• Forbes CMO Network, Tuesday, August 4, 2009 10:32 AM

Pepsi followers are wondering if there's a larger message in the resignation of Dave Burwick -- a widely respected, two-decade veteran of the company -- as CMO of the North American division, Laurie Burkitt reports. Some say he's taking a hit for his boss, PepsiCo Americas Beverages CEO Massimo d'Amore, who reportedly has designs on the PepsiCo CEO job but thus far has seen mixed results from the drastic rebuilding efforts taken on behalf of brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana and Mountain Dew.

Former Victoria's Secret CMO Jill Beraud replaced Burwick. D'Amore has to be hoping that she will bring some of the "sizzle" of that brand to the beverage division, Burkitt writes.

"You can expect the company will start looking a lot more like Nestlé," says consultant Tom Pirko, meaning that it is shifting, albeit slowly, toward more profitable snack foods. Burkitt says that would imply changes for the "humongous" marketing budget. But spokeswoman Julie Hamp denies there are any radical changes in the works, period.

Bloomberg's Zachary Mider, meanwhile, reports Pepsi is close to buying out its two biggest bottlers and is offering more than it originally did in April.

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