ATLANTA -- Coca-Cola Co. suffered a setback in its efforts to develop new drinks and inject more fizz into its marketing with the resignation of Mary Minnick, the beverage giant's top female executive, who was passed over last month for Coke's No. 2 job, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Speculation that Minnick was on her way out had been building since Muhtar Kent was elevated to president and chief operating officer, making him the heir apparent to Neville Isdell, the Atlanta company's chairman and chief executive. Coke didn't [image-nocss] announce a successor to Minnick as chief of marketing, strategy and innovation, but the company is likely to disclose its next move in coming days, according to the report.
Some outsiders said that Coke might separate the responsibilities that were united under Minnick, who joined the company 23 years ago. If Coke decides to split those duties, possible candidates to head marketing include Marc Mathieu, now in charge of core brands such as Coca-Cola and Sprite throughout the world, and Mark Greatrex, who joined Coke in April from the AOL unit of Time Warner Inc., and who oversees integrated marketing and market research efforts at Coke.
Minnick will remain in her job until the end of February, when she plans to move to the United Kingdom to "pursue a combination of professional and personal goals," according to a memo Isdell sent to Coke employees, WSJ reported. She referred questions about her exit to a Coke spokesman, who said she wasn't available to comment further.
A talented marketer and prot ag a of Douglas Daft, who preceded Isdell as chairman and CEO, Minnick ran some of Coke's most innovative units before rising to her current post under Isdell in March 2005.
As marketing, strategy and innovation chief, she oversaw development of Coke's current global advertising campaign for Coca-Cola, dubbed "The Coke Side of Life," as well as the launches of brands such as Coca-Cola Blak and Enviga, a sparkling green tea-based soft drink that Coke says can burn calories.
Minnick's exit could spur concerns that Coke still is struggling to hold on to talented executives who are crucial to the company's push to rejuvenate its marketing and create new drinks to offset slower growth in core soda sales. Isdell said that "many of the ideas generated in the last 18 months" by a large team assembled under Ms. Minnick "will be transformational and capable of driving greater growth in the mid and long term," according to the newspaper report.
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