Coke's Chief Marketing Officer Stepping Down

[Judi Lynn]

Coke's Chief Marketing Officer Stepping Down


By HARRY R. WEBER
The Associated Press
6/22/04 4:25 PM


ATLANTA (AP) -- Another top executive at The Coca-Cola Co. is leaving: This time it's chief marketing officer Daniel Palumbo, who has been with the world's largest beverage maker for only a year.

The man who was named Tuesday to replace Palumbo, Chuck Fruit, dismissed the suggestion that there is a growing flight of high-level talent from Coke, which has had strong earnings but faced image problems amid a continuing federal investigation of its business practices.

"It's not a growing but maybe isolated incident or two of people whose priorities don't match ours," Fruit told reporters in a conference call. "Some people fit in a particular organization and some don't."

Fruit did not say who he was talking about. At least a half-dozen top executives have announced their departures from Coke in the past year -- the two most recent were Palumbo and president and chief operating officer Steve Heyer.
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http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0222_BC_Coca-Cola-Palumbo&&news&newsflash-financial

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What about the murders of union leaders at Coke companies in Colombia? What about the ownership of Coke companies in Venezuela by a leading sponsor of the Venezuelan coup against Hugo Chavaez, Gustavo Cisneros? Would THAT tarnish a company image?

[pescao]

1. Coca-Killa in venezuela

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=21704

Trade unions say Cisneros seeking to close Coca Cola factory in Antimano

The Venezuelan National Worker’s Union (UNT) reports: Union leaders from Coca Cola plants in Antimano, Valencia, and Los Cortijos met Monday, June 21 at UNT headquarters in Carabobo to outline a plan to avoid the closing of the Antimano Coca Cola plant.

It was learned that businessman Gustavo Cisneros, the same Cisneros who met with President Hugo Chavez Frias to speak of national dialogue, wants to close the plant and leave more than 100 workers in the streets.

...

Due to this situation, workers at the three Coca Cola plants agreed to convene a National Solidarity Meeting with the Antimano workers, with the participation of workers from the Coca Cola plants in Maracaibo, Barcelona, Valencia, and Los Cortijos.

The union leaders agreed to meet again Friday, June 25, at UNT headquarters in Paraiso (Caracas) to touch bases with the national union leadership, and to set the date and agenda for the National Solidarity Meeting. It’s hoped that Coca Cola workers from Colombia will be able to participate in the Solidarity Meeting, as they have also suffered from persecution by plant owners, who hire assassins to kill workers and union leaders.

...