Coca-Cola’s top UK marketer Bobby Brittain departs
Coca-Cola’s top marketer for the UK and Ireland Bobby Brittain has left after 12 years, with company veteran Aedamar Howlett assuming control of its brands across the region.
Coca-Cola's 'One Brand strategy' was arguably Brittain's biggest task while at the soft drinks giant
Howlett takes on the role of marketing director for Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland, having worked across a number of marketing and commercial roles across the business over two separate periods.
The first began in 1996 when she joined its bottler in Ireland Coca-Cola Hellenic in 1996 before moving to the main Coca-Cola Company in 2001 where she became country manager nine years later. Howlett then left in 2011 to set up her own consultancy, which advised clients including Kellogg’s Europe, Heineken and Telefonica. The business ran until 2015 when Howlett rejoined as country manager for Ireland as part of the Great Britain and Ireland leadership team.
On her appointment, Howlett said: “I’m delighted to be leading the marketing function within the Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland team. The opportunity to lead our portfolio of brands in GB&I including Coca-Cola, Smartwater and Schweppes is a marketer’s dream. I’m looking forward to building on the launch of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar this summer and taking forward our brand plans for 2017 and beyond.”
She starts her role on 1 October and will report to Jon Woods, general manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland. He added: “Aedamar brings to the role a wealth of marketing experience having held senior roles across many of our brands and has run the business in Ireland. She will be real asset to the business and we look forward to her joining the team.”
Brittain left the business earlier this month to “explore new opportunities”, according to the business. He took on the role in 2014, joining from the company’s Italian division. During his two years in the role, he steered the local strategies for the brand’s London 2012 sponsorship campaign, Share a Coke, the launch of its Life low calorie variant among others. Of all the projects he worked in, the roll-out of the Coca-Cola ‘One brand’ strategy last year was perhaps the biggest. It saw the business harmonise its four distinct Coke brands – Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Life and Coke Zero – in order to level the playing field for the latter two to grow in a more cost-effective way.