Pepsi UK marketing director set to leave

Pepsi UK marketing director Caroline Diamond is leaving the company in May for personal reasons.

A spokeswoman has confirmed that Diamond is leaving to look after her three children.

It is understood Diamond presented her decision to management last week and that no replacement has yet been earmarked, but Pepsi’s European head of marketing for carbonated drinks Okay Egdirici was installed as interim Pepsi UK marketing director while Diamond was on maternity leave. Diamond returned to work in January after giving birth to her third child last April.

As the person responsible for supporting Pepsi’s entire portfolio of beverage brands including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max and 7UP, Diamond signed off several high profile ad campaigns at a time when concerns over health and obesity increased in consumers’ minds.

Diamond has been UK marketing director at the Pepsi soft drinks division since May 2004. She was formerly marketing director of Tropicana and Quaker, also owned by PepsiCo.

Subsequently, in an overhaul of the senior marketing team, Diamond swapped roles with former Pepsi marketing chief Karen Goffe.

Pepsi is backing the launch of its new coffee-flavoured variant, Pepsi Max Cino, with a &£1.5m ad campaign created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.