Coca-Cola has announced that James Sommerville has been appointed to the role of VP of global design.
Sommerville, who is the co-founder of design agency Attik, led Coke’s massive redesign in 2006 as well as the campaign for 2010’s FIFA World Cup,
He has previously worked with brands including Virgin, Adidas, Sheraton, Heineken and takes over the VP of global design position from David Butler, who was promoted in January to Coke’s vice president of innovation.
As his first task in the VP role, Sommerville, who was behind Coke’s work on the 2012 London Olympic Games, will develop Coca-Cola’s global visual design system for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Wendy Clark, SVP of Coca-Cola’s Global Sparkling Brand Centre, said: "Coca-Cola’s Liquid & Linked marketing communications agenda has, at its heart, powerful design, that ultimately creates brand love and brand value.
“And speaking of brand love and brand value, the addition of James to our team does just that--adds more love and more value from someone who already knows us deeply. There’s no better feeling than having someone join the team who already feels so much a part of it. Just as he has done until now, James will create immediate impact for our brands, company, and system."
Sommerville founded Attik from his grandmother’s attic in 1986, and went on to establish global offices before selling it to Dentsu in 2007. Sommerville, who a Judge on this year’s Drum Design Awards panel, left Dentsu in September last year and went on to lead creative agency, Bonafide Guests Only (BGO).