Coca-Cola has expanded the remit of its top marketer amid a wider leadership reshuffle, as the drinks giant looks to “accelerate” its digital transformation.

Customer and commercial leadership responsibilities will move from CFO John Murphy to current executive vice-president and CMO, Manolo Arroyo.  

As of 31 March, Arroyo will take on the expanded role of executive vice-president and chief marketing and customer commercial officer. He joined Coca-Cola in 2017 as president of the Iberia franchise unit and has been in his current role since 2019.

Coca-Cola has also introduced a new chief digital officer role in a bid to better align digital, data and “operational excellence” across the business. Former marketer Sedef Salingan Sahin, currently president of the company’s Eurasia and Middle East operating unit, has been promoted to the newly created role.

Sahin will oversee the next phase of Coca-Cola’s digital strategy, bringing together the company’s digital network and coordinating activity across related functions.

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Sahin joined the business in 2003 as a marketing manager for Coca-Cola in Turkey, before being promoted to marketing director for sparkling beverages in the Eurasia Africa Group.

She previously served as president of Coke’s nutrition, juice, dairy and plant category within the marketing organisation, before moving into her current regional leadership role. Both positions involved “extensive work” to drive digital transformation across the business, including the transformation of the marketing organisation.

Responsibility for digital strategy, currently held by president and chief financial officer John Murphy, will transfer to Sahin. Murphy will continue to serve in his current role, working closely with new CEO Henrique Braun to “drive the company’s growth agenda”.

Currently executive vice-president and chief operating officer, Braun will become Coca-Cola CEO on 31 March, succeeding James Quincey, who will remain executive chairman of the board. He joined the business in 1996, progressing through a series of senior positions including within marketing and innovation. 

Braun describes the chief digital officer position as a “pivotal new role” for Coke’s future. Sahin is tasked with assessing how to organise the teams responsible for digital across the enterprise to help strengthen execution, simplify working and prioritise “greater precision and speed”.

“We believe our ongoing growth depends on understanding consumers even more deeply,” said Braun. “We are evolving our operating organisation structure and elevating digital leadership so we can move faster and work smarter across all markets.”