Former AB InBev veteran Jorn Socquet has come back to beer, assuming the role of global head of growth transformation & brand impact at Heineken.
The appointment, confirmed by Socquet (below) on LinkedIn late yesterday (2 December), sees the executive return to the beer category after almost three-and-a-half years away. He stepped away from AB InBev in May 2022, spending the subsequent three years with Flora Food Group in Amsterdam as CMO.
Global Drinks Intel has contacted Heineken for further details on Socquet’s new role’s responsibilities, previous occupier and reporting lines.
Following almost seven years with The Coca-Cola Co, the executive joined AB InBev in late 2005 as a marketing manager for the Leffe and Beck’s brands. A move up to brand director level three years later – first on Beck’s, then on Beck’s alongside Stella Artois – preceded three years as CMO of Canadian operations. In early 2014, he moved to the US to become CMO at the Anheuser-Busch unit, before heading to New York and global HQ at the start of 2017, for five-and-a-half years as global VP of marketing strategy.
Despite a flat sales performance in its most recent quarter, Heineken is sitting at +1.3% for sales in the first nine months of 2025. For the same year-to-date period, AB InBev is just ahead of its rival, at +1.8%.
