• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, September 28, 2007

To no one's surprise, St. Louis native Dave Peacock has been named to head marketing for the national largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch, overseeing a $900 million-plus budget. Rumors of the job swap between Peacock and Michael Owens, who will move into Peacock's former VP/business operations role, have swirled for months, especially since August Busch IV took over as CEO at the beginning of this year.

Busch brought Peacock on board to A-B's Strategy Committee this year. Industry analysts and observers are in agreement on Peacock's importance to the brewer, which has been struggling with an aging core market but which also has made several moves to take advantage of its distribution lines to bring other products to market.

Particularly important, then, is Peacock's ability to get along with A-B's 600 independent wholesalers. He is said to have much credibility in distributors' eyes.

His closeness to Busch is also remarkable. Said one observer to the St. Louis Business Journal earlier this year: "They are very fun, nice guys and very smart. They will get more deals done because they are much more personable than the public reputation of Anheuser-Busch as being stern and cold."

In a memo to employees announcing the changes, Busch said: "Dave will focus on the revitalization of our core brands while driving innovation across our increasingly diverse portfolio."

Reporting to Peacock will be Tony Ponturo, vice president/global media and sports marketing; Bob Lachky, vice president/global industry and creative development; and Marlene Coulis, vice president/consumer strategy and innovation. Keith Levy becomes vice president/brand management and geo marketing.

Peacock has worked at A-B since 1992. Prior to the business-operations job, he held positions in corporate planning, brand management, corporate media and retail sales promotion.