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 White Plains, NY - Heineken USA announced that Christian McMahan has been named the new Chief Marketing Officer for Heineken USA, and will join the company in this role on July 14.
Ken Kunze has decided to depart the company following an 11-year tenure with the organization, the last three as Chief Marketing Officer and member of the management team.
McMahan, formerly a vice president of marketing for Diageo North America and responsible for Diageo’s U.S. beer portfolio, will bring considerable category, commercial and brand building expertise to the senior marketing post for Heineken USA.
Kunze leaves the nation’s premier beer importer after leading the company’s marketing evolution to a true portfolio organization and uniquely positioning each of its Dutch and Mexican brands.
New Marketing Leader Brings Industry Insights
Christian McMahan will join Heineken USA following a successful six-year tenure with Diageo. He will immediately begin working with the organization’s leadership and marketing teams to drive the development of long-term growth strategies for the portfolio; oversee the execution of the current marketing platforms and programming for the brands; and continue to ensure the company is most effectively engaging its consumers and customers at all available touch points.
Prior to joining Heineken USA, McMahan oversaw Diageo’s U.S. beer portfolio, leading all strategic initiatives and programming for brands including Guinness and Red Stripe. In that role, McMahan was also a member of the Diageo-Guinness USA management team and Guinness global team, demonstrating his leadership, brand strategy expertise and ability to oversee a portfolio strategy.
“We look forward to Christian joining the organization and are confident he will help us continue to elevate our marketing activities and drive our growth within the import category,” said Don Blaustein, president and chief executive officer, Heineken USA. “His understanding and experience across the three tiers of the beverage alcohol business will also help us continue to deliver greater value to our customers through programming that resonates and taps into the passion points of our consumers.”
McMahan brings more than 15 years of beverage experience to Heineken USA. While at Diageo North America, he also served as brand director for the Smirnoff and Captain Morgan Progressive Adult Beverages. In addition, he held regional marketing responsibilities while with Diageo-Guinness USA and Boston Beer Company. Other professional experiences provided McMahan with great insight into both the distributor and on-premise industries.
McMahan earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He currently sits on the board of directors of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. McMahan, his wife and three children will continue to reside in Connecticut.
McMahan’s appointment as Chief Marketing Officer for the nation’s premier beer importer is effective July 14.
Kunze’s Tenure Marked By Portfolio Growth
As Heineken USA evolved from a two-brand company to a true portfolio organization within the import beer category, Kunze drove the integration and differentiation of Heineken USA’s Dutch and FEMSA Cerveza’s Mexican product offerings with breakthrough creative campaigns, packaging innovations and consumer-insight driven platform development and execution.
“Ken played a fundamental role in elevating Heineken USA to a true performance-driven portfolio organization,” said Blaustein. “I know this was not an easy choice for him. We’ll miss Ken’s insights as we continue to focus our attention on building the equity of the brands and the execution of the highly successful new platforms he drove in recent years. On behalf of Heineken USA’s management team and our employees, we wish him continued success in his future endeavors.”
Kunze originally joined Heineken USA in 1997 as the marketing director for Brand Heineken, leading the development of the highly successful “It’s All About the Beer” campaign. As a result of the numerous innovations to the marketing of the iconic brand – including the launch of the Heineken keg can; tie-ins with films including “Austin Powers” and “The Matrix;” and the brand’s first strategic multicultural program – Kunze was name an Advertising Age “Top 100” marketer in 2000.
“I’ve had a phenomenal experience here at Heineken USA, working with some of the brightest people in any business on one of the world’s most iconic brands,” said Kunze. “From leading our Western Regional business unit as General Manager to the integration of the FEMSA brands to our portfolio to the more recent launches of Heineken Premium Light and the Dos Equis’ ‘Most Interesting Man’ campaign, I feel we have accomplished much in eleven years.”
Kunze led the incredibly successful national launch of Heineken Premium Light in 2006. The new product shattered expectations, selling more than 8 million cases in its first 12 months on the market, while earning numerous industry awards and accolades for its innovative marketing strategies. Additionally, Kunze drove the development of the popular “Most Interesting Man in the World” integrated marketing campaign for Dos Equis. The TV spot for the campaign was named one of Time magazine’s top ten ads of 2007.
Of his decision, Kunze noted, “My next opportunity with Heineken would have been outside the U.S. and I prefer to stay stateside for the time being. As the company heads into planning for the coming year, Don, the organization and I were presented with the best opportunity to look ahead to an orderly transition of my responsibilities.”
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