Starbucks names new Chief Marketing Officer

Starbucks have hired a veteran employee of PepsiCo to be their new global chief marketing officer, responsible for the franchise's worldwide marketing and product strategy.

Annie Young-Scrivner comes to the coffee giant from Quaker Foods and Snacks, a division of PepsiCo, where she worked as chief marketing officer and vice president of sales. Prior to that, she was chairman and region president of PepsiCo for Greater China, and oversaw various global brands, including Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Quaker, Tropicana and Gatorade. She will now be in charge of Starbucks global marketing and product strategy.

In a statement, Starbucks president and CEO Howard Schultz said,

"Annie brings a wealth of knowledge in international business and a proven track record in global marketing and product strategy, including health and wellness."

Starbucks was hit hard by the economic recession and have been pushing their marketing team hard in recent months in order to diversify and bring back business.

Such schemes include expanding their advertising presence on social networks... and it seems to be working.

In July, the coffee chain surpassed Coca-Cola as the most popular brand on Facebook. Starbucks digital strategy director Alexandra Wheeler recently said the company has implemented an aggressive digital and social media strategy, experimenting on the likes of Twitter and other social media.

The company has also been expanding its menu in order to compete with the likes of McDonalds who has emerged from the economic downturn with record profits.

Young-Scrivner is expected to start her role later this month.

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