My Coldplay.com

Elio Leoni-Sceti’s move from Reckitt Benckiser, the household products group, to be chief executive of EMI Music will prompt amusement, and perhaps dismay. Each time Mr Leoni-Sceti is referred to as a “detergent expert”, EMI’s artists will feel a little more uneasy. That may be one reason why, in the official statement welcoming him to the music group, much was made of the Italian’s excitement about the prospect of working with Kylie, Lily and Norah and nothing of his regret at no longer working with Airwick, Veet and Vanish.

EMI has been through this before, when Eric Nicoli joined as executive chairman from United Biscuits in 1999 (”EMI takes the biscuit” etc.). Mr Nicoli’s years at EMI were not glorious. But the idea of putting product people in charge of product - be it Calgon, cookies or compact discs - is sound, even if Mr Leoni-Sceti will concentrate on branding, marketing and innovation more than on shifting physical stock.

Unlike United Biscuits under Mr Nicoli, Reckitt has been a star performer. But Mr Nicoli had executive control of EMI as a listed company with disparate shareholders. As an employee of Terra Firma, the private equity group headed by Guy Hands, Mr Leoni-Sceti may have less room for manoeuvre, despite his new boss’s pledge to step back as non-executive chairman of EMI. When it comes to his key investments, Guy Hands-off still sounds less plausible than Guy Hands-on, whatever his title.

A measure of Reckitt’s strength, meanwhile, is that it should easily be able to pluck another manager from its ranks to fill the space Mr Leoni-Sceti leaves on the executive committee. As the second- youngest member of that team, the 42-year-old was theoretically one of those in line to replace Bart Becht, Reckitt’s much-lauded chief executive. But Mr Becht himself, still only 51, shows no signs of flagging. Hardly a succession crisis.

http://www.ft.com/