MillerCoors chief marketing officer David Kroll will leave the company on July 27, CEO Gavin Hattersley wrote in a memo to distributors and employees on Monday.
Kroll, who joined MillerCoors in mid-2012 as a vice president in charge of U.S. marketing and took over as CMO in July 2015, is leaving to “pursue other independent business interests,” Hattersley said.
“I have enjoyed working with David as he worked to build relevance and respect for our brands,” he wrote. “Under his leadership, we have made progress across our portfolio – substantially improving our visual identities and brand worlds; improving Miller Lite’s performance to gain share of total industry; reinvigorating Keystone Light; and building our above premium presence through brands and innovations like Sol, Henry’s, Crispin Rosé and Arnold Palmer Spiked.”
A search for Kroll’s replacement is already underway, according to the memo, and Hattersley said he is viewing Kroll’s departure as “an opportunity to get a fresh perspective across our portfolio.”
“My immediate priority is to appoint a CMO who will advance our marketing efforts, working decisively and taking bold action to optimize our brand portfolio, with an urgent focus on turning around Coors Light’s performance and capturing more growth in above premium,” he wrote.
In the meantime, the marketing team will report directly to Hattersley.
“Our plans are locked and loaded through fall, and I won’t sacrifice finding the right person to satisfy an arbitrary timeline,” Hattersley added. “However, I do plan to move with pace to find our next marketing leader.”
Kroll, 49, went on medical leave early last year to undergo open-heart surgery.
According to LinkedIn, the longtime marketer also held positions with Dyson, Unilever (Alberto Culver), Wrigley, Procter & Gamble and Cargill.