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Diving overview:
- The Coca-Cola Company has appointed Sedef Salingan Sahin to the newly created position of Chief Digital Officer, according to a press release. Coca-Cola’s addition of a chief digital officer to its executive team is part of a series of changes underway during the company’s CEO transition.
- Sahin, a more than 20-year veteran who currently serves as President of Coca-Cola’s Eurasian and Middle East operations, will lead digital transformation efforts and focus on streamlining cross-functional operations. Sahin’s past work at the beverage giant focused on digital transformation, including those related to marketing.
- In a statement, Coke’s incoming CEO Henrique Braun described the new role as “pivotal” to the future of soft drinks marketers. All new appointments, including Brown and Sahin, will take effect March 31.
Dive Insights:
Coca-Cola has often been a leader in digital, mobile marketing, and personalization. We are now creating a formal executive role to align with technological changes for CPG brands and integrate digital initiatives across the company.
According to Brown, the first step in Sahin’s new job will be to evaluate how Coca-Cola can strengthen execution, simplify operations and deliver to consumers accurately and quickly. Brown was appointed Coca-Cola’s next CEO last month, replacing James Quincey, who had held the top job since 2017.
As chief digital officer, Sahin will report to Brown and take on some of the strategic responsibilities currently overseen by CFO John Murphy. Coke is also expanding CMO Manolo Arroyo’s mandate to include some of Murphy’s customer and commercial leadership responsibilities. Arroyo’s title will change from CMO to Chief Marketing and Customer Commercial Officer as part of the transition.
Coke’s structural adjustments, which include several operational leadership adjustments and the formation of two new market groups, are intended to bring the organization closer to consumers and improve the pace of technology adoption at the corporate level.
“We believe that our continued growth depends on a deeper understanding of our consumers,” Brown said in a statement. “We are evolving our operational structure and strengthening our digital leadership so we can move faster and work smarter in all our markets.”
Although the company did not explicitly discuss the impact of artificial intelligence in its announcement, it has been integrating it more deeply into several areas of its business, including marketing. Over the past two years, Coke’s holiday campaigns have focused on AI-generated ads. This approach received a mixed response from consumers, but was defended by management.
Coca-Cola joins other marketers changing leadership in response to changing technological demands and a desire for greater organizational cohesion. Earlier this week, the Walt Disney Company unveiled a new corporate marketing structure that unifies Disney Entertainment, Disney Experiences and ESPN under a single leader.
