Man Law - No Common Vision Leads to Tears

+ Miller Lite and Crispin part ways.

"We just have fundamental differences over creative and strategy" said Chief Creative Officer Alex Bogusky in a statement. "Although we made every attempt to find common ground, the process of multilayered approvals of creative and strategy has made doing work we can be proud of increasingly difficult."

Those "multilayered approvals" are said to refer to Mr. Long, who was chief marketing officer before being promoted last year; Mr. Ransom; Deb Boyda, VP-brand management; and Erv Frederick, VP-brand strategy for Miller Lite. And it's been said that Mr. Adami, the SABMiller president, has been taking a more active interest in marketing, although it's unclear to what extent.

"You've got three or four different top-tier people with contradictory points of view," said one person familiar with the matter, expressing a viewpoint that was shared by two other executives. "There's a constant shifting of strategy, and a lack of a common vision."