Walkers Crisps has appointed Sebastian Micozzi as its new head of marketing, following the departure of Greg Lyons last month.

Lyons has been promoted to vice president, marketing of PepsiCo Beverages Canada, where he will report directly to the president, Richard Glover.

During his time at Walkers, Lyons delivered award-winning brand campaigns, including the successful 'Do us a Flavour' and 'Sandwich' initiatives.

Micozzi, who has worked on a number of PepsiCo brands over the past 13 years, joins Walkers from the Pepsi Bottling Group franchise in Spain, where he occupied the same position.

During that time, he introduced an award-winning digital and social media strategy for Pepsi, which resulted in 23 months of consecutive market share growth for the brand.

"Walkers has delivered some fantastic campaigns in recent years, and many of the brand's ideas and innovations are now being replicated by PepsiCo brands in other markets," Micozzi said. "It's an exciting time to be joining the business and I look forward to building on these past successes while continuing to drive new and original ideas."

In his new role, Micozzi will be responsible for leading the 28-strong UK marketing department, covering all Walkers crisps and snacks brands. He will report to Walkers general manager Ian Ellington.

"Sebastian has worked for PepsiCo for 13 years and has a proven track record in delivering excellent results," Ellington said. "He has outstanding marketing skills, a strong business sense and entrepreneurial flair, attributes that will make him an exceptional leader of Walkers' marketing department."

The Grocer revealed last month that Walkers had more than trebled the value of the 'thin' crinkle-cut crisp segment following the launch in April of Crinkles, which generated £11.7m in sales in its first two months on shelf [Nielsen total sales 9 April to 4 June 2011].

Walkers also launched Extra Crunchy in August last year.