In immediately’s fast-changing meals and beverage panorama, client expectations are evolving at lightning velocity. Well being-conscious decisions, digital discovery, and cultural storytelling are reshaping how manufacturers join and compete.
On this episode of The Velocity of Tradition, Matt Britton sits down with Linda Bethea, chief advertising officer at Danone North America, to unpack how manufacturers are navigating disruption within the meals and beverage business.
From the rise of GLP-1 medication to the creator financial system and AI-powered advertising, Linda shares how Danone is balancing science-backed credibility with cultural relevance.
She additionally reveals her “4 C’s” of management, curiosity, compassion, braveness, and conviction, and why brand-building fundamentals matter greater than ever.
At Danone, Linda oversees a various portfolio of iconic manufacturers, together with Oikos and Worldwide Delight, driving consumer-first methods that mix dietary science with cultural relevance. Beforehand, Linda spent years at PepsiCo and Diageo, sharpening her experience in gross sales, operations, and brand-building throughout international classes.
Recognized for her emphasis on credibility, client empathy, and daring creativity, Linda is shaping how the meals and beverage business responds to cultural disruption, well being traits, and new applied sciences like AI.
Take heed to Linda Bethea on The Velocity of Tradition to find how Danone North America is redefining health-driven advertising by innovation, conviction, and consumer-first management.
Key takeaways:
[01:08] – PepsiCo as a Coaching Floor: Linda displays on her early years at PepsiCo and Frito-Lay, the place she discovered the basics of gross sales, operations, and management. Publicity to PepsiCo’s direct-to-store supply system helped her perceive how execution fuels model success, whereas a three way partnership with Unilever gave her perspective on cross-cultural model constructing and class technique. She credit PepsiCo’s management packages and hands-on expertise with shaping the self-discipline, resilience, and broad ability set that proceed to information her immediately as a CMO.
[05:32] – Creators as Discovery Engines: The creator financial system is now not nearly leisure; it has turn into the primary cease for youthful customers in search of data, inspiration, and discovery. Linda explains how Gen Z typically turns to TikTok or Amazon as search engines like google, making creators a necessary touchpoint for recruitment. She particulars Danone’s Worldwide Delight marketing campaign, Creme Home, the place flavors have been remodeled into characters in a parody actuality sequence. By investing in creator-led storytelling whereas balancing conventional channels, Danone constructed genuine engagement and cultural credibility.
[09:59] – Diet Meets a New Shopper Actuality: GLP-1 weight reduction medication have modified how thousands and thousands of customers eat and store, creating new dietary gaps. Linda notes that almost 10% of People have used a GLP-1, with many struggling to keep up protein consumption, leading to muscle mass loss. Danone noticed a possibility to serve this unmet want with innovation rooted in science. The launch of Oikos Fusion, a cultured dairy drink designed particularly for GLP-1 customers, displays a forward-thinking method: assembly customers on the intersection of wellness, credibility, and comfort whereas increasing the model’s position in well being.
[13:38] – Simplifying Science Into Storytelling: For Danone, the problem isn’t simply having a nutrient-dense portfolio, however making its advantages accessible and comprehensible to on a regular basis customers. Linda highlights the significance of distilling advanced science into clear, motivating messages that drive selection on the shelf. Past packaging, Danone invests in retail media, together with PatientPoint’s digital screens in medical doctors’ workplaces, making certain credible, contextual messaging reaches folks contemplating weight-loss journeys. By combining science-backed diet with easy storytelling, Danone delivers readability in a cluttered data panorama.
[21:13] – Management By way of the 4 C’s: Linda shares the 4 C’s that information her management: curiosity, compassion, braveness, and conviction. For younger entrepreneurs, she stresses the worth of being endlessly interested in client conduct and compassionate sufficient to know wants that differ from their very own. Braveness, she notes, means embracing threat and studying from each the “wall of fame” and “wall of disgrace” moments. Conviction ensures decisiveness and path, enabling groups to rally round daring concepts. Her management mantra — “It doesn’t get simpler, however you get stronger” — captures the expansion mindset that defines her profession.
