• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 16, 2024

When Todd Kaplan left PepsiCo last month, he ended a farewell message on LinkedIn with a cryptic “Stay tuned.” Mystery solved: He’ll be the new chief marketing officer at Kraft Heinz.

Kaplan will help lead marketing for the $22 billion North American food and beverage portfolio. He reports to Pedro Navio, who was promoted to executive vice president and president of North America several months ago. In its announcement, the company says Kaplan will help its brands grow “through elevated creativity, a deeper connection to culture, and building modern marketing capabilities that can fuel Kraft Heinz’s next wave of growth.”

Kaplan spent nearly two decades at PepsiCo, starting his career there as an MBA intern. “I’ve been fortunate to be able to cram the equivalent of 10 careers into one -- with all the experiences I’ve had and incredible people I’ve encountered along the way,” he wrote in last month’s LinkedIn post.

 While at Pepsi, Kaplan helped re-energize the Pepsi brand. Kraft Heinz says he is “widely credited with bringing it back into cultural relevancy – from reimagining the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show to developing disruptive new product innovations to creating some of the boldest, most talked about, and most globally awarded creative the brand has ever seen.”

Kaplan is joining Kraft Heinz just as it is having a moment in the sun. It recently earned a record-breaking 22 Cannes Lions awards. That includes the company’s first-ever Grand Prix for “It has to be Heinz.”

The company is navigating some bumpy roads, with sales falling 1.2% in the most recent quarter. However, industry observers think the company’s brand strength and capabilities give it an edge over competitors. Marketing plays a significant role in that advantage.

The company is “focusing on more effectively buoying marketing spending, targeting a 30% increase in marketing between fiscal 2020 and 2024 (including a 15% increase in fiscal 2023),” writes Erin Lash, an analyst who follows Kraft Heinz for Morningstar. “We think that supports its brand mix and retail relationships.”