Coca-Cola Marketing Veteran Michael Willeke Crosses to Paramount
Updated: Sep 1
TL;DR: Long-time Coca-Cola marketer Michael Willeke is leaving the beverage giant for a DACH marketing leadership role at Paramount — a high-profile FMCG-to-entertainment move that shows streamers recruiting consumer brand-builders.
From fizzy drinks to entertainment
Michael Willeke, a long-time Coca-Cola marketer, is leaving the beverage giant to take on a DACH marketing leadership role at Paramount. Reported on 24 August 2026, Willeke was most recently Marketing VP for Sparkling Flavors across Europe at Coca-Cola — a notable cross-sector jump from FMCG into entertainment and media.
The move puts a classically-trained brand builder inside a streaming and media company at a moment when those businesses are competing hard for consumer attention.
Why streamers want FMCG marketers
FMCG is the traditional finishing school for brand-building discipline — mass reach, distinctiveness, penetration-led growth. As streamers and broadcasters fight subscriber churn and attention, those skills are exactly what they need.
Entertainment marketing has historically leaned on the content itself to do the selling. Hiring FMCG talent signals a shift toward treating the platform as a brand to be built, not just a library to be promoted.
Marketing Minute's read: brand discipline is portable
Our take: this move underlines that core marketing craft — building distinctiveness and mental availability — transfers across categories. A marketer who can grow a soft-drink brand can grow a media brand, because the fundamentals are the same even when the product isn't.
It's also a signal about where entertainment marketing is heading: toward the rigour of FMCG. Expect more crossover hires as streamers professionalise their consumer marketing beyond content promotion.
What businesses should take from it
When hiring marketers, weigh transferable brand-building discipline over category experience. The fundamentals of distinctiveness and reach travel; category knowledge can be learned.
Watch cross-sector talent flows as strategy signals. FMCG marketers moving into streaming tells you where those businesses think their competitive gap is.
Quick FAQ
Who is Michael Willeke?
A long-time Coca-Cola marketer, most recently Marketing VP for Sparkling Flavors across Europe, who is moving to a DACH marketing leadership role at Paramount, reported 24 August 2026.
Why is the move significant?
It's a high-profile FMCG-to-entertainment jump, signalling that streamers and broadcasters are recruiting classically-trained consumer brand-builders to sharpen their marketing.
What does it say about entertainment marketing?
That it's moving toward the rigour of FMCG — treating the platform as a brand to be built, not just a content library to be promoted.
Core marketing craft is portable. A marketer who can grow a soft-drink brand can grow a media brand, because distinctiveness and mental availability are the same job whatever the product. Streamers hiring FMCG talent tells you exactly where they think their consumer-marketing gap is. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Brand-building discipline transfers across categories — hire for the craft, not just the sector experience.
Are you hiring marketers for category familiarity, or for the transferable craft that actually drives growth?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Horizont, Lebensmittel Zeitung.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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