What does it really take to move from brand marketer to global growth leader?

In this episode Conor Byrne sits down with Orla Mitchell for a candid, commercially grounded conversation about leadership, long-term brand building and earning marketing’s seat at the growth table.

Orla’s career spans senior roles at Nestlé, Kerry Foods, and Mars, where she led global food and confectionery portfolios including the transformation of the gum category and the return of Extra to the #1 position in the US. She later returned to Ireland to join WaterWipes, ultimately becoming CEO and helping scale the brand internationally with sharper strategic focus and disciplined portfolio choices.

This episode goes far beyond career highlights. It’s about how marketing thinking matures from creative execution to enterprise-level value creation.

3:00 – Winning the Marketing Champion Award & what recognition really means

4:40 – From accountancy to marketing: finding the discipline that fit

6:00 – Cutting her teeth in FMCG at Nestlé

9:50 – Being headhunted to Mars & stepping into bigger challenges

13:00 – Dealing with disappointment & knowing when to leave

15:20 – Long vs short term thinking before it was fashionable

17:30 – Entering Mars: business model transformation over “just advertising”

19:15 – Business marketer vs creative marketer

21:00 – The Ehrenberg-Bass moment: science over opinion

24:30 – Creative effectiveness, star systems & why great ads last

27:00 – Test & learn done properly (with action standards)

31:30 – Global roles & navigating “we’re different” market objections

35:30 – Leading the gum category transformation

38:20 – Extra’s growth in the US & penetration focus

41:00 – Leaving Mars & the WaterWipes opportunity

43:00 – Scaling a challenger brand & making tough market choices

46:00 – Marketing as growth co-pilot, not support function

If you lead brands, sit at an executive table, or aspire to do either, this episode is a masterclass in commercially credible marketing leadership.

Thanks to Tracksuit for their support of this episode.

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