Coke brings back CMO role as chief growth officer Francisco Crespo retires

Coca-Cola will bring back the position of chief marketing officer after two years when Manolo Arroyo takes up the role on 1 January. He will also continue in his current position of president, Asia-Pacific.

Arroyo succeeds chief growth officer Francisco Crespo, who is retiring after a three-decade career with the soft-drinks giant. Crespo was appointed to the then newly created position in 2017, when former CMO Marcos de Quinto retired. Crespo was previously president of Coca-Cola Mexico.

The new CMO job will be more narrowly focused than that of Crespo, who had oversight of integrated global marketing, corporate strategy as well as customer and commercial operations.

While Arroyo will lead integrated global marketing – including teams for creative, category, marketing operations, design, and knowledge and insights – corporate strategy will now report to chief financial officer John Murphy, while customer and commercial operations will report to president and chief operating officer Brian Smith.

James Quincey, chairman and chief executive of Coca-Cola, said: "Francisco has played a critical role in the success of our company in recent years, especially in helping develop a growth strategy that has become thoroughly embedded in our operations and our culture. He leaves an important legacy of helping make us more focused on fast-changing consumer needs at a critical time.

"We know consumer needs are changing faster and faster, and it is critical for the company to be agile in how it responds and adapts. Manolo’s dual leadership over operations [in Asia-Pacific] and marketing is a new structure for us and we anticipate that it will evolve in the months ahead. Manolo’s focus will range from developing work that can be used around the globe to supporting local campaigns."