#130 What is a CMO? With Erin Fasano (Core Foods)
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of Startup GPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff is joined by Erin Fasano, the chief marketing officer at Core Foods with over two decades of experience in the CPG industry, and delves into the intricacies of marketing for food and beverage brands, while trying to explain the question “what is a CMO?” With a focus on emerging brands, Erin emphasizes the pivotal role of a CMO and advises aspiring marketers to start at classic CPG companies before venturing into smaller enterprises.
Discover the keys to success, including building strong relationships with retailers like Whole Foods and Target, crafting comprehensive marketing plans aligned with sales activities, and prioritizing owned platforms for long-term brand identity. Plus, gain insights on effective consumer feedback utilization, brand partnerships, navigating the competitive landscape, and understand why retail distribution often trumps direct-to-consumer channels for heavy and perishable products and unravel the strategies for success in competitive categories.
Ready to turn heads in the market? Hit play now!
What Erin talks about:
- Joining Core Foods and Transition to CMO Role
- Starting of Erin’s Own Brand - Starryside
- Challenges and Lessons
- Marketing Strategy and Planning
- Retail and Shopper Marketing
- Aligning DTC with Trade Programming
- Social Media and Authenticity
- Consumer Input and Product Development
- Consumer Input on Pricing
- Approach to D2C vs. Retail
- Consulting and Collaboration
Episode Links:
Core Food’s Website
Erin's LinkedIn
Grab Erin's FREE Marketing Calendar Template here!
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Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Marketing is a little bit of an art. And I think sometimes with the focus, with the amount of |
| 0:14.4 | data you can extract, like the Roas and the Kack and the, how efficient can we get and how much |
| 0:18.8 | can we extract for like the one penny we want to spend |
| 0:21.2 | and how many dollars can we get? I think sometimes we lose a little bit of the forest through |
| 0:24.8 | the trees and I love to just try to like remind people like sometimes doing branding really |
| 0:30.8 | does help. Hello my dearest CPGers. This episode is an absolute goldmine with my friend Aaron Fasano. |
| 0:40.5 | One of the things that I love to do on this podcast is to highlight the kind of people that I've come |
| 0:45.0 | across who I think can be game changers of brands. And I think that our listeners are really going to |
| 0:49.6 | hear in this episode why Aaron is that exact kind of person you should look out for. She has the big CPG skill |
| 0:55.8 | set, but she is in a lofty Pinterest mood boarder. She's honed her big time skills in the |
| 1:01.8 | emerging brand world and is an action-oriented marketer. She is in the trenches with the sales |
| 1:07.2 | and operations teams. And for that reason, she's really the best kind of person to |
| 1:11.3 | explain to all of us what does a CMO actually do or what should they do, as well as giving |
| 1:17.1 | great marketing tips for early brands. I hope you get as much out of this as I did. Enjoy. |
| 1:25.1 | Welcome to the Startup CPG podcast. Today, I am thrilled to have Aaron Fasano, my friend, a season marketer with over 20 years of experience in a decade in CPG. |
| 1:35.0 | So from her early days in marketing rising through the ranks, including seven years in marketing at Dull Foods at Classic CPG, |
| 1:42.0 | up to starting her own brand and being CMO or chief marketing officer |
| 1:46.0 | at Core Foods, she has been at the forefront of driving innovation and growth in the emerging |
| 1:50.6 | CPG world. |
| 1:51.9 | One of her greatest joys professionally I know is helping small brands flourish, particularly |
| 1:56.6 | at retail giants like Whole Foods and Target. |
| 1:59.2 | She is a skew mentor, and I'm also really proud to say |
... |
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