10 Things You Didn’t Know about Campbell Soup CEO Mark Clouse
Mark Clouse is the current CEO of Campbell Soup. He is considered to be a veteran of the food industry, so it should come as no surprise to learn that he has plenty of relevant expertise and experience from his previous positions. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Mark Clouse:
1. Studied Economics
Clouse studied economics in school. Generally speaking, economics can be separated into macroeconomics and microeconomics, which are focused on economies and entities that exist within those economies. However, it should be mentioned that both macroeconomics and microeconomics can be very useful for businesses. For example, macroeconomics provides interested individuals with a better understanding of the the economic environment in which businesses operate, thus enabling business leadership to better handle both risks and opportunities. Likewise, microeconomics provides interested individuals with a better understanding of the decisions that businesses must make on a day-to-day basis, which should increase the chances of business leadership making the right decisions.
2. Went to West Point
Speaking of which, Clouse went to school at West Point, which would be one of the five service academies that produce commissioned officers for the various branches of the U.S. military. Generally speaking, West Point is held in high regard, not least because interested individuals need to be nominated. In most cases, this means a nomination from either a member of Congress or a non-voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives. However, it is possible for interested individuals to get a nomination from other individuals such as the President and the Vice President as well.
3. Became a Captain in the U.S. Army
Of course, Clouse went on to become a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. By the end, he had risen to the position of Captain, which is higher than both First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant but below the position of Major. It is interesting to note that captain is a term that once saw use for indicating someone of much higher rank in earlier centuries, which makes sense because the term comes from the Greek from “topmost” and the Latin for “head.” The influence of this can be seen in how the people in charge of certain units as well as certain vessels are still called captain in recognition of their paramount position in those contexts.
4. Used to Play Basketball
When he was still in West Point, Clouse played basketball on the school team. Unfortunately, he suffered a case of frostbite when he was stationed in Alaska in the summer, which had a negative effect on his ability to perform on the basketball court. The extent of the negative effect wasn’t huge. However, the problem is that even a small effect can have huge consequences at that level of competition, which is why Clouse chose to stop playing for the sake of the team even though he believes that the coach would’ve been willing to let him play anyways.
5. Very Passionate About Basketball
Clouse was involved in more than just basketball when it came to athletics. However, there can be no doubt about the fact that basketball was his great passion in those times. With that said, it is interesting to note that Clouse was such a huge fan of basketball for a combination of a couple of reasons. In short, he liked that basketball was a team sport, but at the same time, he liked that he could practice on his own even though basketball was a team sport.
6. Considers Leadership to Be Very Important
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Clouse sees leadership as being very important. To be exact, he believes that there are a lot of smart, capable people out there. However, Clouse sees leadership as something that enables interested individuals to stand out from among their peers.
7. Used to Be President of Kraft Foods Greater China
Upon leaving the U.S. Army, Clouse went to Kraft Foods. There, he rose to higher and higher positions, which possessed wider and wider responsibilities. At one point in time, Clouse served as the President of Kraft Foods Greater China, meaning that he has plenty of international business experience. Those who are unfamiliar with the term should know that this is perfectly understandable, both because Greater China is very imprecise and because Greater China has seen serious changes in meaning over time. Currently, the term tends to refer to mainland China plus Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Singapore is sometimes included, but other times, it is not, both because it is further out and because it has never been under Chinese rule.
8. Remained with Mondelez International
In October of 2012, Kraft Foods rebranded itself as Mondelez International to reflect the international nature of its operations. However, its grocery business in North America was spun off as the Kraft Foods Group even though it retains products that consumers associate with said brand, thus making for some potential confusion. In any case, Clouse remained with Mondelez International through said rebranding.
9. Became Chief Commercial Officer
By the end of his time at Mondelez International, Clouse had become the Chief Commercial Officer, which was a newly created position at the time. As such, he held two main responsibilities, one being overseeing commercial growth and the other being overseeing the global sales function.
10. Was CEO at Pinnacle Foods
Before being chosen by Campbell Soup, Clouse was CEO at Pinnacle Foods. It isn’t exactly difficult to see why Campbell Soup winded up choosing Clouse out of their potential candidates. After all, Clouse boasts a strong background in the relevant industry. Moreover, when Clouse was CEO at Pinnacle Foods, the corporation managed a 54 percent climb in its stock price even though other food companies were seeing declines, which explains why the shareholders were so positive.
