Celebrating the Brand Ambassador

Episode 23: Roberta Mariana & Cameron George

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On this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing  "Robert Mariana" Italian-born mixologist, currently living in London working as the Global Project Manager at Martini for the iconic MARTINI brand, its vermouths & bitters. Along with "Cameron George,"  a Whisky evangelist born and raised in Seattle, Washington, spreading the word about whisky around the  USA  as the National Brand Ambassador for Ardbeg, the 4x reigning World Whisky Distillery of the Year.

Cameron and Roberta start by speaking about their past experiences working as bartenders.

They share their challenges of first becoming a Brand Ambassador:

  • Finding balance in their life.
  • The adjustment to corporate life and their communication style when presenting a solution to a problem.
  • Learning to schedule their time relentlessly while learning to live in the grey when things don't go as planned.
  • The lesson of knowing you're worth, when to stand up for yourself and when to roll
    • with the punches.
  • Why pictures are critical when creating a needs list for events, video shoots, etc., to ensure you receive what you request and other shortcuts to execute an event efficiently.
  • Actions they take to maintain their network around the globe.
  • How to provide value to others, and how that helps you expand and deepen your network relationships.
  • Cameron speaks about using his platform to increase diversity and inclusion within the Scotch industry.
  • Roberta speaks about using her platform to help others achieve health and wellness, including the Martini Rossi Bartender bike program.
  • Cameron speaks about competitions and how to use them to build your career and get noticed by brands, and hone your skill sets.
  • We all speak to mistakes made early in our careers when giving presentations, including trying to mimic other people's styles.
  • How finding your presentation style and speaking to the things you connect to is more important than presenting what is on the slide.
  • How to make technical information relatable
  • Roberta explains why it is crucial to understand the big picture behind the brand and the value you, as a BA, bring to the table.

    • Lastly, they both speak to the challenges of creating and implementing cocktail strategies for the brands.

    ...more
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    Celebrating the Brand AmbassadorBy Elayne Duff