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VO
Welcome the Dig In, the podcast brought to you by Dig Insights. Each week Jess Gaedeke chats with world class brand professionals to bring you the story behind the story of some of the most breakthrough innovations, marketing tactics, and campaigns.

00;00;18;27 - 00;00;31;23
Jess
Hi, everybody. I'm Jess Gaedeke here with the Dig In podcast. And today I'm joined by Danielle Coopersmith, Associate Director of Marketing from the Kraft Heinz Company. Welcome, Danielle. So glad that you're here.

00;00;31;27 - 00;00;33;24
Danielle
Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

00;00;34;01 - 00;00;48;02
Jess
Yeah. Today we're going to get the inside scoop on a pretty spicy brand partnership. Everyone's going to get that pun here in a second, but can't wait to hear that story. Before we get into the story, though, Danielle, can you tell us a little bit about your background and where you're coming from?

00;00;48;03 - 00;01;07;27
Danielle
Yes, definitely. So as Jess mentioned, I'm Danielle Coopersmith. I currently reside in Chicago. I've lived all over the place, but I've spent my career at Kraft Heinz, so I'll talk you through a few career highlights. But outside of work, I'm also a huge foodie, so food is a very important part of my life, both at work as well as outside.

00;01;08;00 - 00;01;32;17
Danielle
So I started my career at Kraft Heinz on the Oscar Meyer brand, first working on a bunch of innovation and renovation and really focused on cleaning up our hot dogs. Obviously, hot dogs have some baggage with them, so that was a really cool project to work on. I spent a few years on the Planters Nuts brand really working to drive the cool factor and differentiation on a highly commoditized category like nuts.

00;01;32;17 - 00;02;01;19
Danielle
Everyone thinks like, Oh, a peanut is a peanut. So it was really cool to think about how consumers could view those differently. Spent a few years then on the Kraft Mayonnaise business. I know mayo isn't necessarily the sexiest category, but it was a really fun one to work on as a number two player in the category. Got to really play with that challenger mindset, do some things that push the boundaries, took risks and brought excitement to a category that didn't experience it.

00;02;01;21 - 00;02;29;19
Danielle
Then moved over to the Grey Poupon world, redefining what luxury means. If anyone’s seen the old Grey Poupon ad where it's all about a guy in a Rolls Royce with a British accent who's very proper? That doesn't resonate today with millennials. That's not what luxury means today. So really working on repositioning a legacy brand to what treating yourself means today, savoring with a glass of wine and cheese, etc..

00;02;29;22 - 00;02;58;01
Danielle
And then today, I'm associate director on what we call our Portfolio Brands team on our Taste Elevation platform. I think of it as anything that you can add to food to make it taste great. So it's a combination right now of some really big high investment cool brands which we'll talk about today like Taco Bell as well as a bunch of legacy brands that are really in that reinvention phase, driving relevance for today's consumer in this ever changing world.

00;02;58;01 - 00;03;21;05
Danielle
So brands like A.1. Steak Sauce, LEA & PERRINS® Worcestershire, Grey Poupon still, Shake and Bake and some others too. So it's a really cool mixture of brands. I think one of the things I'm most passionate about is driving relevance with consumers. Even if the brand might be a little sleepy or have some baggage from the past. Finding ways to connect with today's consumers in creative ways.

00;03;21;08 - 00;03;42;16
Jess
So you've worked on some of the coolest brands ever, and if I'm going to summarize, I just was jotting down your background. Okay, So here's your resume highlights: Addressing hot dog baggage, creating a cool factor for nuts, making mayo sexy, redefining luxury in terms of mustard and now taste elevation. Well, that's some pretty cool legit career highlights,

00;03;42;16 - 00;03;44;09
Jess
Danielle, I'm kind of jealous.

00;03;44;12 - 00;03;47;25
Danielle
Thank you. You just wrote my new elevator pitch for me.

00;03;47;28 - 00;03;59;13
Jess
You're welcome. Yeah. Didn't even use AI. It was all me. Okay, so I'm going to start with a quick impromptu question, which this one is perfect because you're a foodie. Which beverage goes best with pizza?

00;03;59;16 - 00;04;18;14
Danielle
Oh, that's a good one. So maybe I'm a foodie. I'm not so much of a beverage person, so I drink water with literally everything, which is kind of boring. But I do love a good cider with pizza, hard ciders have become very trendy and I feel like I'm not a beer drinker. So cider and experimenting with different flavor combinations

00;04;18;14 - 00;04;19;28
Danielle
there has been a lot of fun.

00;04;20;00 - 00;04;43;27
Jess
Yeah, very cool. Okay, so a side of cider with you, with your pie. Well, let's, let's get in and let's. Yeah, let's, let's dig in if we can. So you know that our listeners, they really crave inspiration from other leaders. And I think one of the best ways to inspire is to tell a story. And you are integral in the partnership between Taco Bell and Kraft Heinz and bringing that brand into retail channels.

00;04;43;29 - 00;04;52;20
Jess
So tell us that story. Go back to the origination of that idea, kind of who brought this up? What was the inspiration for it? Go back to the beginning. If you don't mind.

00;04;52;23 - 00;05;19;06
Danielle
Yeah, definitely. So actually, Kraft Heinz and Taco Bell have been partnering for over 20 years, but it was kind of a partnership that not much had happened on. It was one of those businesses that kind of ran itself, not too much investment, engagement, collaboration. So then I came over to this taste elevation world about a year and a half, two years ago, and started working on this business and really noticed some interesting trends.

00;05;19;09 - 00;05;40;26
Danielle
So obviously if anyone has followed anything on TikTok. Taco Bell is like the brand for Gen Z. Feel like Taco Bell has really made itself a cultural icon in the past couple of years, finding an authentic way to connect, whether it's Doja Cat announcing the return of Mexican pizza or I mean, I literally see people getting married at Taco Bell.

00;05;40;26 - 00;06;06;23
Danielle
It's a level of a brand that it's hard, it's hard to create that kind of connection with consumers, and they've mastered it. And then at the same time, as we've seen the retail environment develop, we've seen a couple of things that made this an extremely attractive partnership. First, Mexican officially surpassed Italian as the most preferred food in the country, both at home and away from home, which Italian has held that role for ever.

00;06;06;26 - 00;06;30;29
Danielle
So that was huge. And then post-pandemic we've seen consumers who started cooking more at home in the pandemic stay at home even more, but they still want those restaurant flavors. So it's kind of this perfect combination of the Gen Z relevance and a really authentic, cool brand. The Mexican, the growth of the Mexican taste profile and then looking for restaurant experiences at home.

00;06;30;29 - 00;06;57;03
Danielle
We kind of knew we had a gem here and a brand that could be incredibly relevant in the retail space. So we decided to double down. I will say it was a lot easier said than done at the beginning because we historically hadn't had a close partnership with Taco Bell, even though we had the business. It had been kind of a transactional type of partnership, a string of short term contracts and relationship, not a kind of investment on either side.

00;06;57;03 - 00;07;16;29
Danielle
So at the beginning it was really about showing Taco Bell and really partnering together on why retail could be an integral part of their strategy because obviously for them, restaurants are the core. So we had to show them, here's why retail is relevant and not only relevant how it actually could help them grow their business and drive that top of mind awareness too.

00;07;16;29 - 00;07;43;09
Danielle
So it really was a year and a half or two years in the making to get to where we are today. Aligning to a long term partnership takes us for over ten years and not just a transaction and more a two way strategy, sharing, learning what is challenging for them so we can help them and vice versa. Scaling those QSR equities, doing ideation, it's it's really, really fun to see how the partnership has evolved.

00;07;43;09 - 00;07;46;14
Danielle
And with that, both companies winning together.

00;07;46;18 - 00;08;07;15
Jess
So I can't even imagine how fun it must have been to immerse yourself in that consumer, right This gen-z like kind of cult following that that Taco Bell has. And and like you said, scaling the QSR equities into retail. And I'm kind of picturing this maybe, you know, like Gen-Zs that are leaving the household for the first time and kind of living on their own.

00;08;07;15 - 00;08;15;24
Jess
And what better brand to welcome into their home than buying Taco Bell at retail? That is just brilliant. It checks so many boxes from a strategic standpoint.

00;08;15;29 - 00;08;35;22
Danielle
Yeah, it's it's a really cool one because Gen-z already loves the brand. They know what it's supposed to taste like. But as they're going to college, or starting their first job after leaving their house. We've learned that Gen Z really does not know how to cook or their way around the kitchen at all. So giving them a product that has flavors that they already, they kind of know what it's supposed to taste like.

00;08;35;22 - 00;08;51;15
Danielle
But then at home they can give it their own customized spin. It makes it into a social type of gathering. We've seen Gen Z when they're doing like, I mean, you might have seen on TikTok, they do a million crunch rap challenges and things like that already. So let's give them the tools they need to be able to do that at home.

00;08;51;18 - 00;09;08;24
Danielle
And I mean, when we talk to Gen Z about Taco Bell in retail, I think every single time they are just like, Oh my gosh, now I can get my favorite food and even more locations. So it's a really fun one. I've definitely gotten really into the depths of Tik Tok to learn about Gen Z cooking habits too.

00;09;08;24 - 00;09;26;13
Jess
You have to, no. You have to. And speaking of Gen Z can't cook. Amen. And my daughter, I had to really spend some time this weekend and explaining that she can make her own hard boiled egg, that it's about 15 minutes from start to finish and that she can in fact do it. So she's a she's an expert now.

00;09;26;19 - 00;09;36;01
Jess
So you had a lot of steps in your go to market, I'm sure. And so did you leverage any new tools or approaches or frameworks that helped you get to market in a successful way?

00;09;36;03 - 00;10;04;06
Danielle
Yeah, I mean, to me, I think the biggest thing was really listening and taking the time to listen to Taco Bell. I think we could have made this whole plan and strategy in a silo, done it the way that was perfect for with a traditional go to market framework. But really listening to those experts on this consumer, on their brand and hearing where they've struggled before, helped us identify how we can make this a one plus one equals more than two kind of partnership.

00;10;04;06 - 00;10;23;02
Danielle
And I feel like I know a lot of marketers want to just like, dive in, heads down, go to work. And I think taking that time to step back, listen, and almost like build the partnership from the ground up together. I mean, there were whiteboarding sessions, there were so many workshops just learning from each other, I think was the biggest piece.

00;10;23;05 - 00;10;29;03
Danielle
So not exactly a framework, but I think it was it was a different approach than I've seen for a lot of brands where you're building it from scratch.

00;10;29;10 - 00;10;46;24
Jess
Definitely. And you mentioned that you could learn you had the benefit of learning or Taco Bell may have stumbled in the past and so I'd love to hear about some of those stumbles. Either something you learn from them or something in your own journey of taking this to market, what barriers you faced or setbacks that you had to kind of push through.

00;10;46;27 - 00;11;13;21
Danielle
Yeah, so I'll actually talk a little bit about us. And as we've been refining our portfolio and learning from our past with Taco Bell, where it was kind of just chillin there as a business at Kraft Heinz and now it's now it's a real thing. So I think one thing that we noticed as we looked back into the archives on the Taco Bell business in retail, we had a lot of different products that kind of made sense for a traditional taco night, a lot of me too products.

00;11;13;21 - 00;11;38;06
Danielle
So we had the basic tortillas, the basic beans, the basic salsa. And really as we look at like what was performing and for us it was those restaurant sauces which have that Taco Bell equity. So I think one of the biggest learnings that we learned from our our past too, was that where we win is when we can bring as much of that Taco Bell equity to retail.

00;11;38;06 - 00;12;07;08
Danielle
And that means making some hard choices. That means we might leave some categories that are those traditional family taco night staples in favor of what's going to resonate with the consumer in a bigger way. So you might see some interesting changes to our portfolio in the next six months, but they're all made to really be focused on the Gen-z consumer and giving them those Taco Bell favorites that they love rather than just being a me too in the aisle.

00;12;07;08 - 00;12;18;24
Danielle
So I think that was obviously that's challenging because it's easy to follow the the well-known playbook, but really staying true to our roots, we had to we had to take the step back and really think critically about our portfolio.

00;12;18;26 - 00;12;23;07
Jess
Well, I can't wait to see what's coming in the next six months. I'm going to be keeping my eye on that.

00;12;23;07 - 00;12;25;15
Danielle
Yeah, you'll see some cool stuff in market soon.

00;12;25;15 - 00;12;34;11
Jess
I'm excited. Jealous of your job. You get to know before we all. So how do you define success for this type of initiative? When did you know that this was a success?

00;12;34;14 - 00;12;51;10
Danielle
So I think for me there was the tangible success milestone, which is of course getting a long term contract signed. That was something we worked toward. But for me, I think what was even more exciting was some of the first times that Taco Bell QSR, which if I didn't say what QSR meant before, it means quick service restaurant.

00;12;51;10 - 00;13;15;26
Danielle
So I might say that a few times here, but the first time that Taco Bell QSR actually brought us ideas proactively, I think that to me was such a change in tune, not just, oh, hey, retail's this like little transactional leg over here, but really, hey, retail is a partner that we can work together to win. It showed true engagement in the brand and that was that was definitely one of the most fulfilling moments for me.

00;13;15;26 - 00;13;36;08
Danielle
I think also when I started the partnership, there were things that we might have suggested to Taco Bell that they might have laughed at, but like, no, we would never do that. And building, building the dynamic together and getting approval on things and ideas for things that we thought were not going to be possible. I can't say too much because some of them are around some cool innovation launching in the next six months.

00;13;36;08 - 00;13;42;29
Danielle
But I think those innovation getting to market is a huge milestone that will be coming up too.

00;13;42;29 - 00;13;46;17
Jess
And what would you say is your biggest takeaway from this experience?

00;13;46;19 - 00;14;12;13
Danielle
Yeah, I mean, there are I feel like I've learned more from this experience than anything in my career. When I first pitched making Taco Bell a priority and betting big on this business, I got laughed out of the room from probably both Taco Bell and Kraft Heinz and several times because this was a huge chain. It's reinventing a relationship, driving a long term partnership and investment on a brand that Kraft Heinz didn't own.

00;14;12;15 - 00;14;44;06
Danielle
But it was the right move for the consumer, for the retail environment. The potential is so massive. So I think persevering and really listening to all of the different stakeholders, hearing their skepticism, then attacking them head on rather than just shying away and giving up on the challenge I think was important. So it kind of goes back to that point from earlier that I think just like actually listening and not just like bulldozing through or putting the square peg in the round hole, but like taking that time to like absorb the pushback, absorb the challenges and craft my plan accordingly.

00;14;44;06 - 00;14;48;09
Danielle
I think that was one of the biggest learnings from this whole experience.

00;14;48;09 - 00;15;08;13
Jess
Well, I love that for a lot of reasons, but one is this idea of how you build conviction for an idea that might seem a little bit out there, a little bit too forward thinking. You have to bring people along with you. And I think it's a wonderful example of how listening and being empathetic to their concerns and situation and then kind of moving forward together.

00;15;08;13 - 00;15;19;14
Jess
So those are wonderful lessons all wrapped up into that. Yeah, well, congrats again on such a great partnership. And again, I know my daughter is going to beneficiary of picking up a brand to retail.

00;15;19;16 - 00;15;32;10
Danielle
Yeah, I've never eaten so much Taco Bell and I'm loving it. It's on her our our annual our sorry our weekly rotation now at my household both for the QSR as well as the at home so a lot of cool stuff going on for the brands.

00;15;32;12 - 00;15;50;29
Jess
Well I'm sure they're grateful to earn another household so it's all coming full circle. So let's turn to you as a leader, as a thought leader and a leader in your organization, what would you say is one of your more passionate or even controversial opinions about the state of innovation today?

00;15;51;04 - 00;16;10;21
Danielle
So for me, ideas speak louder than budget is like one of my biggest catchphrases with my team. I think we often get so preoccupied by how much spend we have for a brand, and if I don't have a big spend, then I can't execute a big program or I can't have a huge reach. But I think we need we can't let that be a crutch for us as marketers.

00;16;10;24 - 00;16;39;13
Danielle
I can, as long as it's based on such on a true insight or something that's culturally relevant, you can do something massive and make huge impressions without any dollars. So I think I have a couple examples of things we've done lately. We, Lea & Perrins is one of my brands. It's a Worcestershire sauce, I'm guessing probably three quarters of the people listening to this don't really know what to do with Worcestershire sauce, but it's actually like that secret ingredient in so many different dishes and one of those is Bloody Marys.

00;16;39;16 - 00;17;07;12
Danielle
Bloody Marys are having obviously a huge moment right now. I feel like I see a different over the top Bloody Mary on Instagram every day. So we decided, hey, people should know that Lea & Perrins and Worcestershire sauce is that secret ingredient there. So we partnered with a beverage company and launched the Lea & Perrins Bloody Mary Mix, partnered then with a restaurant that has a number of trendy locations across the country and did a special menu and that pretty much had a $0 spend.

00;17;07;14 - 00;17;28;16
Danielle
But because it was so relevant, because we worked with the right partners and it was such a true insight, it made a huge impact. And we're seeing that brand starting to grow again. So I think we just you just have to have your ear on culture and really know those true insights about the brand. But then you can do so much without a huge budget, I think.

00;17;28;19 - 00;17;33;01
Danielle
Yeah, we can't get lost in Oh, if I don't have a big budget, I can't do anything on this brand.

00;17;33;04 - 00;17;50;27
Jess
I love that. And just that story itself is going to be so helpful to listeners. We know so many of our our clients that are in innovation or insights. They do work with brands that have a limited budget. And I love me some L&P, I think I told you I used to do a lot of work on that brand throughout my career, so I've got a soft spot for it.

00;17;50;29 - 00;18;09;14
Jess
But I love this idea of ideas speak louder than budget, and if you're staying true to that insight, especially a cultural insight, because those are the things that are going to be adopted in people's lives and get the brand affinity that you're looking for. I love it. Just that was such a great lesson. So thank you for sharing that.

00;18;09;16 - 00;18;26;23
Danielle
Yeah, no problem. I think it's easy when you work on a big brand and have millions and millions of dollars. It's almost harder and you learn more from working on those small brands. But then it's so rewarding when you can make a splash or get that news headline and you didn't spend much. I mean that to me, that's like almost the most rewarding thing you can do as a marketer.

00;18;26;25 - 00;18;35;27
Jess
Absolutely. And what types of new tools or approaches or frameworks do you see as being really valuable these days? Like what's having the most impact?

00;18;35;29 - 00;19;02;26
Danielle
Yeah, So to me it's really getting a close understanding about what a consumer cares about and building a playbook based off of that. So for example, Gen Z is going to want to see innovation and understand messages from a brand in a completely different way than any other generation. We see Gen Z doesn't like being talked up by brands, so if I just apply a traditional marketing playbook or even go to market playbook for innovation, that's not going to resonate.

00;19;02;29 - 00;19;27;29
Danielle
I need to show up where they are, whether that's doing a launch or a tasting on a college campus instead of a traditional grocery store. Whether that is using influencers to launch a program or an item and not having any traditional paid social media that I think is so, so crucial. And it's not always easy because we don't always know what this new consumer cares about, but really looking at where do they care about trends.

00;19;27;29 - 00;19;54;17
Danielle
I think another piece of this is like, whereas previously we might have been driving the trends from retail initially. What we're seeing now is that the away from home environment is driving a lot of those trends. So having our pulse on the restaurant environment because that's where these new consumers care about, I think that that is very important, just continuing to evolve and not be set in the traditional playbook ways.

00;19;54;19 - 00;20;14;19
Jess
Sure. Yeah, we believe in that pretty wholeheartedly here at Dig. You know, capturing consumers out there in the wild where they're making their impulse decisions, where they're interacting with brands. You have to think differently because it's not the traditional go to market you're going to launch and everyone's going to be watching Jeopardy and everyone's going to see that same commercial and it's just not that way anymore.

00;20;14;19 - 00;20;28;16
Jess
So yeah, I appreciate that and grateful that there's leaders like you that are leading the thinking on how to evolve your go to market. So what's your hot take on the future of the CPG industry? Like, what do you think? Where do you think it's headed?

00;20;28;18 - 00;20;57;13
Danielle
I think I mean, there are so many different directions I could go with this one. One of the really interesting insights that I have noticed lately is the power of nostalgia. I think it's actually hilarious that Gen Z is like nostalgic for products that came out before they were even alive. So I think like over the past ten years, some of the biggest booming brands have been some of those new startups or those like hot items that are brand new to the world.

00;20;57;16 - 00;21;18;17
Danielle
I actually think that there might be a big opportunity for some of those incumbents to kind of dust themselves off and reinvent themselves in a bigger way. We're seeing it with cereal brands frequently, and I could see that expand to other categories. I know I mean, half the brands that I manage today had a couple of years ago, predominantly boomer consumers.

00;21;18;19 - 00;21;35;28
Danielle
And if we can find ways to make some of those older brands, those brands that maybe your parents, your grandparents loved before relevant for this new generation in that nostalgic way, I think there's a huge untapped opportunity and potentially even a lower barrier to entry than just creating a new brand and slapping a new brand out there into the world.

00;21;35;28 - 00;21;55;01
Danielle
So, it's been cool to see that happen in some categories, and I think that that's going to continue to grow and explode. It's not just about new brands, it's about how do we make those old brands, those tried and true shoes, relevant for consumers, especially in the chaos of today's world? That comfort nostalgic aspect is more relevant than ever.

00;21;55;03 - 00;22;22;03
Jess
Oh, my gosh, that's so fascinating. And I agree that the power of nostalgia, I think, is one of the brand levers that you can pull in a way that's just so different and so much more meaningful. And it's so true that our systems are for brands that they don't even know about, like, you know, any like fashion retailer that you go into that's sort of geared towards Gen Z, How many t shirts are there with brands that like, you know, these kids have never tried it in their lives, but all of a sudden they want to wear that t shirt.

00;22;22;03 - 00;22;37;04
Jess
And yeah, that's so funny. And you're so right, a lower barrier to entry then It's very difficult to create a brand new brand these days. Why not, you know, leverage some of the equity from decades past and reinvent it in a new way? I love that. That's a great hot take. Thank you for that.

00;22;37;04 - 00;22;38;11
Danielle
Of course.

00;22;38;13 - 00;22;51;21
Jess
Okay, Danielle, we're going to move to the final dig. This is all about you as a person, as a consumer. So no right or wrong answers. You just give us the straight stuff. So what's the last product or service you bought on impulse?

00;22;51;24 - 00;23;10;22
Danielle
So this one's always funny because I'm I'm a marketer, so I know when I'm being marketed at and I also know when things are literally set up for impulse buys. And I still cave every single time. Any time there's a cool display in the grocery store, I will nine times out of ten buy from it. So and I also go grocery shopping hungry a lot.

00;23;10;22 - 00;23;29;21
Danielle
So it's not a great combination. So I usually what I emphasize in the sweets category and it's usually a type of twist on a product I love because I'm like, Oh wow, that's so interesting. I have to try it. So I know this past weekend I bought a Reese's Pieces stuffed Jumbo Reese's because it was like a twist on some stuff that I love.

00;23;29;22 - 00;23;42;29
Danielle
Wow. And then I bought the Ben Jerry's ice cream. Sami Ice cream. I love ice cream sandwiches. And I was like, That would be cool in an ice cream too. So usually like some fun, unexpected combination on a dessert.

00;23;43;01 - 00;23;58;25
Jess
Yeah. Yeah. Well, those are good ones. If you're going to impulse, buy something, make it really enjoyable like that. So I don't hate that. What is a category or brand or a product that you could rationalize any price point for? You just have to have it in your life.

00;23;58;28 - 00;24;16;13
Danielle
Yeah. So it's a very random one and another like not necessarily traditionally sexy category, but I feel like this brand has done a great job in making it really relevant for my lifestyle. So it's Fairlife milk. So this is a product I literally don't even look at the price. I just grab it because I'm so loyal to it.

00;24;16;13 - 00;24;39;08
Danielle
I was never really a milk drinker. I only use it in coffee, but I literally could never get through a milk jug before it expired. So I love that Fairlife has the freshness type protein. Naturally lactose free. And I honestly, it's like made me use milk even more. So this is it. It's a really cool product because it just it checks so many of those boxes in my life.

00;24;39;11 - 00;24;59;03
Jess
And that package design is so disruptive in that category. And I love that part of the story but yeah excellent excellent example Fairlife and this one's my favorite. We all know brands have distinct personalities. So what's a brand that you would like to date and what's a brand that you would love to marry?

00;24;59;05 - 00;25;23;11
Danielle
Yeah, I liked this question. It was one I had not thought of before, so you made me ponder and I thought it was a fun one. So I would probably say Oreo. So I love Oreo because it's it's always dependable. It's I've loved it since I was a child. It's been the consistent taste the entire time. And I know that if it's an Oreo, an ice cream or another dessert, I know I'm going to love it, but it's still there.

00;25;23;11 - 00;25;35;23
Danielle
Still always, constantly something new and exciting, whether it's one of the old heroes, whether it's a new flavor and you use education, it's like dependable but also keeps things interesting too, which I love.

00;25;35;25 - 00;25;41;22
Jess
So you would both date and marry Oreo Like this is the same brand that you're falling in love with and spending your life with.

00;25;41;23 - 00;25;51;16
Danielle
Exactly. Exactly. The adventurous spirit of all of the new different flavors would probably make me intrigued at the beginning. And then the dependability would would seal the deal.

00;25;51;18 - 00;25;59;29
Jess
Yeah. Yeah, that is a great one. I also am picking up on quite a sweet tooth.

00;26;01;00 - 00;26;04;24
Danielle
I've never actually worked on a sweets or desserts brand, so.

00;26;04;26 - 00;26;20;25
Jess
Maybe that's why we have sort of a fascination with it for the innovation and marketing standpoint. Yeah, well, given your roster of brands, I'm sure you will make your way around to a sweet at some point. And I can tell that you love what you do, but what do you love most about your job?

00;26;20;27 - 00;26;44;07
Danielle
So for me, I think one of the how I often describe my job for people who don't really know exactly what brand management is. And it's also the reason why I love it is I describe it as 50% marketing. So everything that goes into marketing from building brand foundations, propositions, advertising, consumer understanding, innovation, but then also 50% being the CEO of my businesses as well.

00;26;44;10 - 00;27;04;10
Danielle
And what I love with that balance is I can drive those short term results, see the impact of actions, but also have room to dream and sculpt the future for a lot of these brands too, and it lets you sculpt every different touchpoint for the brand. Obviously. Yes, there's that the consumer piece of what should this brand stand for?

00;27;04;10 - 00;27;35;11
Danielle
How should it communicate. But I mean, price point where it's shelved on shelf, that also is how a brand shows up for a consumer. So I love that. I get kind of that head in the clouds, but also feet on the ground kind of experience and in brand management and also makes it so I'm literally never bored because there's always something going on, whether it's it's far out brand strategy or closed in, how do we learn from the pandemic and adjust to consumer trends?

00;27;35;14 - 00;27;48;28
Jess
That's fantastic. And you’re just so thoughtful on what you've learned from these different experiences and tying them together. So I really enjoyed our conversation today. I know that our listeners have taken away some great lessons as well, so I really appreciate you being here and sharing your story.

00;27;49;03 - 00;27;58;17
Danielle
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I love talking about anything marketing, food and brand management related. So this this was a fun, fun afternoon discussion.

00;27;58;24 - 00;28;04;16
Jess
Excellent. Well, we'll have to have you back once you launch these new items so we can get the background story on them.

00;28;04;16 - 00;28;14;11
Danielle
Yeah, sounds great. Yeah. There will be a lot to share once the one big reveal happens for those items. So keep an eye on your Mexican section of your grocery store over the next few months.

00;28;14;14 - 00;28;24;23
Jess
I certainly will, I certainly will. Well, thank you so much for being here. And thank you, everyone, for tuning in to Dig In. We'll see you next time.

00;28;24;26 - 00;28;29;29
VO
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