Danielle Maurici-Arnone – RB

Previously known as Reckitt Benckiser, RB products are quite visible at any supermarket or pharmacy. In the post-COVID-19 world, being seen on a shelf is not nearly enough.

Digital Commerce 360 reports consumers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020. That’s a 44 percent increase from 2019 and means more than 20 percent of purchases are made online. While e-commerce was already growing, the leap from almost 16 percent of sales online in 2019 to 21.3 percent in 2020 is the largest recorded increase from one year to the next.

Danielle Maurici-Arnone is well aware of the burgeoning online market, and as CIO for RB’s North American Health and Nutrition division, she says the company needs diverse channels and looks to develop personal relationships to enable sustained growth.

“Access to the highest quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment is a right, not a privilege,” Maurici-Arnone says. “Many of the products in our portfolio are in the homes of millions of consumers, which makes what we do all the more relevant.”

On the shelves

With a 200-year heritage, RB sells more than 20 million products daily in more than 190 countries across the globe, she notes. Those products include Enfamil and Nutramigen infant formulas; Lysol disinfectant; Schiff vitamins, minerals and supplements; and Mucinex for treating coughs, colds and the flu.

Maurici-Arnone and her team spent much of last year engaging customers online and medical professionals on digital platforms because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These platforms provide self-guided experiences to explore products that best respond to consumer concerns, she adds. This took on a new level of importance because the pandemic also limited in-person visits to health care professionals.

“Brand loyalty is something you earn by building trust and providing support to customers when they need it most. This creates lifetime value,” she says. “It’s not just a discount and shopping cart experience, it’s much more about understanding consumer concerns, leveraging our science to continuously educate and innovate while adapting to shopping preferences.”

Responding to consumer needs requires a holistic approach to marketing, sales and supply chain strategies. To respond quickly, artificial intelligence and data mining are beneficial whether there’s a pandemic or not, Maurici-Arnone explains.

“There’s a technology focus in every part of the business and I’m passionate about building teams and creating the roadmap to achieve business goals for every brand and category,” she says.

As e-commerce expands in the post-COVID world, which Maurici-Arnone expects to happen, RB has to continue to engage consumers online. “You have to be creative and have a compelling value proposition that is seamless and engaging, focusing on personalization as much as possible to give people a reason to come back,” she says.

So RB is hosting live-streamed shopping events and launching social commerce experiences involving internet influencers and experts. These engagement opportunities balance information, novelty and fun as consumers learn about RB products and which ones can best help them stay healthy. The focus on social engagement, community and content will continue to accelerate and evolve, she notes.

Growing into her work

Though it’s her role to make IT integral to RB’s North American growth, tech was not on Maurici-Arnone’s initial career path.

“I discovered technology while thinking I was going to do something totally different and decided to keep going,” she says.

Born and raised in New Jersey, she stayed in the state for her education, earning a bachelor’s in political science and women’s studies from Rutgers University. She followed that with a Master of Science in Public Policy.

While working for a policy think tank, she fell in love with technology and how it can be applied to solve problems.

Maurici-Arnone has worked for both startups and larger companies, enjoying the contrasts while also looking to apply a startup mentality in the larger environments.

“It’s about building a culture that’s more than the bottom line, being connected to your team and business partners while driving large organizational change,” she says.

After earning a master’s in information science from Stevens Institute of Technology, Maurici-Arnone joined Pearson, the London-based learning company, as a global product leader where she led strategic B2B and B2C initiatives.

After returning to the startup world as head of product for Modo Modo, a global software company based in New York City, she became the global brand technology leader for the Estée Lauder Companies, responsible for omnichannel consumer engagement.

She’s brought that expertise to her current role as RB’s North America CIO.

“I enjoy leading the technology function in a time where there’s a lot of strategic focus on making products that are compelling and engaging consumers in a manner that will drive loyalty,” Maurici-Arnone says. “Every chance we have to connect with consumers, regardless of the channel they use, it should be easy and memorable.”