Two Roads Promotes Two Sales and Marketing Execs
Two Roads Brewing Company has elevated two executives on its sales and marketing teams: Collin Kennedy to VP of marketing and Brian Duprey to VP of national accounts.
The promotions are part of Two Roads’ “leveling up its executive team to help lead its next chapter of growth,” a spokesperson told Brewbound.
Kennedy joined the Stratford, Connecticut-based craft brewery in 2015 as a brand manager before becoming director of marketing. In that role, he oversaw Two Roads’ growth strategy during its “Two Roads 2.0” transformation, which has included key celebrity partnerships with Guy Fieri on Flavortown Spiked and Noah Kahan on Northern Attitude.
As VP of marketing, Kennedy’s responsibilities will include “all marketing initiatives across the Two Roads portfolio including PR, social media, POS, advertising and creative, campus experience, brand collaborations and more.”
Duprey joined Two Roads in 2021 as senior director of national accounts after six years at Bell’s Brewery. His career also includes stints at Brooklyn Brewery and T.J. Sheehan Distributing.
Since starting at Two Roads, Duprey has “been instrumental in strengthening and building key account relationships under the brand’s new CPG ‘2.0’ approach,” according to a statement. In his new role, he will “focus on deepening and expanding Two Roads’ sales and distribution footprint across national accounts and in new markets.”
For more about Two Roads, revisit this Brewbound story about the 14-year-old craft brewery’s plans for 2024.
Smuttynose Parent Company Taps VP of Sales Ops
Finestkind Brewing, the parent company of Hampton, New Hampshire-based Smuttynose Brewing, has named Felice Tecce its VP of sales operations.
Prior to joining Finestkind, Tecce spent nearly three years at Woburn, Massachusetts-headquartered Lord Hobo Brewing, first as a supply chain analyst before being promoted to brewery production manager, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Finestkind has its sights set on becoming a craft beverage platform. In November, the company announced it had struck a deal to acquire New York City’s Five Boroughs Brewing and was shifting production of that portfolio to the Smuttynose facility.
In addition to Smuttynose and Five Boroughs, Finestkind also sells Island District ready-to-drink canned cocktails. The company has a “large appetite for more M&A – we have additional capacity that is not utilized,” Finestkind CEO Steve Kierstead told Brewbound in November.
Jennifer Morris Departs Anheuser-Busch InBev Communications Team
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) VP of communications Jennifer Morris announced earlier this week that she was departing the company after nearly five years.
“The last 4.5 years [at] Anheuser-Busch have been some of the most rewarding of my career,” she wrote. “I’m so proud of the work I did, alongside the best communications team in the business.”
In her role at A-B, Morris led the communications team, “including corporate brand, executive visibility, social media engagement, internal communications, brand communications, crisis and more,” according to her LinkedIn profile.
Last spring, her team became the target of conservative ire as a Bud Light social media promotion with transgender content creator Dylan Mulvaney sparked a boycott at the urging of Kid Rock and other right-wing influencers. Some consumers began to target A-B employees online.
Two high-profile marketing employees went on indefinite leave from the company in the wake of the firestorm, including Bud Light VP of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid and group VP of marketing for mainstream brands Daniel Blake. U.S. chief marketing officer Benoit Garbe exited the company at the end of 2023.
David McKenzie, formerly senior director of corporate affairs for A-B’s High End, has been promoted to VP of communications.