Diageo GB Names Anna MacDonald as Marketing and Category Director
Diageo has promoted 20-year company veteran Anna MacDonald — the marketer who took Guinness to No.1 in Britain — to marketing and category director for Great Britain, signalling a decisive shift from brand-led to category-led growth under CEO Dave Lewis.
A Guinness architect steps up
Diageo has appointed Anna MacDonald as marketing and category director for Diageo Great Britain, elevating a marketer with more than two decades inside the drinks giant. She most recently served as global brand director for Captain Morgan, and before that led Guinness in Great Britain for five years.
That Guinness track record is the headline on her CV. During her tenure the stout climbed to number one status in both the beer and non-alcoholic categories in Britain — a rare feat that turned a heritage brand into the company's clearest growth engine. MacDonald replaces Ursula Mejia Melgar, who held the role from April 2025 and is leaving to become vice-president of marketing at The Coca-Cola Company for the Iberian peninsula.
Why 'category' in the title matters
The job is deliberately not called 'brand director'. Pairing marketing with category reflects a wider reorganisation under chief executive Dave Lewis, the former Tesco boss brought in to steady a business under pressure. The stated aim is to serve more customers on more occasions across different price points, rather than pouring investment into hero brands in isolation.
This is a meaningful philosophical shift. Brand-led marketing asks 'how do we make this brand famous?'. Category-led marketing asks 'which drinking occasions can our whole portfolio own — and which brand fits each one?'. Handing that brief to the person who built the Guinness playbook suggests Diageo wants repeatable, occasion-based growth, not one-off brand fireworks.
The backdrop: cuts and belt-tightening
The appointment lands in an austere moment. Diageo is cutting roughly 2,000 jobs globally, and marketing spend fell 13% year on year in the twelve months to 30 June as the company protects margins. In that context, promoting an internal operator with a proven, transferable model is a lower-risk bet than an external splash.
Our read at Marketing Minute: this is what disciplined marketing looks like when the money is tighter. Diageo is betting that structure and portfolio logic will deliver more reliable growth than chasing the next viral moment.
What businesses should take from this
You don't need a Guinness-sized budget to borrow the thinking. The practical move is occasion mapping: list the real-world moments your customers buy for — the after-work unwind, the big match, the sober night out — and match each product to a moment before you write a single ad.
For smaller brands, this reframes strategy away from 'which product do we push hardest?' toward 'which occasions can we credibly own?'. That is a cheaper, sharper way to grow, and it travels well beyond drinks.
Quick FAQ
Who is Anna MacDonald?
A marketer with more than 20 years at Diageo, most recently global brand director for Captain Morgan and previously the lead on Guinness in Great Britain, where the brand reached number one in beer and non-alcoholic categories.
Who did she replace at Diageo GB?
Ursula Mejia Melgar, who had held the role since April 2025 and is leaving to become vice-president of marketing at The Coca-Cola Company for the Iberian peninsula.
What is Diageo's new marketing strategy?
A shift toward category-led growth under CEO Dave Lewis, designed to serve more consumption occasions across price points rather than backing individual brands in isolation.
MacDonald's promotion tells you exactly where Diageo is heading. Giving a category brief to the marketer who made Guinness the nation's number one beer is a signal that the business now wants repeatable, occasion-based playbooks over hero-brand fireworks. In a 13%-lighter budget world, that discipline is the smart bet. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
When budgets tighten, the winners stop asking 'how do we grow this brand?' and start asking 'which occasions can our whole portfolio own?'
Is your marketing still organised around brands — or around the moments your customers actually buy for?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Source: Marketing Week.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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