O-I Names New Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer

PERRYSBURG, Ohio, Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Owens-Illinois, Inc., (NYSE: OI), the world's largest glass packaging maker, has named Tony Gardner the company's new senior vice president and chief commercial officer. Gardner succeeds Erasmo Schutzer, the company's former senior vice president and chief marketing officer, who left the company in August.

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Gardner  leads O-I's global sales, marketing, pricing and product innovation initiatives. His priorities include developing O-I's customer-centric go-to-market strategies, driving the company's global pricing strategy, aligning its product portfolio with existing and planned customer needs and creating commercial plans to drive consumer and customer demand for glass.

"Glass stood by for far too long and watched other packaging materials take away share," said Chairman and CEO Al Stroucken. "Glass is the most sustainable packaging material available and O-I is uniquely positioned to promote that story, given our unparalleled global footprint and expertise," he added. "Tony brings a great deal of experience and understanding of our customer base. We expect he will significantly strengthen our commercial abilities and help us lead the rebirth of glass packaging."

Gardner joins O-I at a time of tremendous change. In 2011, the company launched its first-ever global campaign to champion glass. The Glass Is Life campaign showcases the unique and unmatched qualities of glass packaging to build successful food and beverage brands through the testimonials of CEOs, environmentalists and parents, among others. In addition, O-I launched a new and more customer-centric go-to-market strategy designed to empower the company's sales, marketing and product innovation teams to develop commercial plans with their customers that better reflect consumer trends. The company also introduced innovative new product concepts, including Lean+Green® lightweight wine bottles and Vortex® internally embossed beer bottles. And, in recent years, O-I has begun building a platform to become more aligned with the market and the customer, including more aggressive pricing and footprint strategies to maximize the value of glass packaging.

These initiatives, as well as O-I's efforts to further reduce the carbon footprint of glass – already among the lowest in packaging, are intended to challenge the past erosion of glass' market share in more mature markets.

"With more than 20 years in the consumer packaged goods space and two years consulting with O-I, I can see how the company can better connect customer intelligence and consumer preferences to build value. Customer connectivity and growth are key opportunities for O-I and I'm excited to drive those efforts," said Gardner. "We intend to significantly increase value for our customers and continue growing the global market for glass."

Gardner brings more than 20 years of business leadership experience to O-I, including management-level positions with three consumer-focused Fortune 250 companies, including Procter & Gamble. He joins O-I after five years with Accenture, where he worked with many of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies and their suppliers. Gardner has spent the past two years working closely with O-I's innovation and marketing teams on the development of the company's innovation road map.

About O-I

Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI) is the world's largest glass container manufacturer and preferred partner for many of the world's leading food and beverage brands. With revenues of $6.6 billion in 2010, the company is headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio, USA, and employs more than 24,000 people at 81 plants in 21 countries. O-I delivers safe, effective and sustainable glass packaging solutions to a growing global marketplace. For more information, visit www.o-i.com. 

SOURCE Owens-Illinois, Inc.