Wendy Clark to Return to Coca-Cola By E.J. Schultz

Politics was apparently not enough to entice Wendy Clark away from Coca-Cola Co., at least for now.

Ms. Clark, the marketer’s president for sparkling brands and strategic marketing in North America, will return to that role on April 6 after a three-month leave, the company confirmed in a statement to Ad Age. “As announced in January, she chose to take an unpaid leave to support an outside project of personal importance to her but planned to return to her role in April. We look forward to welcoming her back,” Coca-Cola stated.

Ms. Clark and Coca-Cola never confirmed the nature Ms. Clark’s outside project. But it was widely reported that she left to work in some capacity for Hillary Clinton, who is expected to soon announce her candidacy for president. When the leave was announced, Coca-Cola said that Ms. Clark would return on March 31.

As Ad Age reported in January, Ms. Clark has a working relationship with GSD&M co-founder and Clinton confidant Roy Spence, who has been mentioned for a potential Clinton campaign role.

The Washington Post in February, citing people familiar with Ms. Clinton’s preparations, reported that Ms. Clark and Mr. Spence are “focused on developing imaginative ways to ‘let Hillary be Hillary,’ as one person said, and help her make emotional connections with voters.