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The new CEO of ConAgra Foods on Tuesday promised big changes for the packaged-food company, including investing more in marketing for some brands as it divests its struggling private-label business.

In his first extensive public comments since taking the helm, Sean Connolly said that while ConAgra will aggressively target cost savings, it will also pour more money behind its most promising brands.

ConAgra — whose brands include Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim and Orville Redenbacher’s — has “historically underinvested in the branded side of the portfolio, so we plan to invest more in marketing as the brands can handle it,” Mr. Connolly told investment analysts. But as it spends more, the company will be “surgical and extremely disciplined,” he added. “The notion of dramatically jacking up spending levels for the sake of getting back on the horse does not make sense, and that’s not the kind of play you will see us run,” he said.

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