00;00;02;23 - 00;00;18;02
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;04 - 00;00;41;18
Jess
Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Dig In podcast. I'm Jess Gaedeke and I'm going to begin today with a pun that I imagine will make our guest roll her eyes because she's probably heard it tons of times. But I am STōKd to be chatting today with Brittney Polka, vice president of beverages at Danone, which includes Evian, International Delight Iced Coffee, and yes, the STōK brand.

00;00;41;19 - 00;00;43;25
Jess
But I am so happy to have you here today, Brittney.

00;00;43;29 - 00;00;47;04
Brittney
Thanks, Jess. I am really thrilled to be with you. Thank you so much.

00;00;47;05 - 00;00;50;11
Jess
Yeah. Let's start with you telling listeners a little bit about your background.

00;00;50;15 - 00;01;15;06
Brittney
Thank you. Yeah. So I've been in the world of marketing since maybe 2010, I guess I’ll round for myself to not give away my age quite too much but I graduated from business school at U Chicago and I started my marketing career at Mars. So I spent I spent a few years there working at Confections Brands, entered the world of the NFL via Skittles.

00;01;15;06 - 00;01;37;19
Brittney
I had the time of my life, but then I joined Danone in 2016, moved to sunny Colorado and started at Danone. I've worked on many brands within the Danone portfolio, of which we have many. You’re exactly right, I'm now working on our Ready to Drink Beverages business, which includes the three brands that you mentioned and specifically here and excited to talk about

00;01;37;20 - 00;02;07;07
Brittney
STōK Cold Brew. STōK Cold Beer has been such a fun brand to work on, very different in its life stage. It's somewhat new compared to many, many food brands out there in the world. So only about seven years old as a brand. So I've been on the brand actually multiple times in different capacities. Now, running it as the vice president, which has been a ton of fun, but it's one of the fastest growing and now largest ready to drink coffee brands in the space.

00;02;07;07 - 00;02;14;00
Brittney
And so we have a lot of room to continue to grow. But it's been it's been a wild ride and a really fun one, especially this year.

00;02;14;01 - 00;02;27;16
Jess
Well, I'm very excited to get into that through your story here in just a moment. But first, I want to throw just an impromptu question at you to get things going. So if you could have an unlimited supply of anything for the rest of your life, what would it be?

00;02;27;18 - 00;02;50;08
Brittney
Oh my, unlimited supply. I mean, honestly, I'm I'm tempted to say cold brew because I am the mother of two very young children and coffee is keeping me alive. But that would be no fun because we're going to talk about cold brew so much. So I guess I would say under eye cream, I am not getting as much sleep as I typically would.

00;02;50;08 - 00;03;10;29
Brittney
So I was like, What else helps me other than caffeine? You know, I am, my form of self-care these days is anything that's part of my nighttime routine and skincare. And I just love the way like a nice mask or cucumber cream or anything like that feels at the end of the day. So I would love an endless supply.

00;03;10;29 - 00;03;11;21
Brittney
That's pretty pricey.

00;03;11;21 - 00;03;32;27
Jess
So that's amazing. No, I love that answer. And this idea of skin care being this form of self-care. I have a 14 year old daughter who she's all dialed in with her skincare and she's when she does sleepovers at her friend's house. I kind of joke now you guys aren’t going to sneak out, are you? And she says, Mommy, after we've done our skin care, the last thing we want to do is like, go back outside.

00;03;32;29 - 00;03;49;00
Brittney
Honestly what I would not give. Nobody was talking to us about skin care. I wish they had been when I was 14 because I can't even imagine where I would be from my youthfulness standpoint at this point if someone had done that. So you're doing the world a service.

00;03;49;03 - 00;03;52;11
Jess
And I feel good about that. Thank you.

00;03;52;17 - 00;03;53;14
Brittney
Yeah.

00;03;53;17 - 00;04;13;15
Jess
Okay. Well, let's let's dig in. You know, we love to hear stories from leaders. We think that that's one of the best ways to get inspiration. So we know that you are integral in the development of this sponsorship program for the STōK brand and the Wrexham AFC. And it's such a cool story. So can you tell me about how that idea originated?

00;04;13;15 - 00;04;15;21
Jess
What inspired that idea?

00;04;15;23 - 00;04;39;08
Brittney
Thank you. Yeah. You know, STōK as a brand is one that I've wanted to put on a really big stage for some time now, given its size and scope, it's still one of the smaller brands in the total Danone portfolio, which is saying a lot. We have a lot of very big brands, but I've always wanted STōK to try to do things differently.

00;04;39;08 - 00;04;59;04
Brittney
There's kind of a model of how to do marketing and in most large CPGs, you kind of have a pedigree of how things are done. And in my past experience, I really had the benefit before coming to the company of seeing the value in both, you know, more of a traditional media model as well as what you really could get out of the urban space.

00;04;59;04 - 00;05;23;26
Brittney
And so when I briefed the agency, we have our own internal agency called Harvest, I briefed our internal agency to bring us an idea that would strap STōK to a rocket ship, essentially find a way to be part of culture and something exciting and culture that's going on that's way bigger than whatever we are as a brand. So really a different model than the kind of typical push

00;05;23;26 - 00;05;50;05
Brittney
one. The cultural excitement around Wrexham AFC is clearly very much attached to the documentary, “Welcome to Wrexham”, as well as the celebrity co-chairmen. But soccer in general is really making huge headway in the United States as a sport that people are suddenly starting to care about. Shows like Ted Lasso, which is one of my personal favorites, you know, really bringing not just soccer but UK soccer to the forefront.

00;05;50;07 - 00;06;11;04
Brittney
And so we saw lots of ideas for what it would mean to this rocket ship we were looking for. But we recognized that it was a brand that can do things differently and be part of a thing that's maybe not a natural fit. Soccer and cold brew. Not necessarily exactly what you think of, but the ability to bring in something that people suddenly care about.

00;06;11;04 - 00;06;31;01
Brittney
In addition to the community of Wrexham, the people involved in Wrexham. It is such a beautiful story and it just feels good. So in addition to meaningful earned media, it feels good to be part of it and that's something I hope to get in everything that I do from now on in my career.

00;06;31;03 - 00;06;49;23
Jess
Well, it's good you've set the bar now that you want to feel this meaningful and have it be rewarding work. And I'm sure that the creative was so fun to work through. In fact, the the commercial that sort of introduces it and you have the soccer players where they've snuck in the cold brew to replace their tea and how they kind of like lose their minds over it.

00;06;49;23 - 00;07;08;11
Jess
It's so funny. So yeah, that juxtaposition must have been fun to play with. So, you know, when you think about this this program and this sponsorship, did you kind of use any new approaches or frameworks to develop that initiative? Because it's not easy to strap a rocket ship to a brand, and so you had to have done something kind of different.

00;07;08;14 - 00;07;32;04
Brittney
Yeah, Yeah. The number of times now that I've heard the phrase lightning in a bottle or something like that, I've been very privileged to get to hear that a few times in my career. Supposedly, lightning is not something you can capture in a bottle, but it's happened a few times. Well, yeah, the style of marketing and certainly a new tool, a new approach for sure.

00;07;32;07 - 00;08;15;24
Brittney
You know, the goal is to move at the speed of culture, which is very difficult to do. It's incredibly hard to anticipate. It's really new to us at Danone certainly. And I think it's really the the way of modern marketing. I think that's where we're all headed. I think the more and more that consumers can see something from a brand that feels like it's already part of something that they've given a piece of their heart or mind to, instead of sort of forcing a branded message to them in a in a traditional push model is really a new tool and approach in the grand scheme of how long marketing has been around. Maximum Effort is

00;08;15;27 - 00;08;42;12
Brittney
Ryan Reynolds’ agency. We've had the privilege of working with them through all of the activations we've been doing this year with Wrexham AFC. They're a best in class agency partner and if anybody knows culture, it is Maximum Effort. And so they I think as you sort of just navigate the world as a as a human being, you're probably exposed to things that they somehow were part of without even really realizing it.

00;08;42;14 - 00;09;18;06
Brittney
So we've been really lucky to get to work with them and to see how their minds work and to be part of that again. I did get the experience when I was working on Skittles many, many years ago. We were a very traditional NFL partner. We of course, had paid media, Super Bowl ads and things like that. But the power of some of the things we did in earned media around Skittles and Marshawn Lynch really proved to me that that model of chasing the the the culture and chasing what people care about outside of traditional advertising is really one that could work for a lot of brands.

00;09;18;09 - 00;09;21;14
Jess
I have to ask, so have you met Ryan Reynolds through this work?

00;09;21;16 - 00;09;29;10
Brittney
I have, Yes, I have. And you know, how honored could I possibly be that the co-chairmen are lovely people.

00;09;29;12 - 00;09;42;26
Jess
That's amazing. Love to be a fly on the wall in those those meetings. So this couldn't have been easy. You must have had some setbacks or some barriers that you faced as you were bringing this program to bear. Did you have to pivot at any point?

00;09;42;27 - 00;10;10;05
Brittney
Yeah. I mean, let's be honest on paper, this seems like a pretty crazy idea. Take US based Cold Brew brand, sponsor a team in the U.K. in a tiny town in Wales where we don't sell our product. We don't even sell it overseas in any capacity, certainly not in Wrexham and then sponsor the oldest international soccer stadium that's never had a brand name on it.

00;10;10;07 - 00;10;40;18
Brittney
You know, it doesn't exactly sound on paper like the kind of thing that's going to move product. You know, that's not not a really obvious partnership. So there was plenty of education needed to explain how we believed we were going to break that kind of traditional marketing model of not just traditional paid media, but again, to advertise your brand actively in a country where you don't sell your product doesn't make a lot of sense unless you really explain it.

00;10;40;19 - 00;11;12;27
Brittney
So the strategy was really bridging that gap for people. Who is Wrexham AFC in the hearts and minds of American culture? What are they becoming? What what do we foresee is the potential behind the documentary and the story they're telling? My brand book for STōK was not built on soccer or sports partnerships of any kind. So really it did take multiple iterations of explaining why the link, what is it?

00;11;12;27 - 00;11;46;10
Brittney
What is it about the brand strategy that actually links it to this sport, to this particular audience, to this team? Because it's so much more than a typical team or sport sponsorship. And that was an education that that took time and it took iterations on itself. But I think everyone saw post the launch moment just how big it could be, not just for the brand but to bring Wrexham into the fold in a in American culture has been something that's been really important to us in terms of additional ways that we can help them

00;11;46;10 - 00;11;47;11
Brittney
storytell as well.

00;11;47;14 - 00;11;55;18
Jess
Yeah, and for those that maybe haven't seen the documentary or aren't as familiar with Wrexham, what what are some of those ties to the brand strategy? How have you made that connection?

00;11;55;19 - 00;12;20;14
Brittney
Yeah, you know, the STōK tone of voice is really one about calling it like we see it. Once upon a time we kind of used the internal tagline “Have No Chill”, which was a play on words. Obviously being a cold coffee that's generally served over ice. Having no chill though for us was never about an energy boost necessarily, but more like a state of mind.

00;12;20;17 - 00;12;43;23
Brittney
The notion of being part of things that maybe aren't so obvious on their surface, but the willingness to say it how it is to make bold moves. That's something we talk about a lot. It showed up in some of the quotes and headlines that were made after the fact, quoting me, talking about bold moves. But, you know, STōK as a product is a very bold, very smooth product.

00;12;43;25 - 00;13;15;09
Brittney
It is cold brew coffee at its core. That's what we are. It's what we stand for. But I think the sense of humor around the way the story is being told of Wrexham, frankly, there's a little bit of self-deprecation that felt very much like us. So you mentioned the launch moment. In addition to the sponsoring this team, the creative itself involved the players being appalled that they were served cold brew coffee instead of tea and smashing it on the floor of their dressing room.

00;13;15;11 - 00;13;35;20
Brittney
Who does that? You know, you're you're selling food and you're saying, yeah, I'm going to buy in to the idea that the people consuming it will be so mad that they were served our product that they smashed on the floor. But I think that that ability to see the world through a little bit of a self-deprecating or self-aware lens felt really right.

00;13;35;20 - 00;14;02;02
Brittney
Because if you, you know, for those who've not seen the documentary, they're very honest about what they're doing and why they're there. And the team itself is is a really lovely and just beautiful group of people and story, and they care so deeply about it, but they're willing to kind of laugh at themselves. And I think that just looks like such a natural fit for STōK.

00;14;02;04 - 00;14;11;19
Jess
Yeah, it's a great personification of the brand when it can come to life like that. So when did you know it was a success, what was your milestone and said this was a this was a win?

00;14;11;22 - 00;14;33;22
Brittney
Yeah, I mean, truthfully, I hope that the finish line is not even close. Here we are. We're all in on this partnership and we continue to find really fun ways to be part of the story that's being told there. But after kicking it off, we continue to see really great growth for the brand. The Ready to Drink coffee category has slowed a bit.

00;14;33;25 - 00;14;57;08
Brittney
It's not been around all that long versus other food categories, certainly quite young. But in grocery, in mass and very, very traditional retail, the category itself has slowed a bit, but circus continue to really drive category growth. So I think I said many years ago when I was on the brand, the very first time that I thought all it would take was a bit of awareness.

00;14;57;10 - 00;15;19;14
Brittney
I was like, We have great repeat. People love this product. I feel so proud. I mean, every marketer hopes to say this, and sometimes you will, even when it's not exactly 100% true. But I'm so proud to work on this brand. I am personally a consumer of it, and was before I ever worked on it. I, as I said, I consume quite a bit of coffee myself.

00;15;19;17 - 00;15;41;10
Brittney
My husband loved the brand before he realized it was a known brand. It's really just a great it's a great product. So we already had a really nice thing going. The the business was always was already going quite well, but I can honestly say when rocket ship happened. What's going for the brand right now, especially relative to the rest of the category, is really incredible to see.

00;15;41;10 - 00;15;52;15
Brittney
So there's something really special about putting something out in the world and then seeing results from it right away. You don't always get that as a marketer. So that's been a tremendous amount of fun.

00;15;52;20 - 00;16;02;17
Jess
So what would you say is your biggest takeaway? Because there's like dozens of lessons that are littered through that story. But what's your kind of one big takeaway point?

00;16;02;20 - 00;16;30;06
Brittney
You know, I guess I would say risk taking is is perhaps a little bit of a lame way to say it. We made some bold moves. I think that it really was about following our hearts in some ways. And that's just not something that you're always encouraged to do as marketers. You know, we're also just running the business.

00;16;30;08 - 00;16;55;15
Brittney
You know, I'll go out of the conversation about something and raw materials and supply chain and move directly in to talking about a piece of creative that's going out there. And, you know, you're kind of all over the place. But to be what I want for my team, what I want for my team as well as any of the agency partners we work with, is to follow our hearts and some of this be willing certainly to take risks, but really to have some fun.

00;16;55;18 - 00;17;18;18
Brittney
One of the partnerships that we've gained through this additional sponsorship is a partnership with Men in Blazers, who's an incredible media partner. They really are doing such awesome stuff in this space of storytelling around soccer and specifically bringing in that storytelling to the US. It's really quite nascent compared to the rest of the world who apparently cared about soccer forever.

00;17;18;20 - 00;17;47;02
Brittney
So they're doing an incredible job. We we were like, How do we help not just STōK, not just Wrexham, but help be part of this storytelling that's going around the US now about the sport and find heart in it. Find fun in it. And that's what they're doing. You know, they don't when they interview players or managers or whomever in the space, they're looking for that human story and it just feels good to be part of it.

00;17;47;02 - 00;18;06;13
Brittney
It feels good to help them do that storytelling. And even if the direct link to what that's going to mean for STōK sales on the other side is a little bit harder to get at than your typical, you know, marketing mix model and what that might drive for you. I knew it felt good and the partnership and relationships that we’re building along the way.

00;18;06;20 - 00;18;17;01
Brittney
I just want each one to feel like it's iterative and like better than the last. And we're building a nice little family here as part of this Wrexham story, and I'm just super proud of it.

00;18;17;04 - 00;18;36;20
Jess
That's awesome. That's such a fulfilling way to to be part of a marketing leadership role. It's fantastic. So let's turn to you as a thought leader in your industry, in your organization. What's one of your more controversial or passionate opinions about the state of brand building or innovation today?

00;18;36;23 - 00;18;55;05
Brittney
Yeah, I mean, I've talked a lot about how I feel about a traditional marketing model versus the power of earned media and moving at the speed of culture and stuff like that. But I guess I would say, you know, working in I've always worked in food, so in once I once I got into the world of marketing, I worked at food CPG.

00;18;55;05 - 00;19;22;04
Brittney
So that's what I've done. And I think there is a genuine obsession over the next the next innovation or the the shiny, shiny new object. We've grown every brand that I can think of has grown tremendously. When you really can come up with a state of the art innovation new to the world, sometimes I think it's recognizing what you already have.

00;19;22;07 - 00;20;02;19
Brittney
I often, when pressed to come up with a really bold new innovation pipeline for ready to drink coffee, feel the need to pause and remind people that cold coffee is sold in a retail environment that you bring into your home is a revolution. That is that is innovation. While it's been around for us now, you know STōK is a seven year old brand, International Delight Iced Coffee is a bit older even than that in the grand scheme of things, the idea of cold coffee at all, first of all, but cold coffee that you consume at home is quite innovative.

00;20;02;21 - 00;20;24;01
Brittney
That is not something while t's constantly growing and changing. It's still very new and recognizing what you have, I think is important and, you know, trying to do one thing really well before you jump to the next innovation or the next big new thing, I think is something that a lot of brands could benefit from.

00;20;24;03 - 00;20;42;27
Jess
Yeah, I love that. At Dig Insights we really believe that innovation is any change that a brand makes with the intent to shift decisions in your favor. So that certainly can be things like breakthrough new product launches, but it can be other changes in how you position, how you message, how you price all your assortment, all those things.

00;20;43;00 - 00;21;02;08
Jess
So I'm with you and I think that cold brew is still a new, new to the world product in a lot of ways. So yeah, don't, don't feel like you need the next shiny object just yet. Are you leveraging any new tools or approaches or frameworks in your work that you think have had a big impact?

00;21;02;11 - 00;21;50;08
Brittney
You know, I think I have to go back to what I said about the new approach really being found in Wrexham. It's not about the sponsorship necessarily or the partnership, but I do think that attempting to storytell by attaching yourself to things that are already happening is not easy to do. Certainly everybody wants to be part of culture and conversation and be relevant, but the thing that all brands are trying to do but, you know, I think a willingness to give up what might be the spotlight to that other thing, whatever that is, and ensure that you're building a stage big enough for you both or for all of you, if there is multiple parties

00;21;50;08 - 00;22;09;19
Brittney
involved, like, you know, that approach to marketing and thinking about storytelling is something that is a form of entertainment for people, is what I think is a new tool and approach in the world. And again, I think a lot of there are brands out there doing this very well. So this is not brand new information for those brands.

00;22;09;19 - 00;22;32;15
Brittney
But I think on the whole, especially in my in my world of food marketing, there's still quite a bit of just like build the perfect ad or the, you know, the perfect thing instead of a willingness again, to give the stage to more than just yourself, but also to do it in a way that's not so polished, not so perfect, really be creative

00;22;32;15 - 00;22;55;06
Brittney
led, an idea led and let it shine for what it is versus, you know, trying so hard to perfect this thing. And instead, if you thought about it like entertainment, I think that most people anymore are more willing to absorb what's clearly branded content if it feels like it enriches their life in some manner, if it makes them laugh, it makes them feel something.

00;22;55;09 - 00;22;59;16
Brittney
And I think that stuff is better when it's not pretty and perfect.

00;22;59;18 - 00;23;14;17
Jess
Yeah, that's more human that way. Absolutely. I'm with you and, you know, kind of rounding out the section. What's your hot take then on the industry they operate in, whether that is ready to drink beverages or cold brew in particular. What's your hot take, no pun intended.

00;23;14;20 - 00;23;39;15
Brittney
Yeah, hot take is that it's cold coming in. You know, cold coffee in general I think is... make no doubt about it. There is more and more of it in the world of coffee as a whole. But bigger than that, you know, if you if you tinker around any bit in a social environment, you see we've referred to it as the fourth wave of coffee.

00;23;39;18 - 00;24;00;20
Brittney
That's just a good way of a company making something that they see in the world into a phrase that can be used. But, you know, the personalization of coffee at home is massive and, you know, of course, you want to stay on top of industry trends and what's going on in Coffee House has a major impact on what you might see in the store.

00;24;00;23 - 00;24;30;08
Brittney
But the idea I mean, STōK in particular, really has benefited from this fourth wave of coffee and personalization in that we're mostly sold in 48 ounces were mostly black unsweetened coffee. That's the vast majority of our business. Various roast levels for taste, that's the perfect palate or canvas, rather, for someone else's personalization. And I think that's why we've benefited so much from it.

00;24;30;08 - 00;24;57;15
Brittney
Is to make a delicious, smooth product that is a perfect canvas for what you want it to be. And I think, you know, frankly, the pandemic affected a lot of in-home consumption of probably many, many things, but certainly of coffee. And we've seen a lot of that stick. And so to be part of that is a lot of fun, I think, or it's fun to work on a product that people really love consuming and they don't just need to.

00;24;57;15 - 00;25;16;05
Brittney
But that feels part of the positive part of their day, a bit of entertainment, a bit of personalization, you know, I know that's a hot take so much as I don’t drink a whole lot of hot coffee myself anymore. And it's not just that I work on STōK, I just think it's kind of the way of it. So I'm eager to see how much it's able to take over the world.

00;25;16;07 - 00;25;21;22
Jess
And I loved you mentioned, you know, coffee as part of your enjoyment, part of this, and for you it's survival, right?

00;25;22;00 - 00;25;22;27
Brittney
Hahah yes.

00;25;22;29 - 00;25;23;07
Jess
As a mother of young ones.

00;25;23;07 - 00;25;23;25
Brittney
Yeah, thanks.

00;25;23;25 - 00;25;38;04
Jess
Checks a lot of boxes in our lives. Okay. Let's move to the final dig. This is all about you as a consumer, so you can take off your your professional hat if you wish here. But what's the last product or service you bought on impulse?

00;25;38;06 - 00;26;02;20
Brittney
Most recently, I spent a fair amount of time on TikTok which I'll say a fair amount of my very limited free time. I see a lot of influencer content about self-care as we discussed at the top. So the last thing I can remember buying on pure Impulse was like literally clicking the link at the bottom of the page for a lip stain bright red.

00;26;02;27 - 00;26;22;20
Brittney
I've never been a big like full face and makeup kind of person, but I find and I think there's something in here for Taylor Swift, if I have to say, her Red Lip has like, entered my brain in a way that that really just got me. So I bought a lip stain. I bought a, same influencer,

00;26;22;22 - 00;26;37;13
Brittney
they can link multiple products, so I bought lip stain, I bought the lip liner. There was also some sort of like under eye concealer of some kind in that list. But I bought the whole thing. I was like, Give me the whole package. But the lip stain really stands out for me because I've never been a big lipstick wearer.

00;26;37;13 - 00;26;40;03
Brittney
But I've worn it several times and.

00;26;40;05 - 00;26;42;01
Jess
I was going to ask how that worked out.

00;26;42;03 - 00;26;43;06
Brittney
I actually really loved it.

00;26;43;08 - 00;26;44;01
Jess
Did you get the courage to put it on?

00;26;44;03 - 00;27;02;26
Brittney
Yeah, I loved it, so I got it. It was right before our company event, a big leadership team meeting in Dallas just a few weeks ago and expected to get fancy and and dress up. And I was like, well, I'd better up my makeup game. It's been a minute. I'm like, usually in front of my computer. I have to do so much.

00;27;02;28 - 00;27;14;19
Brittney
So it's fun. But like last night, you know, so I took a little bit of a rest. I mean, I didn't even try it before that night. This influencer really got me.

00;27;14;22 - 00;27;19;14
Jess
Well, I love Taylor Swift is like a visual cue that's now embedded in your in your psyche.

00;27;19;14 - 00;27;25;24
Brittney
So, I mean, her red lip is Time’s Person of the year now. Her red lip is really everywhere. Everywhere.

00;27;25;26 - 00;27;32;29
Jess
Name a category or brand that you could really rationalize any price point for.

00;27;33;02 - 00;28;02;22
Brittney
So as I said, I have two young children. I have a, she just turned five James, my daughter James and my son 17 months yesterday. So, you know, I think in the world of rationalizing price points, I'll kinda have to say all baby stuff. You're in a mode where you know, you really could say if someone tells you that's the secret unlocked or whatever it is, you're going to do it.

00;28;02;25 - 00;28;29;08
Brittney
And I feel very privileged to be able to say that. But, you know, you really you're some of your weakest point right after having a child. And so we've tried it all. Luckily, my my kids are quite good sleepers. But I would say there were moments where price was not even a consideration if it comes to rationalizing better sleep or something that you're somehow convinced that they really need.

00;28;29;10 - 00;28;33;14
Brittney
It's not hard to convince a brand new mom, in my experience.

00;28;33;14 - 00;28;34;06
Jess
No, you’re ready to throw money at that problem.

00;28;34;06 - 00;28;36;29
Brittney
Yeah.

00;28;37;02 - 00;28;53;11
Jess
And we've been talking a lot about the brand personality for STōK. And so brand personality is certainly a thing. It's palpable. So what's a brand that you would love to date and maybe what's a brand that you would love to marry? And they may or may not be the same brand.

00;28;53;13 - 00;29;14;18
Brittney
It's been a minute since I've had to think about this, and I did struggle a little bit, I think, because I myself think that I am a person who, you know, I like to have fun. I don't take myself too, too seriously. I work hard. But I you know, I as I said, I really try to find the humor in a thing and a humanism.

00;29;14;20 - 00;29;33;10
Brittney
And it's kind of hard to see that in a brand these days, like really get to the heart of who they are. But, you know, I think I do a fair a fair amount of making up a personality in my head for certain things. So one that came to mind, speaking of baby things that I could rationalize any price point for was UPPAbaby.

00;29;33;12 - 00;30;03;22
Brittney
So I got the whole thing like the stroller and everything that goes along with it. But in particular there is when the winter comes, they have a thing that you put inside the stroller called a cozy ganoosh, which is literally a baby sleeping bag that has fleece on the inside. But everything about UPPAbaby, the way that they present and name the various components of these things really does make you feel like I'm doing this right, like cozy ganoosh?

00;30;03;22 - 00;30;23;11
Brittney
I'm like, Sign me up, I pushed my son around in that thing and whenever he's zipped up in this cozy, you know, you have people on the street saying like, that's a good rider. What I wouldn't give to be him. It just feels nice. It feels nice and it feels cozy. And I was like, I could use a little bit of that in my life, like extra coziness.

00;30;23;11 - 00;30;47;10
Brittney
So I think I have to go straight to marry for that because I just want to live in a state of cozy and it's made me feel really good. But, you know, I've had the privilege to again be a little bit in the world of lots of other brands. I like a nice little handful of brands who become a family of sorts surrounding them.

00;30;47;13 - 00;31;08;14
Brittney
And I've just been really impressed by the the marketing and again, like kind of tone of voice around some of those things. So I have to say, you know, Aviation Gin. That'd be a fun brand to date. They don't take themselves too seriously and it just feels like the kind of the kind of fun that I want to be having.

00;31;08;14 - 00;31;10;20
Brittney
So yeah, Aviation Gin.

00;31;10;23 - 00;31;16;12
Jess
That's a really good one. So finally, what keeps you inspired in your job every day?

00;31;16;14 - 00;31;34;16
Brittney
I am just having so much fun again. I say again, I mean, the truth is there was a point in my career very, very early in my career when I was working on Skittles NFL program and someone who shall not be named but who was very senior to me, met me at the Super Bowl.

00;31;34;16 - 00;31;59;18
Brittney
And he said, I just want you to know this is it. Like this is this is your peak. You know, it's never going to get better than this. And he wasn't wrong that it was a beautiful moment for the brand. And I felt really personally inspired by the work that I was doing. And I felt really at the center of the work that was happening, which you don't always get to in a big company right.

00;31;59;21 - 00;32;21;10
Brittney
But he was wrong that I peaked. I think, you know, I was able to say this to a roomful of people immediately following the STōK and Wrexham launch, which was Don't let anyone tell you that this is the peak. But what I will say is having now been through many peaks and valleys in my career, this one feels especially good.

00;32;21;13 - 00;32;45;25
Brittney
And I have to say I was looking at a room full of women for whatever reason. It's just, you know, the brand team, my extended team, our internal agency team. We are a group of incredible powerhouse women. It just happens to be right now. And I think, you know, we're all uplifting each other in this way that feels so positive right now.

00;32;45;25 - 00;33;11;01
Brittney
And every time we extend that a bit to another partner, if it's Maximum Effort, if it's Wrexham AFC, if it's Men in Blazers, we're further expanding on, you know, this notion of doing something that feels fun and that feels happy and that feels good and respecting each other and respecting the work in a way that I just I haven't felt that pure about it in a long time.

00;33;11;01 - 00;33;28;23
Brittney
So that's going to keep me inspired for some time. I hope to stay on this brand for longer than I mean, I already this is the longest I've ever sat in a single role in my marketing career, which is odd because it hasn't been that long. But I hope to see this one out for quite a bit longer.

00;33;28;25 - 00;33;40;20
Jess
I love that you use the word pure there. When you have that type of pure experience and you're experiencing joy, it sounds like it looks like and delivering results. So I don't think there's anything better than that. So that's wonderful.

00;33;40;22 - 00;34;05;26
Brittney
I agree. I sometimes say it's it's a tough time to be experiencing such a career high again, I have two young kids. My life in one word, someone asked me the other day, I was like, complicated, That's a non-answer. But that's how it feels, right? Like, I'm constantly pulled in in many directions and I'm learning how to be that, how to be all those things at the same time.

00;34;05;28 - 00;34;23;08
Brittney
So it’s a little bit of a blessing and a curse to have this high point happening right now in my career. But I imagine there's some reason for it, you know, to get to find joy in my job again and to feel so passionate about it is a real gift. So I'm not taking it lightly. And I hope that we can keep building on it.

00;34;23;08 - 00;34;29;07
Brittney
And it's certainly not the last you'll see of STōK and Wrexham. I think very big things on the horizon.

00;34;29;10 - 00;34;45;14
Jess
That's awesome. We can't wait to see that. And thank you so much for sharing the gift with us. The story has been really inspiring and also informative and hopefully gave our listeners a few more things to think about in their own business. So I really appreciate you being here today. Brittney. Thanks so much for joining us once again.

00;34;45;16 - 00;34;48;29
Brittney
Thank you, Jess.

00;34;49;01 - 00;34;54;05
VO
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