Kevin Klock has left his position as president and CEO of Talking Rain – the maker of the Sparkling Ice brand.
Officials confirmed that Klock had left the company but provided no reason for the abrupt departure, and said that chief financial officer Marcus Smith has assumed all of Klock’s responsibilities ‘with full shareholder support’.
Smith said: “I can confirm that Kevin Klock is departing his post as Talking Rain’s President and CEO. As part of the leadership team that has built a strong foundation for future growth, which has included expanding our team, introducing new products and extensions, establishing the only national independent distribution network, and improving our operations to reduce overhead, together with our shareholders we are confident in our plans to continue our success and growth as we move the business forward.”
Klock was front-and-centre of $37 million marketing campaign for Sparkling Ice that launched just three weeks ago. The company, focusing on the not-so-bland flavour of Sparkling Ice drinks, was targeting growth of around 12% after returning sales growth in excess of 6,000% since 2010.
At the time, Klock said that the Sparkling Ice brand journey had been ‘far from bland’, with the time being right to roll out the brand’s first ever US-wide advertising campaign.
In what have come now to be his parting words, he said that the Be Not Bland campaign would present Sparkling Ice with the opportunity ‘to showcase our brand personality and harness the momentum of this growth to reach a wider audience than ever before’.
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