Seven Up Bottling Company has appointed Omokehinde Thomas as Marketing Manager for its Energy and Hydration portfolio, signaling a strategic leadership shift within the beverage giant and a defining new chapter in her 15-year marketing career.

The appointment, which took effect four months ago, elevates Thomas from a digital specialist role into full-spectrum marketing leadership. In her new capacity, she oversees brands across the company’s energy and hydration categories, with responsibility spanning strategy development, brand positioning and commercial performance.

Announcing the move on LinkedIn, Thomas described the transition as both “clarifying and transformative,” highlighting the contrast between digital execution and enterprise-level marketing leadership.

“Transitioning from Digital Marketing into full spectrum marketing leadership has been both clarifying and transformative. Digital marketing trains you to optimise; full marketing leadership requires you to orchestrate,” she wrote.

According to Thomas, the most profound shift has been moving beyond campaign metrics to broader commercial accountability.

“The most significant shift has been moving from campaign thinking to commercial thinking; understanding how brand decisions influence margin, perception, scale and long-term competitive advantage,” she noted, adding that the experience has reinforced her belief that “Marketing is not a communications function. It is a growth function.”

Thomas joined Seven Up Bottling Company in October 2023 as Digital Marketing Lead, marking her transition from agency leadership to client-side brand management. She moved from Noah's Ark Communications, where she served as Deputy Business Director at The RedWolf Company, the group’s digital media arm.

During more than two years at Noah’s Ark Communications, she rose to Account Lead, Digital, and played a key role in transforming the digital department into a fully fledged agency operation. Her earlier career includes roles as Online Executive at Novelpotta Y&R, Business Development Executive at Deefrent, Personal Assistant at The Harvest Place, and Administrator at Royal Mark PR Consulting.

Over the years, she has worked across sectors including Pay TV, telecommunications, technology, NGOs, government, FMCG and financial services. Her portfolio features campaigns for major brands such as Airtel, Three Crowns Milk, Nokia, Maltina, GOtv, Maggi and Payattitude.

Thomas holds a Master’s degree in Marketing and Communications from Rome Business School, Nigeria, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Covenant University. She is also certified by the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI).

In 2023, she was named among 25 leading professionals recognized at the ADMARP Awards, which celebrate excellence and innovation in Nigeria’s digital marketing industry.

Reflecting on her new mandate, Thomas expressed appreciation for the expanded responsibility and strategic scope of her role.

“Grateful for the stretch, the responsibility and the opportunity to build brands with both discipline and ambition. Onward,” she wrote.

Her appointment underscores both deliberate professional evolution and Seven Up Bottling Company’s continued investment in integrated marketing leadership as competition intensifies within Nigeria’s fast-moving consumer goods sector.