Deepika Warrier to join Diageo India as CMO

Longtime PepsiCo marketer Deepika Warrier will take on the Diageo India CMO role at the end of July.

Current CMO Julie Bramham will move to Amsterdam to be global brand director for Johnnie Walker. Bramham was recently named to our 2020 APAC Power List. Notable campaigns Bramham has overseen in the past year include Johnnie Walker’s ‘The Travelling Billboard’, an influencer-led campaign that harnessed a life-size billboard of the brand's iconic Striding Man logo, growing sales by over 40% year-on-year as a result. Plus, a purposeful campaign for Royal Challenge featuring India’s leading women cricketers and men’s team captain Virat Kohli, aimed to break the gender boundaries that divide the sport. The campaign had a 10 million reach, and was covered in Diageo’s global annual report and UNstereotype alliance’s global newsletter.

Meanwhile, incoming CMO Warrier spent two decades at PepsiCo, most recently as managing director of NourishCo Beverages. NourishCo is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Tata Consumer Products, and two months ago, Tata bought out PepsiCo’s stake in the JV.

On a LinkedIn post, Warrier said:

PepsiCo has been a true alma mater and college of leadership - teaching me appreciation for great talent, how to combine data with storytelling to write inspiring strategy, the importance of execution, passion for our brands and pride in our products and so much more. The company has great leaders, past and present, who not only ensured that I learnt every day of the past 20 years with critical experiences, but also stood by me through personal crisis. And of course so many friends and colleagues and agency partners who were there for me through thick and thin. It’s difficult for me to summarise 20 years in a post and name so many who have made such a difference to my life and that of my family, but suffice to say… you can take a girl out of Pepsi , but…

In her new role, Warrier will work alongside Anand Kripalu, MD and CEO of United Spirits Limited, as well as Diageo CMO Cristina Diezhandino.