• by Danielle Oster , Yesterday

Coca-Cola’s executive leadership shakeup continues with the creation of a new chief digital officer position, and expanded responsibilities for the CMO role.

The company announced it's appointing Sedef Salingan Sahin, currently president of Coca Cola’s operating unit for the Eurasia and Middle East region, to the newly created role.

Sahin initially joined Coca-Cola back in 2003. Prior to her current position, she served as president of Coca-Cola’s nutrition, juice, dairy and plant category within the company’s marketing organization. According to Coca-Cola, Sahin’s work in both presidential positions involved taking a leadership role in “the digitization of the business, including the transformation of the marketing organization.”

The CDO appointment will be effective as of March 31, when Henrique Braun succeeds James Quincey as CEO, with Sahin reporting directly to Braun.

“We believe our ongoing growth depends on understanding consumers even more deeply,” Braun said in a statement. “We are evolving our operating organization structure and elevating digital leadership so we can move faster and work smarter across all markets.”

In the new role, Sahin will be tasked with “integrating the company’s digital network and connecting work across related functions.” Sahin’s new role is already reflected under the “Leadership” section of The Coca-Cola Company’s website.

Coca-Cola CMO Manolo Arroyo will also take on additional responsibilities as part of the company’s leadership restructuring, effective March 31. He'll have the expanded title of chief marketing and customer commercial officer.

The company also announced the creation of two new market groupings within the organization, which it described as “designed to enhance focus on markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.”