Michelle Sweezey of Massimo Zanetti Beverage joins Jennifer and Risa on the latest episode of CPG Scoop!

A self-proclaimed numbers nerd, Michelle is passionate about analytics and testing new technologies. Michelle serves within the Insights team at Massimo Zanetti Beverage, one of the largest vertically integrated coffee manufacturers in the world; providing coffee solutions from seed to cup. Michelle directs the digital presence of brands such as Chock full o’Nuts, Hills Bros, Kauai Coffee and Segafredo Zanetti, planning omnichannel programs within their top brick and mortar and ecommerce retailers through the lens of the consumer. When she steps out of the CPG space, you can find this former nonprofit leader actively involved in local volunteer organizations, keeping her daughters out of trouble, and sharing cups of coffee with friends.

Our favorite takeaways from this episode with Michelle:

• As marketers and sales people, we have to constantly look at the CPG space with our eyes open and be consumer-obsessed.
• The brands that are doing the best are the ones that find ways to make ads more personal and targeted.
• If you don't know the consumer you're targeting and the social commerce behind it, your brand may fall behind in reaching your audience. 

Jen Bryce of Unilever joins Jennifer and Risa on the latest episode of CPG Scoop!

Jen is the Retail Media enterprise lead at Unilever across all brands and partners in the US. She joined Unilever five and a half years ago to bridge the gap between Brand, eCommerce and Shopper Marketing and infuse media strategy and excellence into their Pure Play and Omnichannel plans.

She has been in the media industry for over 20 years, starting her career in traditional media and quickly getting immersed in digital media at the onset. She has deep experience in strategic planning, execution, and analytics across every media channel and has led integrated media teams on various brands and industries.

At Unilever, her primary focus is to strengthen their Retail Media partnerships, lead Retail Media investment negotiations, and drive sophistication in their partners’ capability that will unlock sales growth opportunities across the portfolio. She also leads the center of excellence in the US for Retail Media and drive integration to deliver on the end-to-end performance marketing needs of National and Commerce media. She is infusing strategic excellence in Unilever’s Retail Media planning and building Media partnerships that are consumer-centric and data-driven. She has been on the frontline of the convergence of Commerce and Media, transforming their partnerships and bringing greater impact to their business.

And we love this quote from Jen, “I’m proud of the work we’ve done as an industry to accelerate media standards and capabilities. I’m excited for the evolution to continue with new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers. ‘It's not the destination, it's the journey’ and the journey has just begun!”

Our favorite takeaways from this episode with Jen:

• Retail media partners will need to collaborate with media partners to see growth.
• Data suggests that everything we're doing online drives consumers in-store.
• AI is going to allow us to bring an enhanced shopper experience in a more personalized fashion.

Katie Moro of Productsup joins Jennifer and Risa on the latest episode of CPG Scoop!

Katie is a collaborative SaaS leader who specializes in helping customers manage digital media assets & product data resulting in a comprehensive marketing campaign, increased share of marketing budgets and the generation of new revenue streams. She has 13+ years experience in digital advertising developing skills that include building trust & rapport with cross-functional technical teams, putting the customer first, and managing time-based goals through prioritizations/sequencing.

Our favorite takeaways from this episode with Katie:

• How businesses can adapt to the fast-paced CPG environment 
• What Katie's word, fast, will look like and mean in 2024
• Why there should be control with the empowerment of automatization

Jonathan Rhyan of KIND Snacks joins Jennifer and Risa on the latest episode of CPG Scoop!

Jonathan Rhyan is the Senior Director of Omnichannel Marketing for KIND Snacks. In this role Jonathan oversees all National & Account Specific Omnichannel Marketing programming, Perfect Digital Shelf, Perfect Digital Store, Digital Test & Learn Roadmap, Advanced Analytics, and the 1st party data strategy for the KIND brand in the United States.

Jonathan joined KIND Snacks over 4 years ago armed with a background of experience in a variety of Marketing, Digital & Insights roles.  Having worked primarily in the beauty and personal care categories on brands such as Revlon, L’Oreal, Schick, & Banana Boat, he brings a unique perspective to KIND’s efforts in building the Omnichannel Marketing Discipline as well as growing the KIND brand.

KC Glaser joins Jennifer and Risa on this episode of CPG Scoop to talk all things marketing, digital coupons, and, of course, pickleball. 

KC has nearly two decades of experience helping smart people solve big problems in various capacities: traditional marketing, brand marketing, strategy, innovation, loyalty, and more. In each professional role, he has been a catalyst for change by focusing on the future, whether it be developing new engagement platforms for Buffalo Wild Wings, literally flipping the DQ Blizzard on its head or shifting a paper-heavy portfolio of coupon tactics to a digitally driven performance marketing engine for General Mills. He has a passion for people, and the two questions that he believes ultimately get us there are “why?” and “how CAN we?”

Kimberly McGee and Lela Davidson, Executive Co-Chairs of NextUp Northwest Arkansas join Jennifer and Risa in this extra special episode of The CPG Scoop. In this episode, Lela and Kimberly talk about the opportunities the Northwest Arkansas chapter of NextUp has provided them, their definition of leadership, and how they create a safe space to elevate other women.

Kimberly has been with Walmart for over 15 years, first starting in their technology division. She has since had the pleasure of working across the entire enterprise, having the opportunity to work in HR before her current role. She currently is Walmart’s Senior Manager in their Center for Racial Equity leading their racial solidarity strategy. Kimberly is passionate about community service and empowering women to succeed on a personal and professional level. When she first started with NextUp, she had an opportunity to start their mentoring program. She now serves as Executive Co-Chair for the Northwest Arkansas chapter alongside Lela.

As Business Innovation Officer for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Lela develops new commercial projects and partnerships for the museum and it’s performance venue, The Momentary. Before joining the museum she was EVP Account Leadership & Client Partnership for Saatchi & Saatchi X, overseeing conversion marketing of world class brands for Procter & Gamble, Spin Master, Samsung, and others. Prior to that, Lela was part of an ecommerce startup where she built a country music entertainment and lifestyle media property and partnered with Nashvllle artists and their labels to create artist branded footwear and apparel. Lela began her career as a CPA and analyst for Arthur Andersen. Her NextUp journey started in a strategic role, working to build cohesion across the organization. From there, she moved into a community partnership role and communications before taking on the responsibility of Executive Co-Chair.

Frank Blake joins Jennifer, Risa, and special guest host Bryan Gildenberg of The CPG Guys Fast Forward on this "Legendary Leaders" edition of The CPG Scoop. Together, they discuss marketing challenges, data strategy, and the evolution of social commerce. 

Frank served as Chairman and CEO of The Home Depot from January 2007 through November 2014, and then as Chairman through January 2015. He previously served as Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to that, he served in a variety of executive roles at General Electric, including Senior Vice President, Corporate Business Development. 

Frank’s public sector experience also includes having served as general counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, deputy counsel to Vice President George Bush and law clerk to Justice Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court. Frank serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Aquarium, Macy’s, Unifi, Inc. and Agnes Scott College.  He recently completed tenure on the Delta Air Lines, Proctor & Gamble, and Grady Hospital Boards.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a jurisprudence degree from Columbia University School of Law.

Adam Russack, Director of Agency Partnerships at Bazaarvoice, joins Jennifer and Risa to talk about the opportunities and challenges in the CPG space, including retail media networks and omnichannel marketing. Adam discusses his background in retail and CPG, emphasizing the importance of partnerships and driving growth. Adam comes from a retail family, with his dad and my uncle both being third generation retailers in New York. Career wise, he comes from a mixture of performance marketing and ad tech partnerships. At Bazaarvoice, Adam partners with agencies to power successful commerce experiences and campaigns for brands & retailers.

Michael La Kier, Vice President of Brand Development for the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA), joins Jennifer and Risa to discuss the current landscape of the CPG and retail industries. Michael has helped build some of the most iconic consumer-loved and shopper-relevant brands, including Save the Children, Powerade, My Coke Rewards, USA Today, and IGA. Prior to IGA, Michael was the Founder and President of What Brands Want LLC, a boutique strategic marketing consultancy which served the CPG and retail industry. Before What Brands Want LLC, Michael held various roles in shopper marketing, loyalty, digital marketing, and brand management during an impressive 15+ year career at The Coca-Cola Company. Today, he is responsible for strategic partnerships to help independent retailers nourish families in their local communities.

Eugene Adamson, Sr. Shopper Marketing Manager at Coca-Cola, joins Jennifer and Risa to discuss the challenges in the current CPG marketing space. Prior to working for Coca-Cola, he worked for several other CPG companies, including Kraft, Sam's Club, and Walmart. In this episode, he highlights the need to adapt to new technologies like AI and the importance of trust in collecting consumer data. 

Note:  Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by the Eugene are his own and do not reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of his employer.