ATLANTA: MSLGroup has hired Coca-Cola’s Doug Busk as MD of its Atlanta office, effective September 11.
Busk will report to MSL U.S. CEO Ron Guirguis. He will replace John Walker, who recently left the firm after joining in May. Busk will oversee 40 people.
In addition to his role running the Atlanta office, Busk will work with staffers across MSL’s U.S. network to boost the company’s brand storytelling. He will lead an effort to build capabilities in brand narrative development and thought leadership, as well as video, social media creation and curation, content marketing, and paid, owned, and earned expertise.
"Brands across the board face the same challenge and opportunities that Coca-Cola does to engage, compel, convince, and chat directly and authentically with their consumers and their critics," Busk said. "MSL has had a ton of success in doing so on behalf of their clients. I viewed this as the next natural step to apply what I learned at Coca-Cola to multiple brands."
Busk worked at Coca-Cola for seven years, most recently as global group director of digital communications and social media. During his time at Coca-Cola, Busk led the development and international expansion of the Coca-Cola Journey storytelling platform, which was designed to expand the company's commitment to brand-consumer engagement, from a presence in four countries to more than 100.
Busk also drove strategic growth of Coca-Cola’s corporate social media channels and led the development and execution of digital training and capability-building worldwide.
Busk’s last day at Coca-Cola was September 1.
Prior to Coca-Cola, Busk held business-development and product-marketing roles at Amdocs and SinglePoint.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Busk served as an outside strategic adviser for mobile efforts for the Obama for America campaign.
