Heineken promotes top marketer Søren Hagh to Italy managing director
Heineken has promoted its global marketing director Søren Hagh to managing director in Italy, making him the second marketing chief within the company to have been made a country MD.
Hagh has been with Heineken since 2013, when he joined as executive director global marketing. Previously, Hagh held positions at L’Oréal, Diageo and Lego. Heineken says it is currently hiring for a replacement.
READ MORE: Heineken’s top marketer Søren Hagh on ‘rewiring’ the brewer for digital
This is not the first time that the beer giant has promoted a marketing chief to managing director. In July last year, Heineken’s UK marketing boss Jacco van der Linden was made MD of Heineken China.
As Heineken’s global marketing director, Hagh was keen to prioritise digital and quirky storytelling – despite upsetting some of its own marketers.
He told Marketing Week: “Around 18 months ago, we completely rewired the entire organisation and its approach to marketing. There has been a lot of complication for our people and agencies, and some are angry as it’s a big change, but it’s a wake up call and we must embrace digital to remain relevant. Digital spend is 25% of our ad budget but it will easily surpass 50% within two years.”
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