Diageo Hands Its Worst-Performing Region to a Soda-and-Beer Veteran
Sebnem Erim, late of PepsiCo and AB InBev, is now Diageo North America's chief marketing officer, inheriting a spirits business that just posted its weakest 2026 results.
Diageo has a new chief marketing officer for the one region it keeps calling its biggest problem. Sebnem Erim, a veteran of PepsiCo and AB InBev, has taken the CMO post at Diageo North America, the company confirmed to Adweek, after the division posted its weakest results of 2026. Erim announced the move on LinkedIn, saying she is looking forward to helping shape the next chapter for the company's iconic brands.
She inherits a portfolio that includes Tanqueray, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, and Guinness, brands that mostly already lead their categories but have not been enough to offset a broader pullback in American drinking. London-based Diageo owns roughly 200 brands worldwide, and North America is the market CEO Sir Dave Lewis singled out earlier this year as "our biggest challenge, where marketing conditions are soft and our offer needs to be more competitive."
Hiring a marketer who spent her career selling soda and beer, categories built on mass-market distribution and relentless price-value messaging, signals how Diageo wants to fight back: less reliance on premium cachet, more of the blocking and tackling that wins shelf space when consumers are trading down.
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Source: Adweek
Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →
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