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In his first few wks on the job, MC ceo Rahul Goyal was quick to make a series of significant organizational changes, looking to "transform faster" and address industry challenges "with a sense of urgency." Co announced cco Michelle St Jacques will depart, the Americas commercial org will fold, and co will eliminate 400 salaried positions from the Americas region, 9% of the salaried workforce there, leading to $35-50 mil in "related charges" for severance packages and benefits. Editor's note: While announcement suggests MC Americas' salaried workforce was just over 4,400 prior to latest cut, MC had 10,300 total employees within its Americas unit at end of 2024, including 28% (~2,900) represented by trade unions or councils, per 10K filing. We've seen this movie before from MC. There have been multiple big restructurings outta MC Americas over the last decade-plus including 188 Canadian employees laid off in 2021, a 400-500 reduction in late 2019 as co launched its revitalization plan, ~375 jobs in late 2018, and 200 salaried employees in late 2013. Plus, co shuttered Eden, NC facility in 2016 (~520 employees), sold off Irwindale, CA facility (~470 employees) in late 2020, laid off ~45 workers from its GA brewery in 2023 and cut 90 jobs as it closed Leinenkugel's Chippewa Falls, WI brewery and Tenth Street in Milwaukee late last yr. It ceased operations on Saint Archer and sold its facility to Kings & Convicts in 2022, sold off other previously acquired craft brewers to Tilray in late 2024, and wound down contract production with Pabst and FIFCO USA. At the same time, co's bulked up its org in different ways thruout this period including expectation to expand its NA biz unit from 50 to 200 employees by end of 2025. MC's been trying to straddle the line between getting more aggressive and lookin' to get leaner ever since the JV in 2008. And it's yet to find the right balance.MSJ's Departure After 7-Yr Run Many industry observers viewed MSJ's departure from the company as inevitable once co chose someone else for the ceo position. Latest moves essentially unravel the corporate structure set up just over 2.5 yrs ago that moved MSJ up from US cmo to cco of the Americas and led to other restructuring including departure of Pete Marino, dissolving the emerging growth biz unit. Back then, the move was viewed as one that "positions her as Potential Successor" to Gavin, Evercore ISI's Robert Ottenstein wrote.When hired as cmo in early 2019, MSJ injected fresh energy into MC's marketing with a "fast, messy, awesome" mantra alongside co's transformation into a total beverage biz and revitalization plan in place. Her big company background at Kraft Heinz and perspective as a woman from outside the industry gave marketing a new voice. She was touted as a "risk taker," and ceo Gavin Hattersley planned to "move faster and take more risks" with her leading the charge on mktg.Initially, Coors Light messaging became more distinctive with "Made to Chill" (tho that seems to have worn off by now), Miller Lite got far more aggressive with competitive ads vs Mich Ultra for a time, Banquet got back to consistent messaging while leaning into Yellowstone boon, and co took more swings with innovation. Tho most new brands didn't pan out &mdash; i.e. Saint Archer Gold Super Bowl ad, Cape Line sessionable marg FMBs, Keylightful flavored economy beers, Vizzy hard seltzer with vitamin C, Happy Thursday spiked refreshers (so far) &mdash; often times they were on, or even ahead of broader industry trends. Core brand trends improved during MSJ's tenure with the help of a massive boon from Bud Light's fallout in 2023. But co was unable to sustain that "game-changing momentum."Marketing & Advertising Spend at 9.5% of Net Revs in 2024 vs 11% in 2019; Lower in 2025, More Focused Notably, MC global marketing and advertising expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization) were $1.1 bil in 2024 and 2023 compared to $1.2 bil in 2019 when MSJ joined. Went down from 11% of net sales to 9.5%. Mktg spend was becoming more focused on co's biggest platforms heading into 2025, she emphasized at co's 2024 distrib mtg. But total spend is decreasing thru 1st half in 2025. Again, MC's straddling the line between more efficiency and more aggressive plans.New Leadership Structure w/ Expanded Roles; "Needs to Address&hellip;Accelerating Volume Declines"; Change Agent MC also named new leadership structure with expanded roles for cmo Sofia Colucci, cso Brian Feiro, cfo Tracey Joubert, chief supply chain officer Brian Erhardt, chief legal, comms and gov't affairs officer Natalie Maciolek, chief people and culture officer David Osswald and chief strategy and capabilities officer Jeff Long. No changes to roles of EMEA/APAC prexy Phil Whitehead, chief information officer Darrin Vohs or prexy of Canada sales Chantalle Butler, tho both Darrin and Chantalle are new to MC&#39;s official leadership team.Net-net, these moves quickly set Rahul up for more direct lines of communication with each biz function while cutting costs too. But these cuts are expected to drive "only modest savings this time around" compared to the $150 mil thru the 2019 restructuring, wrote TD Cowen analyst Robert Moskow. "Bigger picture, incoming CEO Rahul Goyal needs to address Americas' accelerating volume declines," he wrote. While Rahul's only just getting started, many believe that he is in place to be a change agent for MC, and that these initial moves are just the beginning.

MC's Rahul Racing to Action; Getting Leaner While Signaling Transformation w/ Big Layoffs, New Leadership Structure; MSJ Out

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