Gates succeeds previous Johnnie Walker global brand director Ben Anderson, who is thought to have a shifted to another role at the spirits giant.
The development comes after Gates’ role overseeing all brands in Asia-Pacific was split into two last year, with Vivek Rampal taking charge of marketing whiskey brands, and Gates entrusted with the remainder of Diageo’s portfolio. Gates took on the regional marketing role in 2005, prior to which he was marketing director of Diageo Japan. All told, he has spent over 13 years at the company.
The development comes after Gates’ role overseeing all brands in Asia-Pacific was split into two last year, with Vivek Rampal taking charge of marketing whiskey brands, and Gates entrusted with the remainder of Diageo’s portfolio. Gates took on the regional marketing role in 2005, prior to which he was marketing director of Diageo Japan. All told, he has spent over 13 years at the company.
“It’s quite a major step up for David,” said a source. After a period of solid growth, Diageo’s results for the second half of 2007 revealed that operating profit and marketing spend both dropped by 12 per cent, despite growing share in key scotch markets, including China. The performance was blamed on the loss of Diageo’s import licence in Korea, a situation which has since been rectified.
