Vergara made global category VP Bacardi rums

Bacardi has appointed Mauricio Vergara, 43, as global category vice president of rums. In this role, Mauricio will be responsible for the portfolio of rums including the iconic Bacardi rum brand and the super-premium rums within the portfolio of the Facundof rum collection.

He will be in charge of developing the global marketing strategy of the rum category and leading the creation of global promotional, creative and packaging assets, as well as directing the development of brand innovation and line extensions. He will remain based in the Bacardi Global Brands headquarters in London and report into Dima Ivanov, chief marketing officer of Bacardi and president of Bacardi Global Brands.

“Mauricio brings extensive industry knowledge to the role complemented by a deep understanding of the overall Bacardi business, how our global and regional functions collaborate, and the unique entrepreneurial spirit and culture that makes Bacardi so special,” says Ivanov. “With his knowledge and experience in both the commercial and marketing side of the spirits business, the transition to a global category will be seamless.”

Most recently, Mauricio was VP of global commercial for Bacardi responsible for customer marketing, commercial development, and International customers. During his 20 years in marketing and commercial roles, 15 of which have been in the beverage industry. Throughout his time with Bacardi, he has held various regional and commercial leadership roles within both the marketing and commercial functions. He joined Bacardi in 2013 as VP of sales and marketing Latin America and then was promoted to global customer marketing director to provide the frontline sales teams with insights, planning and activations.

Prior to joining Bacardi, Mauricio held a variety of global and regional marketing roles at Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, SAB Miller and Brown-Forman.

He succeeds Dmitry “Dima” Ivanov who was promoted to his currant role in January (see news story).

2 April 2015 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor