Senior Director of Marketing – PepsiCo
Todd Kaplan is responsible for overseeing Pepsi Beverages Company’s two largest league sports properties – the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB). In addition to developing Pepsi’s national season-long NFL and MLB activation plans, Todd is responsible for leading Pepsi’s sports marketing agenda and developing local consumer engagement programming across 16 NFL teams, 15 MLB teams, and a stable of almost 50 athletes.
Todd is also responsible for building integrated marketing programs around marquee events such as the Super Bowl and MLB All-Star Game, as well as key league entitlements including the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year Award, the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam Concert Series, and the MLB Fan Cave.
Through the development of breakthrough NFL and MLB marketing plans, Todd has played a critical role in successfully re-launching the Pepsi MAX brand, helping to grow volume by +82%, double its share position, and gain +14 points of brand awareness post re-launch. Todd also received a PepsiCo Chairman’s Award (one of PepsiCo’s highest honors) for his work on the Pepsi Refresh Project, a program that went on to be named one of the top 5 “Best Ever Social Media Campaigns” by Forbes Magazine.
Prior to this assignment, Todd played a key role in building the AMP Energy brand, growing the brand to become a $650MM business by increasing volume by 70%, raising brand awareness by +17 points, and gaining 2.5 share points – all in the first year of the re-launch alone.
Todd oversaw AMP Energy’s digital marketing efforts, developed the brand’s action sports platform, and played an integral role in activating the brand’s sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He also managed a graphic re-design of the brand across over 30 package configurations including a revised logo and new brand identity.
Before joining the AMP Energy brand team, Todd spearheaded the creation of “Pepsi Entertainment” — a specialized marketing group at Pepsi focused on promoting Pepsi’s portfolio of beverage brands through branded entertainment. In this role, Todd worked with the media and digital teams to oversee brand product placement and integration into TV and film, while liaising with movie studios, TV networks, and production companies to create proprietary branded content.
Prior to joining Pepsi, Todd worked for Millsport LLC, a sports marketing consultancy, where he oversaw the VISA International business. Working directly in-house with his client at Visa, he advised the company on their global sports and entertainment partnerships, including the Olympic Games and Rugby World Cup.
Todd received his MBA from Yale University and he holds a BA in Economics from Northwestern University. He currently resides in Tarrytown, NY, with his wife Laura and his son Dylan.