Nicole Ayers has built a career out of scaling brands that make mealtime 1000x more fun. She once managed cereal icons like Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. These days, she's all about four-legged foodies. Partnering with Curiosity, Nicole and Blue Buffalo are stepping into the fresh pet food game with their newest product innovation: Love Made Fresh.

In this episode, Nicole pulls back the curtain on how you can confidently bring new product innovations to market, why you should never let consumer testing dictate the fate of your work, and how to make the most of your marketing dollars.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The keys to a successful new product launch

• Why Glossier has the best product launches

• Nicole's thoughts about AI-generated spots

• Brand-building strategies Blue Buffalo can learn from Lucky Charms

• General Mills' strategy behind Edgard & Cooper's exclusive partnership with PetSmart

• The secret to selling bold creative to companies like General Mills

• How to maximize your marketing dollars against big category spenders

• How to know when the strategy and creative are right

• Why concept testing shouldn't be the final verdict for creative

• How to turn your "thinks" into "knows" by asking the consumer

• A BTS look at Cinnamon Toast Crunch's cereal cannibalism campaign

Resources:

• Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn

• Learn more about Blue Buffalo on their website

• Read more about Love Made Fresh

• See the new Love Made Fresh work

• Watch Cinnamon Toast's cereal cannibalism spot