Anheuser-Busch Announces Executive Leadership Changes

Four days after announcing a succession plan for its top leadership post, Anheuser-Busch InBev revealed several executive leadership changes with its wholesaler partners, effective immediately.

Monica Rustgi, the current VP of marketing for Budweiser, will transition to VP of marketing at Beyond Beer, taking over for Lana Buchanan. Rustgi has spent nearly all of her eight years with the world’s largest beer manufacturer working on Budweiser brand campaigns, with the exception of one year as brand director for Stella Artois in the U.S. In 2018 she was named in Ad Age’s 40-under-40.

Buchanan will depart the company “to pursue other opportunities,” according to CMO Marcel Marcondes and Beyond Beer president Fabricio Zonzini in a joint statement to wholesalers this morning. Buchanan had served as VP of marketing Beyond Beer for just under two years, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“We have no doubt that Monica will use her expertise in building strong, meaningful brands to deeply build our Beyond Beer portfolio of brands for the long term,” Marcondes and Zonzini wrote. “This team is crucial to our commercial strategy as we lead future growth, so we are excited to see what the team will do next under her leadership.”

Additionally, A-B is combining Budweiser and Value operations into one team. Daniel Blake, the current VP of marketing for Value brands, will lead the team under the new title of group VP of marketing for Budweiser and Value.

Renaldo Chapman, senior brand director for Michelob Ultra, will take over as VP of marketing for Budweiser. Chapman has held various positions at A-B for nearly seven years, serving in his current post since April 2017. He “has been instrumental in driving Michelob Ultras innovation agenda and spearheading key growth initiatives like the Michelob Ultra Pure Gold and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer,” according to Marcondes and Zonzini.

“This growth mentality is what Renaldo will surely bring to Budweiser to continue Monica’s legacy,” they wrote. “We are also celebrating the fact that Renaldo will be the first Black marketer to lead Budweiser in this iconic brand’s history.”

“We finished 2020 leading growth creation in our industry, and with these exciting leadership changes we are looking to push the bar even higher and continue to lead future growth in 2021 and beyond,” they continued.

These executive changes show A-B’s focus on growing segments, particularly Beyond Beer, which delivered $1.2 billion in revenue in 2020 and grew by more than 40% in Q1 this year, according to A-B’s Q1 report. The report also shows Beyond Beer products generate about 20% high gross profit per hectoliter compared to A-B’s traditional beer.

A-B plans to “drive growth in Beyond Beer,” outgoing A-B CEO Carlos Brito said during the Q1 earnings call.

“We believe we have the right strategy and capabilities to win this space, by leveraging our agile innovation process, diverse geographic footprint, global supply chain and extensive route market,” he said. “Our team stayed close to emerging trends in the Beyond Beer space and are empowered to invest in both organic and inorganic growth opportunities.”

As announced last week, Michel Doukeris will be taking over as A-B CEO, effective July 1, with Brito stepping down after 15 years at the helm of the company. Doukeris has served as North America zone president since January 2018, and has held various titles within InBev and its predecessor Cervejaria Ambev, since 1996.