Creates New Chief Growth Officer
Role
Elevates Innovation and Information
Technology Functions
Three Senior Functional Leaders Announce
Retirements
The Coca-Cola Company today announced a number of senior
leadership appointments to drive its ongoing transformation into a
growth-oriented, consumer-centered, total beverage company. Key
changes, which will be effective when President and COO James
Quincey becomes Chief Executive Officer on May 1, include:
- Combining Global Marketing, Customer
and Commercial Leadership, and Strategy into one combined function
under the leadership of a new Chief Growth Officer to drive
growth across five strategic beverage categories.
- Appointing a Chief Innovation
Officer to elevate Global Research & Development into a
standalone innovation function reporting directly to the CEO. This
represents the increased importance of innovation to the company’s
growth plans.
- Positioning the Information
Technology function as a direct report to the CEO given the
importance of digitization as a growth enabler for the company’s
business.
- Combining key global transactional and
expertise services into an expanded and reconstituted Integrated
Services organization that will primarily focus on financial,
procurement and associate shared services.
“Today’s organizational announcement is another building block
in our company’s transformational journey,” Quincey said. “We are
moving quickly to structure our organization for faster growth and
to ensure we can respond to the fast-changing needs of our
consumers, customers, system and associates around the world. Each
of the leaders named today is highly capable and understands our
clear mandate for change, and I look forward to partnering with
them as we transform our business for the future.”
The changes support work already under way to create a leaner,
more agile corporate organization that is focused on strategy,
governance and vital strategic initiatives, such as innovation and
portfolio growth through leading brands and categories. They also
follow changes made by Quincey to the company’s international
operations leadership team last year.
Senior Leadership
Appointments
Leaders assuming new or expanded responsibility in the
organization and reporting directly to Quincey, effective May 1,
include:
Francisco Crespo, who currently serves as President of
the Mexico business unit, will fill the newly created role of Chief
Growth Officer. A 28-year company veteran, Crespo will lead the
company’s global marketing, corporate strategy, and customer and
commercial leadership teams to create a consolidated team with a
clear mandate for driving global growth. This role will lead the
evolving category cluster model focused around five beverage
categories: sparkling, juice/dairy/plant-based, tea and coffee,
water and enhanced waters and energy. Julie Hamilton, Chief
Customer and Commercial Leadership Officer, and the Corporate
Strategy and Planning and Global Marketing leadership teams will
report to the Chief Growth Officer.
Crespo is uniquely qualified for this role, having successfully
led the expansion of Coca-Cola’s total beverage portfolio in each
of the key Latin America markets where he has worked. Since 2013,
he has overseen the continued expansion of products and brands in
Mexico, which is one of the company’s most important international
business units.
To read Crespo’s biography, click here.
Robert Long, currently Vice President, Research and
Development, will become a direct report to the CEO as Chief
Innovation Officer. This move is indicative of Coca-Cola’s
increased focus on accelerating the growth of its consumer-centric
brand portfolio with hundreds of new products and continued
innovation in beverages, packaging, ingredients and other areas of
the business around the world.
To read Long’s biography, click here.
Barry Simpson, currently Senior Vice President and Chief
Information Officer, will remain in his role but be elevated as a
direct report to the CEO to increase visibility and focus on
efforts to digitize all aspects of the company’s business. Barry
became CIO last fall and oversees all of the company’s global
information technology strategy, services and operations.
To read Simpson’s biography, click here.
Kathy Waller, currently Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer, will assume expanded responsibility for
the company’s strategic governance areas as Executive Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer and President, Enabling
Services. In addition to the Global Finance organization, the
Global Technical team led by Dr. Ed Hays, a newly created
Integrated Services team, which will be led by Robin Moore,
and a new Business Transformation team to be led by Mark
Eppert will report to Waller. The Integrated Services team will
focus on financial, procurement and associate shared services while
the Business Transformation team will be responsible for driving
the changes needed to implement the company’s new operating model,
including productivity and zero-based work.
Moore, currently Chief of Internal Audit, joined the company in
1995 and has held numerous roles of increasing responsibility
within the Finance organization. She led the establishment of the
company’s global finance shared service capability within the
company’s Global Business Services (GBS) organization. She will
replace Ann Taylor, currently President of GBS, who will
retire from the company after a successful 32-year career. Taylor’s
leadership in the formation and growth of the GBS organization
since 2009 has been instrumental in creating the foundation to
expand shared services capabilities through a new Integrated
Services organization.
Eppert, who currently serves as Chief Financial and Supply Chain
Officer for Coca-Cola North America, will join Waller’s team to
lead Global Business Transformation. With nearly 25 years of
Coca-Cola experience, Eppert is uniquely qualified for his new role
having held key leadership positions in Coca-Cola Refreshments and
in the North America business unit, including Foodservice and
On-Premise, the Sparkling Category business unit and the Columbus,
Ohio Syrup Branch. Brent Hastie, currently Senior Vice
President, Corporate Strategy and Planning, will succeed Eppert as
Chief Financial and Supply Chain Officer for Coca-Cola North
America. Hastie joined the company in 2006 and has held numerous
finance, strategy, commercial and brand leadership roles in
Corporate, Coca-Cola Refreshments and the North America Group. He
will report to Sandy Douglas, Executive Vice President and
President, Coca-Cola North America.
To read Waller’s biography, click here.
Jennifer Mann, currently Chief of Staff to Quincey, will
become Chief People Officer. Coca-Cola’s long-term growth and
success is dependent on investing in and developing its people and
strengthening the talent pipeline. Mann will lead efforts to drive
cultural change throughout the organization and will continue to
serve as Quincey’s Chief of Staff.
To read Mann’s biography, click here.
Bea Perez, currently Vice President and Chief
Sustainability Officer, will become Chief Public Affairs,
Communications and Sustainability Officer. In this new role, Perez
will leverage the important external stakeholder work done in
Public Affairs and Communications, sustainability and partnerships
in a more strategic, integrated and holistic way.
To read Perez’s biography, click here.
Senior Leadership
Retirements
In addition to today’s appointments, three long-time senior
functional leaders have chosen to retire from the company. Each
will assist in the transition of their functions and serve as
advisers to Quincey until their retirements.
Marcos de Quinto, Executive Vice President and Chief
Marketing Officer, will retire after a nearly 35-year Coca-Cola
career. De Quinto moved to Atlanta to assume the CMO position in
January 2015 and has been responsible for a resurgence in the
quality of
Coca-Cola advertising, including the successful One Brand
marketing strategy, global “Taste the Feeling” campaign and new
visual identity system for Trademark Coca-Cola launched last year,
as well as a full-scale, global relaunch of Fanta rolling out this
year. De Quinto also led work to improve marketing productivity,
which enabled significant reinvestments in marketing spend and
supporting results in the company’s growth.
To read de Quinto’s biography, click here.
Ceree Eberly, Senior Vice President and Chief People
Officer, will retire after a 27-year Coca-Cola career. Since
becoming Chief People Officer in 2009, Eberly has led significant
improvements in the company’s people and talent processes,
including the recent launch of a new Performance Enablement system
and ongoing enhancements to training and retention programs for top
talent in the company’s leadership pipeline.
To read Eberly’s biography, click here.
Clyde Tuggle, Senior Vice President and Chief Public
Affairs and Communications Officer, will retire after a 28-year
Coca-Cola career. Since assuming his current position in 2009, he
has brought a new way of thinking to the Public Affairs and
Communications function, driving increased proactive engagement
with a wide array of external stakeholders around the world. Among
his many accomplishments in Public Affairs, Tuggle put in place a
strong, connected global Public Affairs and Communications
leadership team, and built the company’s social and digital
capability and presence, including the creation of Coca-Cola
Journey, the company’s award-winning online digital magazine.
To read Tuggle’s biography, click here.
“We enter this next chapter of our history on the shoulders of
so many great leaders who have come before us,” Quincey continued.
“We are grateful to Marcos, Ceree and Clyde for their nearly 90
years of combined service to the company, and we salute their
legacy of strong leadership and wise counsel. We wish them each the
best as they retire.”
About The Coca-Cola
Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage
company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and
still brands and nearly 3,900 beverage choices. Led by Coca-Cola,
one of the world's most valuable and recognizable brands, our
company’s portfolio features 21 billion-dollar brands, 19 of which
are available in reduced-, low- or no-calorie options. Our
billion-dollar brands include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Fanta,
Sprite, Dasani, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Del
Valle, Georgia and Gold Peak. Through the world's largest beverage
distribution system, we are the No. 1 provider of both sparkling
and still beverages. More than 1.9 billion servings of our
beverages are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries each
day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable
communities, our company is focused on initiatives that reduce our
environmental footprint, create a safe, inclusive work environment
for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the
communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners,
we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than
700,000 system associates. For more information, visit Coca-Cola
Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at
twitter.com/CocaColaCo, visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at
www.coca-colablog.com or find us on LinkedIn at
www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170323005639/en/
The Coca-Cola CompanyMediaKent Landers, +01
404-676-2683orInvestors and AnalystsTim Leveridge, +01
404-676-7563
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