Anheuser-Busch announced several personnel moves on Tuesday, including changes to its U.S. marketing and North American sales teams.
The latest organizational moves come about one month after A-B split its “High End” craft and import division into two separate business units in order to “better align” its internal structure with its “long-term business strategy.”
In separate notes to the company’s wholesalers, chief marketing officer Marcel Marcondes and chief sales officer Brendan Whitworth discussed the changes, which are part of North American CEO Michel Doukeris’ commercial reorganization plan.
Moving forward, A-B’s marketing teams will be separated into the following segments:
- Premium & Super Premium
- Core + Value
- Beyond Beer
- Bud Light
- Michelob Ultra
According to Marcondes, the new structure will help A-B achieve future growth.
As part of the marketing moves, Peter Van Overstraeten, senior director of High End brands in China, will serve as VP of the premium and super premium segment. He will report directly to Marcondes.
Meanwhile, Harry Lewis, who had served as the vice president of marketing for the Stella Artois brand, will assume the role of vice president of “new brands,” reporting directly to Van Overstraeten. Lewis will lead the company’s efforts to launch new products in the premium and super premium segments. Additionally, Lara Krug, vice president of regional imports, will take over as vice president of Stella Artois and report to Van Overstraeten.
Budweiser vice president Ricardo Marques will become vice president of the core and value brands. He will report to Marcondes.
Chelsea Phillips, who had split her time between “beyond beer” offerings and “value brands,” will now focus exclusively on innovations such as Ritas and SpikedSeltzer. She will report to Marcondes.
The company also announced a number of changes to its North American sales team. Anson Frericks, vice president in Region 6, is taking over as vice president in Region 2 for Sanjiv Chhatwal, who is assuming a yet-to-be-announced role within the company.
Succeeding Frericks in Region 6 will be Greg Sollazzo, who was the company’s previous senior retail sales director in Region 5. Finally, the company appointed Randy Ornstein as its new vice president of Beyond Beer. Ornstein was recently named vice president of non-alcoholic brands, uniting the Teavana and Hiball teams into one organization.