All companies have challenges, and marketing is one of the best weapons that a company has in difficult times. Perhaps that's why four of the companies that face the biggest challenges in the food and beverage industry put new people in charge of their marketing functions in 2014.

Here's a look at four folks with high-profile marketing roles in some very tough industry sectors.

Jeannine D'Addario 

The new vice president for communications at Whole Foods joined the high-end grocery chain in August. And she promptly pushed the company to launch its first national advertising campaign.

Those ads, featuring the tag line "Values Matter," are aimed at positioning Whole Foods as the most ethical choice a consumer can make among the multiple Whole Foods-like stores that have emerged in recent years. That may prove a wise move, given that Whole Foods is no longer the sole player in the high-end, organic food space it created.

Marcos de Quinto 

If there's a more prestigious marketing job in the industry than running Coca-Cola's advertising efforts, we have no idea what it might be. But prestige will only go so far for de Quinto, who has been named as the successor to legendary marketer Joe Tripodi.

The industry won't know how de Quinto plans to address falling soda sales until he actually takes the helm when Tripodi retires in February. But we do know his biggest challenge: selling Coke in a world where even Coca-Cola now admits the stuff isn't healthy. 

Dana Anderson 

One of the best known, and arguably one of the most successful, marketers in the industry was Mondelez International's Mary Beth West. But West was apparently pushed aside when the snack giant reorganized some of its executive functions in August.

At the time, Mondelez said it would not replace West, a decision that seemed a bit strange. But the company said West's marketing duties would be taken over by Mark Clouse, who was promoted from president of North American operations to chief growth officer. 

A month later Mondelez, maker of Oreos, Trident, and more, apparently changed its mind and named Dana Anderson, a Mondelez veteran, as chief marketing officer. Among Anderson's major challenges will be addressing a massive decline in sales of gum.

Casey Keller 

Oddly enough, Mondelez isn't the only company that a) faces declining gum sales, and b) decided it didn't need a marketing chief. Wrigley has the same problem and made that same decision when chief marketing officer Brian Hansberry left the company last January. 

Wrigley said then that the president of its North American operations, Casey Keller, would oversee marketing operations in conjunction with the company's various category leads. 

We haven't seen much new in marketing from Wrigley ever since, with the exception of some new displays. Perhaps Keller will use this year to revive the work of Dorothy and Otis “Shep” Shepard.