BEYOND THE BRAND

How to transform a brand people already love | Michele Ricci | Head of Global Marketing | Nestlé Pure Life and local brands

You can get water from a tap for free. So why does anyone pay for a bottle? And why do some people pay more for one bottle over another? Michele Ricci is Head of Global Marketing for Nestlé Pure Life and local brands. He has spent 15 years working on Nesquik, San Pellegrino, and Buxton, in some of the most commoditised categories on the shelf. In this episode, Michele talks through how he moved Nesquik from a sugary kids' powder into a lower-sugar, fortified breakfast brand, and why Nestlé retargeted parents instead of doubling down on children. He explains the renaming of San Pellegrino's range from "sparkling fruit beverages" to "Italian sparkling drinks", and how that single naming decision opened up new opportunities, a more premium shelf, and a stronger Italian story. He also covers the Buxton x Mind "Sweat and Tears" platform, the London Marathon takeover, and the launch of Inspired by Buxton Peak, a new functional water now rolling out in UK retailers. In this episode: * Why premium is a language and an experience, with price doing less of the work than people assume * How to shift a 30-year brand perception without losing the loyal base * Why low-funnel experience and sampling now belong at the centre of brand building * How a brand purpose only sticks when it connects to a real human tension A useful listen for any marketer working with a brand in a category where the customer sees the product as interchangeable.

The content engine that keeps Heinz in every conversation | Karen Owen, Kraft Heinz

85% of Heinz's in-house content hits or beats the engagement rates their external agencies deliver. Karen Owen, Chief Growth Officer for Europe and Pacific at Kraft Heinz, built the team behind that. In this episode, she talks through the architecture of The Kitchen, Heinz's content studio now running across 4 continents, how it operates alongside external agencies rather than replacing them, and what it takes to keep a brand that has existed for 157 years part of cultural conversations while they're still happening. Karen Owen on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-owen-bb3b647/]

How to build a brand universe worth belonging to with Michael Edelmann, 111SKIN Ex. Dr. Barbara Sturm, Business of Fashion

In this episode, luxury marketing expert Michael Edelmann (CMO, 111SKIN. Ex. Dr. Barbara Sturm, Business of Fashion, Gucci) talks about what it takes to build a brand universe that people genuinely want to belong to, and why that matters for anyone managing a brand in FMCG. He explains how 111SKIN rebuilt its loyalty programme around belonging after realising that points and discounts were driving repeat purchases without creating any real community. That shift shaped everything from how they approach partnerships to how they think about influence. Michael walks through the Repairs Van activation, which landed because it was tied to a story, and how they amplified it digitally to reach customers who were nowhere near London. He also talks about why founder-led storytelling works when the founder has genuine, daily authority in their field. If you're a brand manager sitting between quarterly performance targets and long-term brand building, this episode gives you a practical framework for making the case that community compounds. Michael Edelmann on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-h-edelmann/]

How Headspace built a brand bulletproof enough for Disney and Netflix with Caroline Pay (Ex. Headspace, Mother, BBH, Grey)

In this episode, Caroline Pay (Ex. Headspace, Mother, BBH, Grey) discusses the creative layer that sits between a brief and the work that comes back, and why, in her experience, it is almost always missing. The brief lands with a designer. The thinking that should happen in between — the strategic and conceptual work that turns a problem into something distinctive — gets skipped. The result is work that looks like everything else, teams that can't move fast without losing quality, and brands that never quite compound. Caroline spent 20 years at agencies including Mother and BBH before becoming CCO at Headspace, where she built a brand system tight enough to hold its own against Disney, Netflix, Nike, and Spotify. She draws on that experience to explain what the missing layer is, how to build it, and why hiring a designer and calling it a creative team isn't the same. This episode is for every senior marketer who suspects their creative process is the problem but hasn't been able to name why. Caroline Pay on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-pay-928a9553/?originalSubdomain=uk]

From “Good old Boots” to 10 quarters of market share growth with Peter Markey (Ex. Boots, TSB, Aviva, Post Office)

In this episode, Peter Markey talks about life as a CMO of a heritage brand and the need to adapt. Consumers change, categories mature, and competitors want to take your hard-earned market share. At the same time, your brand only grows if it stands for something clear and consistent. Pete draws on his time leading marketing at Boots, TSB, Aviva and the Post Office to explain how to manage that in large organisations. He shares how strong marketing leaders can take advantage of all that heritage, but also build for the future. They make deliberate choices about what stays constant and what genuinely needs to evolve. A fascinating episode for anyone interested in peering into the mind of one of the best marketers in modern retail. Peter Markey on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/petermarkey/]