketing Officer of Gold Bond, the 100-year-old skincare brand owned by Sanofi, she is leading a modernisation strategy that balances heritage with innovation, expanding the brand’s reach to new consumers while deepening its connection with loyal ones.
Hairston-Hicks came to marketing by way of journalism. She earned a BA in Broadcast Journalism from Kean University and was working on a television show called Business Forum when a chance encounter inspired her to pursue business school. She completed her MBA at Clark Atlanta University, where she discovered brand management and never looked back. Her first role was at Coca-Cola on Diet Coke, an experience she credits with instilling an unwavering commitment to the consumer.
From Coca-Cola, she built a career across global beauty and consumer goods, holding senior roles at L’Oréal, Coty, and Unilever. She led brand turnarounds at heritage names including Fashion Fair and Dr. Miracles. In parallel, she founded Good Beaute, a skincare company formulated for melanin-enriched skin. She joined Gold Bond as Head of Gold Bond before being elevated to CMO, reshaping its strategy with startup agility within the Sanofi structure.
Career26 years
- 2024 to now Gold Bond / Sanofi CMO
- 2022 to 2024 Combs Global Head of Beauty and Wellness
- 2018 to 2023 Good Beauté Founder & CEO
- 2013 to 2016 DRM-JPC Brands (L.Catterton) CMO
Show earlier roles: Fashion Fair Cosmetics, Unilever / Alberto Culver, Coty / Alberto Culver, L’Oréal USA, The Coca-Cola Company
- 2012 to 2013 Fashion Fair Cosmetics VP Marketing
- 2010 to 2011 Unilever / Alberto Culver Global Nexxus Marketing Director
- 2006 to 2010 Coty / Alberto Culver Senior roles in fragrance development and multicultural marketing
- 2004 to 2006 L’Oréal USA Senior Brand Manager
- 2000 to 2004 The Coca-Cola Company Brand Manager, Diet Coke
How Kimberly thinks3 convictions
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Listen before you lead, especially with a heritage brand
Hairston-Hicks joined Gold Bond with a rule: no strategic moves until she had truly heard the consumer. The consistent signal that emerged was simple. It works. That single equity, built over a century, became the foundation for everything that followed. Listening is not passive. It is how you earn the roadmap.
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Stay true to the soul of the brand while taking risk at the edges
Modern brand management is a constant negotiation between the loyal consumer and the new one. Gold Bond’s core consumer is 40-plus and wants to age well. They reject anti-ageing language but embrace the science of ageing gracefully. Every new product, from the Plumping Collagen serum to the Walmart exclusive scented range, had to be honest about that.
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Consumer power has shifted and brands that resist it will not survive
Social media and TikTok have permanently altered the power dynamic between brands and the people they serve. Consumers now scrutinise ingredients, demand transparency, and vote with their wallets on values alignment. Hairston-Hicks does not treat this as a threat. She treats it as data, the clearest signal a brand builder could ask for.
