JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Heineken USA named Brian Fried its regional vice president of sales, Western Region. Reporting to Senior Vice President of Sales Scott Blazek, Fried will drive Heineken USA's performance and deliver results through the effective management of regional resources, as well as establishing and maintaining the company's culture in the region.

Fried's role will be to establish objectives, strategies and tactics, as well as guide account planning, execution and culture for the Western Region. He will also oversee relationships with Heineken USA distributor partners and key regional accounts.

Heineken also recently appointed Ivan Gutierrez as zone sales director, Heartland Zone. In his new role, Gutierrez reports to Jeffrey Colbert, Central Region vice president, and will be responsible for driving performance and delivering results through distributor management, retail execution and zone team development.

Gutierrez will also develop Heartland Zone's business plan and budget, while assigning goals and managing distributor execution across the portfolio. He will play a key role in the selection, execution and assessment of brand retail marketing programs, as well as the Heartland Zone's pricing and gross profits to ensure delivery of the region's financial objectives.

In other people news:

Crossmark
Crossmark appointed Todd Mitchell as president of its U.S. sales agency. Currently an executive vice president overseeing business development, Mitchell has worked for Crossmark for more than 12 years. He is very active in the industry and sits on the Grocery Manufacturer's Association sales committee.

Ben Fischer, who served as COO and president of Crossmark's U.S. sales agency, will now solely focus on his COO duties.

For more than 100 years, Plano, Texas-based Crossmark has helped the most powerful brands in the world achieve their business objectives across a wide range of retail channels. The company's expertise encompasses the areas of headquarter sales, retail merchandising, event marketing, in-store data collection and retail technology solutions.

Finiti Branding Group
Ronald B. Vogler joined The Finiti Branding Group LLC as senior vice president of sales, based in Mobile, Ala. He will most immediately be focused on leading the national and international sales, distribution and promotion efforts of the FIN brand of electronic cigarettes.

Vogler joins Finiti with an extensive sales leadership background from the consumer products, food and beverage industries. Most of his career has been focused on sales, marketing, new product development and start-up business unit development.