Longtime Pepsi exec is leaving after 17 years
No spooner has Pepsi's reign as the No 2 soda in America ended than its long-serving marketing boss has left. Todd Kaplan - who oversaw last year's mega-million-dollar rebrand - is leaving after 17 years.
In a cryptic LinkedIn post, he had left to 'pursue an opportunity outside of the company'. He accompanied the message with an emoji rocket ship.
On Monday, it emerged that Pepsi has slipped to number 3 - behind Dr Pepper - for soda sales in the US.
Coca-Cola, the bitter rival it almost overtook in the cola wars of the 1980s, is well clear in top spot. Kaplan became chief marketing officer in 2022, after holding other senior marketing roles.
In 2023, he oversaw the first logo and product redesign in 14 years and pivoted the brand away from the Super Bowl halftime show. In the post, he wrote: 'Since joining PepsiCo as an MBA intern, I've been fortunate to be able to cram the equivalent of 10 careers into one.'
The news comes days after the standard version of Dr Pepper overtook Pepsi for market share in America. As recently as 20 years ago, Dr Pepper's sales were under half those of Pepsi.
At the time, one in nine sodas bought in the US were Pepsi, and Dr Pepper was only the sixth most popular behind Sprite. The chart below , based on a report from Beverage Digest , shows how market share for the two has converged - with Dr Pepper now very slightly ahead.
Coke is still the undisputed king of the $97 billion US soda industry with more than double the market shares of any of its rivals at 19.18 percent. Pepsi's market share is 8.31 percent, and Dr Pepper now 8.34 percent.
The Pepsi brand remains the overall No 2 soda - when taking into account the diet and zero sugar versions.
