Coca-Cola Co. has installed a new North American marketing leader as part of a larger reorganization as the beverage giant looks to improve its operational speed. 

Shakir Moin, who has been running Coke-owned international coffee brand Costa on an interim basis, will take over as head of marketing as of Jan. 1. North American marketing had been overseen by Melanie Boulden, a former Reebok and Crayola marketer who is leaving Coke after joining in 2019, including serving as chief marketing officer since late 2020. Boulden was not available for comment.

The latest: How Coca-Cola’s new marketing leader will approach the job 

The change is part of a management team overhaul orchestrated by Jennifer Mann, a longtime Coke employee who will take over as president of the company’s North America operating unit on Jan. 1. “I am confident this evolved structure will allow us to accelerate our growth, improve speed and capabilities, and make it easier to get work done,” Mann said in an internal memo shared with Ad Age by the company.

The moves affect several operational roles and responsibilities. That includes forming a new “customer care” team charged with providing centralized management of the company’s equipment and services, including the operation of its “Freestyle” self-serve fountain machines at restaurant chains. Coca-Cola will also create a dedicated nutrition team focused on dairy and juice, “as these are critical categories where we need to accelerate our growth and competitive advantage,” according to the memo.

Moin will be charged with “putting our consumers at the forefront of our storytelling to increase brand recognition and drive growth,” Mann said in her memo, adding that he “brings a wealth of marketing and general management experience from around the world.”

Moin has held various roles at Coke, including marketing director positions in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. He was head of global growth operations in 2019, before he moved to Costa shortly after Coke aquired the coffee brand in a $5.1 billion deal. Costa is a major coffee player overseas, including in the U.K. Mann had been charged with scaling Costa globally as part of her role as president of Coke’s global ventures unit.

The North American management changes come in the wake of Coke recently offering buyouts to employees. The company has positioned the voluntary buyouts not as a cost-cutting move but as an attempt to “evolve how we operate, reduce complexity, and improve speed,” according to a statement, which asserted that the company is “operating from a position of strength.” 

Moin’s international experience seems well suited to Coke’s new “network model” in which creative briefs are led globally with input from individual market leaders who adjust the work where appropriate to ensure it is functional on a country-by-country basis. The change, which was instituted more than a year ago, moved away from the company’s more siloed marketing approach in which North American marketers at times had more autonomy. 

Coke has also consolidated its agency roster. In late 2021 it hired WPP as its “global marketing network partner” via a dedicated entity called Open X. But longtime Coke agencies outside of WPP have still won sizable assignments. For instance, Wieden+Kennedy handled Sprite’s recent “Black Panther” campaign, while Mercado McCann was heavily involved in brand Coke’s World Cup marketing.

Coke reported strong third-quarter earnings in October, including global net revenue growth of 10% to $11.1 billion, and raised its full-year financial outlook.