Who Is Paloma Azulay, Burger King's New Chief Brand Officer?

Paloma Azulay is a highly experienced marketer who devoted much of her career to Coca-Cola before joining Restaurant Brands International to lead global marketing for Tim Hortons and Popeyes. Now she's adding RBI's most famous chain, Burger King, to her roster in her new role as global chief brand officer for the entire parent company. Top line Stepping in with the exit of her boss, Fernando Machado, as he leaves RBI to join Activision Blizzard after an iconic run of creative marketing, Azulay is being elevated from her previous role of global chief marketing officer for Popeyes. RBI's core brands are Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons. A native of Brazil, where she spent the first decade of her marketing career, Azulay was a longtime employee and creative leader at Coca-Cola before joining RBI, where she has rapidly ascended. Her new role will mark her fourth with the company in just three years. Between the lines Azulay is a graduate of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, where she received a bachelor's degree in communications and marketing, which led her to work within Coca-Cola for 14 years, beginning as a brand marketing intern on Coca-Cola Light and rising eventually to the role of creative excellence director for central and eastern Europe. In that role, she oversaw work across 26 countries. In 2018, she joined RBI, taking the role of chief creative officer at Canadian doughnut and coffee chain Tim Hortons. Two years later, she took on leadership of global marketing for Popeyes, where she was tasked with growing the brand’s presence outside the U.S. Interviewed by Adweek in 2020 about taking on the role at Popeyes, Azulay said she "couldn’t be more honored" to learn from Machado, saying "I’ve always admired his work." "Actually, I decided to come from Coca-Cola to Tim Hortons because I wanted to learn from Fernando, to work in the creative culture that he built," she said. Bottom line Azulay's promotion into RBI's most high-profile brand marketing role illustrates both the company's faith in her and its continued preference for internal hires. For example, Popeyes CMO Bruno Cardinali, named at the height of the chain's resurgence thanks to its popular chicken sandwich, was previously RBI's head of Latin American and Caribbean marketing for Burger King. While Machado's exit marks the end of an era for Burger King and RBI, the elevation of Azulay highlights that he leaves behind a strong bench of marketing leaders for the years ahead. In addition to Unilever veteran Cardinali, she'll also be working alongside Burger King CMO Ellie Doty—formerly CMO of Chili's—and Tim Hortons CMO Hope Bagozzi, who previously spent 15 years at McDonald's Canada. The Flame of Creativity: A Look at the Burger King Work Produced During Fernando Machado’s Reign

Leadership & Talent

What You Need to Know About Paloma Azulay, Burger King's New Global Chief Brand Officer

Filling an RBI leadership gap left by Fernando Machado's exit, she honed her craft over 14 years at Coca-Cola

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