Mark Kirkham is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo’s International Beverages business. In this role, Mark is responsible for global brand/category strategies and marketing programs for our beverage portfolio outside of the US. He previously was VP of PepsiCo’s sports, energy, and juice businesses where he led the integration of Rockstar Energy and the international expansion of Gatorade. Prior to rejoining the global team, Mark served as Head of Marketing and Innovation for Western Europe Beverages leading the overall beverages portfolio including brands such as Pepsi, 7UP, Lipton and Gatorade.
Since joining PepsiCo in 2010, Mark has held a variety of marketing leadership roles at both the global and regional level. This included running the Pepsi brand globally; leading programs such as Pepsi’s partnership with UEFA Champions League, global Pepsi Taste Challenge, PepsiMoji program, and the reintroduction of Pepsi Perfect in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Back to the Future II.
Before Pepsi, Mark led the global Mountain Dew business. During his tenure he drove the expansion of Dew across Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America – driving double digital international growth for the brand. In addition, he led the development and expansion of the Dew Tour action sports platform internationally and evolution of the iconic "Do the Dew" campaign. Mark joined PepsiCo leading new product and packaging initiatives across PepsiCo’s top soft drinks brands in the US and has since led global brand building and innovation programs across the portfolio.
Prior to joining PepsiCo, Mark held various roles at P&G included global brand/portfolio management, new product development and regional marketing and brand activation in both the US and Europe. Early in his career, Mark held roles in research, consulting and marketing communications at firms including Nielsen and Forrester Research.
Mark holds a BS in Communications from Boston University and a MBA in Marketing from the University of Connecticut. He has lectured and taught courses on international marketing and global business strategy at Boston University, Georgetown University and Trinity College. Mark is based in Dublin, Ireland, loves sports, music, and travel. He has been married to his wife Jenn for over twenty years and has two beautiful daughters (Kylie 15, Brooke 13).