Drink It In: a tribute to Carlsberg Britvic's new CMO Munnawar Chishty

Just eight months after making her debut appearance as Creative Salon’s Marketer of the Week in her role as marketing director at Britvic Great Britain, Munnawar Chishty returns surprisingly early having just been named chief marketing officer at the newly-merged Carlsberg Britvic business.

The £3.3 billion takeover of Britvic by Carlsberg, announced earlier this month, sees Chishty take on additional responsibilities for brands including Danish pilsner brand Carlsberg, Birrificio Angelo Poretti and Brooklyn Brewery beers alongside her pre-existing responsibilities for the likes of Robinsons, Tango and J20. The deal also sees the departure of former Britvic CMO Cindy Tervoort from the business, while the Carlsberg Marston Brewing Company vice president of marketing John Clements has made the decision to retire.

It's quite a shimmy up the corporate greasy pole for Chishty, who only joined Britvic in February 2023 having previously spent four years at Walgreens Boots Alliance as vice-president and global category director for beauty, leading on brands including No7, Soap & Glory and Liz Earle. However her credentials in the beer industry are established – she is a former group marketing manager for ales at Scottish & Newcastle, the brewer behind brands such as John Smith’s and Strongbow until it was acquired by Heineken in 2008.

Moreover her passion for the marketing profession – first ignited when she discovered consumer behaviour and market research marketing modules on the Business Studies degree she completed at Aston University – still burns brightly.

Speaking to Creative Salon last May, Chishty said: “I've had the privilege to work in various industries where I haven’t had a natural affinity but I’ve learned so much about consumer behaviour. It's the same with Britvic. Our portfolio is so broad that it covers everything from consumer behaviour in social settings at pubs to family dinner times with Robinson's squash. The behaviours, shopper missions and brand consumption are all different. I also love the changing nature of the industry; the naturally evolving nature of consumers, the dynamics of different categories, and external factors like the cost of living crisis or COVID-19, which require you to adapt your programs. The media landscape is also evolving constantly, with significant fragmentation.”

With the acquisition now completed following regulatory approval, Chishty has a bigger portfolio than ever to oversee, along with multiple consumer segments. Joy has been at the heart of Chishty’s mission at Britvic – evident with her campaigns for Tango, which were created by VCCP, in particular. The ‘Bust’ and ‘Warden’ spots marked a slight return to Britvic’s cheekiness that garnered it fame in the 1990s when the ad business was at HHCL.

Britvic's recent J20 work, also by VCCP, was similar. The 'They're Well Posh' campaign was rooted in deep consumer Gen Z insights.to promote the brand’s premium adult ‘Mocktails’ range in an edgy tongue-in-cheek way. It gently mocking the upper classes with inclusive humour. She said of the campaign: “This approach was about increasing demand for elevated experiences and tying them to a posh theme. We aimed to strike the right balance of humour in a fun and vibrant world that J2O operates in, presenting a sophisticated, modern offering in a way that will connect with this audience."

Of course beer marketing is more tightly regulated than that of soft drinks but there’s no reason that we won’t see Chishty inject some of her trademark sense of joy and fun into the new beer brands that also come under her purview from now on.

In fact, Chishty has said that her “agency partners are critical” in her push to create joyful, courageous work.

She continues: “When you give your agency partner a simple brief - and I love the freedom of a simple brief - you'll get amazing work back because you're on the same page, and there's trust in the relationship.” It looks like beer advertising is about to get a whole lot better.