Advertising maven Todd Kaplan, who left PepsiCo final month after a 17-year run on the meals and beverage large, has introduced his new function as CMO of Kraft Heinz North America.
Kaplan will probably be main a $22 billion portfolio of legacy manufacturers together with Heinz, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Oscar Mayer, Velveeta, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Lunchables, Ore-Ida, Capri Solar, Cool Whip, Maxwell Home and Kool-Help, amongst others, per his LinkedIn publish.
As he works to “form and redefine the way forward for meals,” Kaplan mentioned he will even oversee Kraft Heinz’s joint ventures with plant-based startup NotCo and European-born condiment maker Simply Spices.
Kraft Heinz has been on “an thrilling transformation journey over the previous few years, with an unwavering perception that creativity and innovation can really rework and speed up their enterprise,” Kaplan mentioned in his publish. His aim is to “unleash the potential of those unimaginable manufacturers by elevated creativity, a deeper connection to tradition and best-in-class advertising, media and digital capabilities that may gasoline the corporate’s subsequent wave of progress.”
A inventive roll
Kaplan steps into a task final crammed by Diana Frost, who was promoted to international chief progress officer in November.
Kraft Heinz, through various companies, has been on a inventive tear these days within the U.S. and different territories. Heinz, particularly, grabbed consideration for its first international marketing campaign in 150 years and its largest media funding to this point.
Subsequent efforts included a cheeky ketchup insurance coverage coverage, an ode to “The Wait” for the fitting condiment at a meal, and interactive billboards in Chicago that disbursed ketchup packets when smacked.
Meantime, a broader marketing campaign known as “Style Some Play On a regular basis” promoted Capri Solar, Jello-O and different kid-targeted manufacturers with snack-themed textbooks with snacks embedded inside.
Pepsi shakeup
Kaplan’s departure from PepsiCo got here amid a bigger govt shuffle there, with vice chairman of sports activities, leisure and gaming Kalen Thornton and senior vp and CMO of vitality drinks Fabiola Torres additionally shifting on to different company gigs. The corporate employed a European CMO, Paula Marconi, a veteran of Kraft Heinz.
