Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced a reorganization of its sales, marketing and distribution structure in the United States.
Among the efforts, the world’s largest beer manufacturer is instituting a regional approach, by:
- Connecting its 15 wholly-owned distributors (WODs) via the newly created Anheuser-Busch Sales & Distribution Co. (ABSD);
- Cutting its regional sales structure from seven regions to six in the U.S. and creating regions that are “roughly equal in volume and revenue responsibility”;
- Instituting a regional hub structure for its marketing efforts, with hubs located in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin and St. Louis starting in 2021.
“The evolution of our commercial structure we are sharing today, along with the addition of our new Chief Strategy Officer Benoit Garbe to our leadership team, are part of a holistic approach to accelerate our commercial momentum by positioning our teams even closer to the customers and consumers who are the lifeblood of our business,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris said in a press release.
The changes also mean job cuts. An A-B spokesperson told Brewbound that the company has extended offer letters for new positions within its sales and marketing organization to “90% of our employees.”
“While these updates impact many colleagues because we are changing the organizational structure, we’re making every effort [to] retain as many people as possible and are working to offer any impacted employees new positions,” the spokesperson said.
As part of the restructuring of its owned wholesalers, the 15 wholesalers within Anheuser-Busch Sales & Distribution Co. will report to U.S. chief supply chain officer Elito Siqueira, “with a dotted line” to U.S. chief sales officer Brendan Whitworth, the company said.
Simon Wuestenberg, who currently serves as regional VP in the Midwest, will lead the new organization as president.
“By integrating our A-B-owned wholesaler sales and logistics teams under unified leadership, we will strengthen our talent pipeline and further improve our customer centricity,” Siqueira said in the release.
“With the creation of the Anheuser-Busch Sales & Distribution Company, we are driving a cohesive approach and total business ownership, ultimately opening an exciting path to sustainable top and bottom-line growth,” Siqueira continued.
Bob Tallett, A-B VP of business and wholesaler development, added in the release that the new structure for the company’s owned wholesalers will make the company “an even better partner” to its independent wholesalers.
“[W]e will be able to be better connected to their operational realities, leverage our scale, and develop new capabilities that will benefit our entire system,” he said.
The changes to A-B’s marketing structure come after the company shared earlier this year that it would open five new regional offices for DraftLine, its internal creative agency. A-B said the evolution of its marketing organization though isn’t limited to DraftLine and each regional hub “will be home to multifunctional teams that will inform strategies both locally and nationally.”
“With a country as large and diverse as the U.S., getting closer to consumers means understanding them on a local level,” A-B chief marketing officer Marcel Marcondes said in the release. “This evolution of our marketing organization presents an exciting opportunity for our people – for leadership, for new experiences, and for even better commercial integration. It is also part of our evolution as a progressive, consumer-centric company that is adapting to the new reality.”