Arjen Linders, Philips North America

The August 14 edition of HOMEWORLD BUSINESS® revealed the 12th annual “Players,” people to watch in housewares during the next 12 months.

Selected by HomeWorld Business editors, the Players represent a cross section of a diverse housewares business— from established to newly installed company leaders; from large to small operations, from big-box to specialty retailers; from trade show managers to celebrity endorsers.

The HomeWorld Players are in the spotlight not only for how they might impact their respective organizations in the coming months, but also for how they might impact the overall housewares business.

Arjen Linders, Philips North America, SVP/Market Leader, Personal Health

PLAYER’S CREDENTIALS: Arjen Linders has been with Philips for nearly two decades, holding multiple leadership positions, and rising in the ranks to his current position of svp/market leader for Philips’ personal health business in North America.

“In my 18 years here at Philips, I’ve had a range of roles across categories that have added so much value to my current position,” he told HOMEWORLD BUSINESS.

In his current position, Linders oversees the commercial operations for Philips’ consumer businesses, including oral health care, personal care, mother and childcare, domestic appliances and sleep and respiratory care. He is responsible for driving profitable growth, expanding market share and elevating Philips’ brands in North America.

WHAT TO WATCH: According to Linders, the vision at Philips is to improve the lives of three billion people a year by 2025. The only way to get there, he said, is to be fully consumer and customer centric.

“To put our consumer first in everything we do we must be fully in tune with what our consumers are looking for and how they wish to receive it. We must keep our eye on both relevant and long-term consumer trends and allow them to influence our innovations in order to keep up in the marketplace,” he said.

PERSPECTIVE: “They say that change is the one thing that remains the same and this is very true of our industry and the current landscape. The way consumers are shopping, the number of new companies entering the market and the overall competition is constantly changing at a pace that we have never seen before. Philips, at its core, is a health-based company, and health care in this country is also rapidly changing. Health care is critical but also expensive, which is why we’re seeing a shift toward healthy habits starting at home, not just the doctor’s office. Philips is working hard to identify the best opportunities coming from these changes,” said Linders.

2018 HomeWorld Business Players (click on name for profile):