GfK's Klipfel Joins NPD in Euro Toys Role

The NPD Group has named 25-year GfK veteran François Klipfel as President of its Europe Toys business.

NPD has offices in 27 cities in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and offers services for the toy industry in thirteen countries, including industry expertise, prescriptive analytics and point-of-sale tracking.

Klipfel began his career in sales at Procter & Gamble before joining GfK's French POS business in 1993. Since then, his roles in the commercial team of GfK have included Deputy MD and member of the Management Board of the South West Europe region; and most recently leadership of a team of more than 70 managers and senior executives, while handling sales and negotiations for a range of global clients.

At NPD Klipfel will continue the development of the Toys practice in Europe, and start new initiatives in related industries such as Entertainment. He will report to Gerhard Hausruckinger, Group President for Europe and APAC who welcomes his 'experience and proven ability to deliver results', and comments: 'François has a proven track record as a successful leader, bringing with him a strong reputation for personnel development and team building'.

The Group, whose coverage includes a wide range of sectors from food, fashion and jewellery to b2b and consumer technology, is online at www.npd.com .