Marketing headhunters, tml Partners, are delighted to have partnered with the leadership team at Scholl Wellness Company to appoint Dana Bhargava as Global & North America Head of Media.
Scholl Wellness Company (SWC), backed by Boston-based private investment firm Yellow Wood Partners, is the operating powerhouse behind the Dr. Scholl’s and Scholl brands. Operating across more than 50 countries, the business holds a commanding position in footcare, personal care, and consumer wellness across its three core pillars: Aid, Care, and Support. Formed through the strategic consolidation of iconic heritage brands, SWC represents a four-hundred-million-dollar global platform actively scaling toward one billion dollars in enterprise value. Driven by private equity backing, the organisation is undergoing an ambitious commercial transformation focused on brand modernisation, omnichannel retail expansion, and institutionalising marketing effectiveness across international territories.
The Challenge
Operating within a fast-paced, private equity-backed portfolio environment, SWC identified the need to build a modernised, accountable global media function capable of delivering direct bottom-line impact. In North America, the company’s largest and commercially most significant market, success demanded navigating an increasingly intricate retail ecosystem dominated by retail media networks such as Amazon Advertising and Walmart Connect, alongside programmatic and performance channels.
Global Chief Marketing Officer, Duarte Dias, required an exceptional media executive to step into a newly created leadership remit. The mandate required bridging enterprise-level global media governance with hands-on operational leadership across North American retail and performance channels.
The brief called for a transformation leader rather than a traditional campaign manager. SWC needed an executive who had personally designed and deployed global media frameworks, harmonised fragmented agency rosters, embedded rigorous marketing mix modelling (MMM), and established clear measurement disciplines. Crucially, the incoming leader needed the agility, commercial acumen, and hands-on drive to build functional infrastructure from scratch within a lean, evolving operating model.
The Solution
Emma Calder, Head of Consumer Markets at tml Partners, led an executive search mandate across the New York Tri-State area. Drawing on deep sector expertise and an international network of marketing and commercial leaders, tml Partners initiated an intensive market mapping process focused on senior client-side media and performance executives across consumer healthcare, over-the-counter (OTC), personal care, and FMCG platforms.
The search rigorously calibrated candidates against enterprise transformation criteria. It was vital to separate individuals accustomed to managing large, static teams from those possessing genuine experience in authoring global media architecture, steering retail media investments, and driving commercial sell-out with major retailers.
Following an intensive evaluation process, SWC appointed Dana Bhargava. Dana brings over 25 years of global media and commercial transformation experience within tier-one consumer health and pharmaceutical organisations, including senior leadership remits at Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi Consumer Healthcare, Bayer Consumer Health, and Merck Consumer Care. Her proven ability to unify global media planning, translate data into actionable commercial strategy, and optimize large-scale investments directly addressed SWC’s growth objectives.
About tml Partners: Specialist Headhunters for Marketing and Commercial Roles
tml Partners are specialists in executive search with access to a global network of commercial, marketing, communications, brand, product, and digital leaders. Our team works with businesses ranging from high-growth investor-backed organisations to blue-chip enterprises to develop high-performing in-house teams.
As a B Corp certified search firm, we deliver retained search, interim management, and functional team builds across international markets. supported by our offices in London and New York.
Emma Calder partners with consumer & CPG brands, healthcare companies, and private equity portfolio businesses to appoint board and executive-level commercial, marketing, and digital leaders.
To learn how tml Partners can help you, get in touch.
