Matthew Graham CMO at Mars’ Food & Nutrition on Balancing Heritage and Innovation

Summary

Brave Commerce Episode Summary: Matthew Graham, CMO at Mars’ Food & Nutrition on Balancing Heritage and Innovation

Release Date: November 19, 2024

Introduction

In this compelling episode of Brave Commerce, hosted by Rachel Tipograph, Founder & CEO of MikMak, and Sarah Hofstetter, President of Profitero, the spotlight shines on Matthew Graham, Chief Marketing Officer at Mars Food & Nutrition. Graham delves into the intricate balance between honoring Mars' rich heritage and driving innovation within the rapidly evolving eCommerce landscape.

Balancing Heritage and Innovation

00:01:19 - Matthew Graham opens by highlighting Mars' deep-rooted legacy in the food and nutrition sector. Despite being widely recognized for its confectionery brands, Mars Food & Nutrition is expanding its footprint with over 2,000 associates across 30 markets. Graham emphasizes the company's mission: “Better food today, better world tomorrow,” underscoring a commitment to delivering flavorful and nutritious meal solutions that respond to modern consumer needs.

Strategic Acquisitions and Brand Growth

00:05:10 - Graham discusses strategic acquisitions, notably Kevin's Natural Foods, which has achieved a remarkable 50% year-over-year growth in 2024. This acquisition exemplifies Mars' strategy to enhance its portfolio with brands that prioritize health and convenience. He states, “We are very committed to the food and nutrition industry, but equally making sure we supply and provide our consumers with what they need from a convenience and health point of view.”

Creating and Capitalizing on Trends

00:07:42 - The conversation shifts to the role of brands in trend creation versus trend capitalization. Graham uses Ben's Original as a case study, explaining how the brand has consistently innovated within the rice category by introducing ready-to-eat and nutritious meal solutions. “The power of the insight that created ready-to-eat rice was around still anchored back to convenient nutritious meal solutions,” he explains (00:08:33). He further elaborates on extending product lines to include bold flavors and healthier options, thereby maintaining relevance while addressing consumer pain points.

Navigating Global and Local Markets

00:11:20 - Addressing the challenge of balancing global presence with local consumer preferences, Graham shares insights on Mars' approach to product localization. “80% of the same across multi geographies dishes like chicken and rice and pasta, they extend well beyond one individual market,” he notes (00:11:52). Mars leverages commonalities in global markets while tailoring products to accommodate local tastes and culinary nuances, as demonstrated by the Lunchbox Ready Meals proposition in the UK.

Adapting to Changing Consumer Behaviors

00:16:41 - Graham discusses the evolving landscape of consumer behavior, particularly in how meals are consumed and purchased. With the rise of omnichannel shopping and platforms like TikTok influencing meal inspiration, Mars has adapted by fostering a more integrated and human-centric marketing approach. “We've had to create a whole new agency ecosystem which we've titled the kitchen,” he explains (00:16:41), highlighting the shift towards collaborative problem-solving across marketing and sales teams to deliver consistent brand experiences.

Operationalizing the One Demand Strategy

00:19:30 - Delving into operational strategies, Graham introduces the "One Demand" philosophy, which unifies sales and marketing efforts to present a cohesive vision to retailers and consumers alike. He recounts a successful partnership with Tesco in the UK, where Mars and the retailer co-created a dedicated aisle for ready meals, surpassing initial sales expectations. “Having one combined vision, one powerful voice across sales and marketing is what we deem how I determine the definition of one demand,” Graham states (00:19:30).

Leadership and Personal Insights

00:22:04 - Graham reflects on his two-decade tenure at Mars, attributing his sustained commitment to the company's supportive culture and emphasis on continuous learning. He shares a poignant personal story about relocating his family from Melbourne to London, highlighting the challenges and rewards of balancing professional responsibilities with personal life. “When that links to your personal values inside of work and outside of work, which it has for me, it's not personal professional anymore,” he reveals (00:27:12).

Conclusion: Embracing Change and Longevity

00:25:01 - In his final remarks, Graham underscores the importance of embracing change both personally and professionally. His story about his daughter's adjustment to moving abroad serves as a metaphor for leading through transformation within Mars. “As adults, it's incumbent on us to embrace change and also acknowledge that a many children are not at the mindset of wanting to embrace it,” he concludes (00:28:04).

Key Takeaways

• Heritage and Innovation: Mars successfully balances its long-standing legacy with forward-thinking innovations to meet contemporary consumer demands.

• Strategic Growth: Acquisitions like Kevin's Natural Foods play a crucial role in expanding Mars' portfolio and driving significant growth.

• Global vs. Local: Mars adeptly navigates the tension between maintaining a global presence and catering to local tastes and preferences.

• Consumer Behavior: Adapting to changing consumer behaviors through omnichannel strategies and human-centric marketing is essential for sustained success.

• Unified Strategy: The "One Demand" philosophy exemplifies the power of integrating sales and marketing efforts to create a unified approach to market challenges.

• Leadership and Adaptability: Personal stories from Graham highlight the importance of resilience, adaptability, and aligning personal values with professional goals.

Notable Quotes

• “Better food today, better world tomorrow.” – Matthew Graham (00:05:10)

• “The power of the insight that created ready-to-eat rice was around still anchored back to convenient nutritious meal solutions.” – Matthew Graham (00:08:33)

• “We've had to create a whole new agency ecosystem which we've titled the kitchen.” – Matthew Graham (00:16:41)

• “Having one combined vision, one powerful voice across sales and marketing is what we deem how I determine the definition of one demand.” – Matthew Graham (00:19:30)

Final Thoughts

Matthew Graham's insights provide a valuable perspective on how a storied brand like Mars navigates the complexities of modern eCommerce while staying true to its foundational values. His emphasis on unity between sales and marketing, strategic innovation, and heartfelt leadership offers actionable strategies for brands aiming for longevity and relevance in a dynamic marketplace.

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For more insights into how Mars continues to lead in the food and nutrition sector, listen to this episode of Brave Commerce and explore related episodes featuring leaders from other iconic family-run businesses.

Transcript

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[Matthew Graham]

I wouldn't have thought a guy from Australia could be sort of leading a global business like food and nutrition for Mars in London, but they support the development of the associates so well. You're working with some of the best known brands around the world. But at the heart of it being a family run business as Mars is the power of being family run is we just don't think about our business in quarters. The family thinks of it in generations. And it's not a cliche. We have five principles of Mars Quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency, efficiency and freedom. And these five principles are really what guides our decisions with Inside the Business.

[Podcast Host]

Welcome to today's episode of Brave Commerce.

[Rachel Tippograph]

I'm Rachel Tippograph, the founder and CEO of Micmac.

[Podcast Host]

I'm Sarah Hofstadter, president of Profitero and.

[Rachel Tippograph]

This is a show that talks about what's relevant in E commerce for the world's biggest brands. Sarah I'm always fascinated by these multi billion dollar family run privately owned businesses.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, there are a handful of them and you kind of wonder like what happens behind closed doors. Then you get behind closed doors and these huge companies are remarkably personal. Yeah.

[Rachel Tippograph]

At the end of the day you have mothers and fathers and sons and daughters running these companies and that Kind of permeates through the company culture.

[Podcast Host]

There's a bunch that kind of come to mind. Obviously our guest today comes from one of those companies but is not part of the family. But Essie Johnson, for example, is probably a pretty good example of that. Is BIC public? Oh yeah, they are public.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Well, we had Michael Rosenfeld from PIM Brands. That's family run and now his children are getting involved.

[Podcast Host]

I'm on the board of Campbell's 150-year-old company. 155-year-old company. The family is still very involved. And I got to tell you, as a board member, sitting on the board with other family members that are descendants of John Dorrance, the founder. It's such a phenomenal balance of the mindset of what are we trying to do here in the long term and balancing that with the ebbs and flows of the day in and day out of the business, the stock price, investor pressure, all the other things that go along with it. But your North Star gets, gets guided by the family. It's quite special.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Absolutely. And we're going to hear from Matt, who is the CMO of Mars Food in a second. But he says something that I absolutely believe shapes the entire Mars culture, which is Mars doesn't think in quarters, they think in legacy because it's a privately owned, family run business.

[Podcast Host]

And there's something to that. You are a privately owned business, single founder.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

Maybe you will leave your legacy to your future children. But don't you want to know like that when you're done with this, that this is in good hands? Right. That it's sustainable. It's not just about the generational wealth, that it means something.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Absolutely. Well, we're going to hear from a long standing Mars employee and leader on the Mars culture, how they're thinking about demand, how they're thinking about new category growth. So let's bring Matt onto the Today we have Matthew Graham, the chief marketing officer at Mars Food and Nutrition, a really big brand. Hello, Matthew, good to be with you.

[Matthew Graham]

Rachel and Sarah, excited for the next few minutes we've got together.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, Mars has obviously made some pretty major global news headlines in recent times with with some of the acquisitions it's known, I think in the eyes of many for confectionery, but you're leading marketing globally for the food and nutrition division. What opportunities are you seeing right now across food for Mars?

[Matthew Graham]

So Mars Food and Nutrition is a growing part of Mars Incorporated. We have over 2000 associates, we call our associates employees. Our brands are present in over 30 markets and we have big global brands like Ben's Original and Domio, but more local brands that we've acquired in recent times around Tasty Bite, Kevin's Natural Foods, which is emerging in the North American market and obviously seeds of change. I think from a CPG point of view in Mars, we've been selling human food and pet products for over 100 years. But the power of food and nutrition for the Mars Incorporated business is around better food today, better world tomorrow. That is our mission and we genuinely believe we can offer more flavorful eating and enhance people's lives as we move forward. So it's a very important part of the broader portfolio for Mars Incorporated. And I think the exciting thing for us is we can really impact people and we know what's on Trend. You know, 48% of people in the US are spending fewer than 15 minutes a day in meal preparation and equally 2/3 actually by about 3 or 4pm in the afternoon don't even know what they're having for dinner. And we think if we can serve nutritious, convenient meal solutions for people, then we're going to make society and the communities we serve a lot better. Probably just on that trend, you know, around making more convenient meal solutions, I think we've got some really exciting innovation we've launched in market both in the US and Canada. We've just launched a range of ready meals around street food. We've called them big bold flavors, bean and rice burrito bowls packed with fiber and protein. But we've also taken that platform to really again tap into those big trends in the UK and European markets with what we've called our lunchbowl range, which is really tasty grain, grains and vegetables to really push into those, those human trends that we know are emerging, but equally that we think we can lead from a category point of view moving forward. And I think finally just to bring it back to the question, Rachel, I think from our point of view, we made a big acquisition last year called Kevin's Natural Foods. It's a fantastic brand that's chef inspired meal solutions. They sort of promote this hack, healthy mindset, really trailblazing the category norms and we're seeing amazing growth in that business, 50% growth year on year over the 2024 horizon. So again, we are very committed to sort of the food and nutrition industry, but equally making sure we supply and provide our consumers with what they need from a convenience and health point of view as well.

[Podcast Host]

I love what you're doing and congrats on Kevin's I think there are certain things that you guys have been doing to capitalize on trends and then there are certain things that you're doing to actually create trends. There are so many things that Ben's Original, even over time, going way back before any of the three of us were in this business, Ben's Original was one of those brands that always was pioneering new innovations. And you say how do you define a new innovation in rice? But whether it was like pre cooked or it takes less time to create. You talked about rice bowls for example, or healthy grain bowls. What do you think is the role of the brand in creating that demand versus capitalizing on a consumer behavior? Like can a brand actually create that or do we have to really find something from within consumer behavior and their engagement with, let's say grains to get you there?

[Matthew Graham]

I think Ben's Original is a great example, as you called out. I think the power of the insight that created, you know, ready to eat rice was around still anchored back to convenient nutritious meal solutions. It hasn't changed over decades, if I'm honest. I think how we've now extended that into these bolder flavors, more healthier nutritious solutions that sort of push into that trend and that need, then the brand becomes very distinctive and plays into that area. And actually we've done a lot of research linked to our ready meal solution that the brand can actually stretch not only within ambient, but it can actually stretch across temperature states where we talk about chilled solutions frozen into the future as well, but equally ambient which is what we play in today. So I think what I loved about where we started the Ben's journey was it was around a pain point linked to convenience and nutrition. And now we're extending that into more full meal solutions that take us more from what we call inside Mars around cider plate to more central plate solutions. But I do think it anchors back to that consumer pain point or the consumer tension we're trying to solve. And that's certainly how we're treating our innovation agenda moving forward.

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[Rachel Tippograph]

So much about food is changing so rapidly. I think I heard a crazy stat recently that 75% of content on TikTok is food oriented. So just how people are discovering food, the channels. But when it comes to food, one thing that seems to have always remained to be true is that there's, there's so much local orientation when it comes to food. So here you are and you're sitting in a global role and people really consume food on a local level. How do you navigate that tension between global and local?

[Matthew Graham]

It's funny Rachel, because I think this is a conversation we have regularly inside our business. And just back to TikTok, I think, you know, understanding where people are getting meal inspiration from. I mean TikTok in 22 and then 23 has seen over 106 billion views of food inside that platform year on year over the last years. It's incredible around how it's changing consumer behavior but equally how do we push into that? Coming from a background of mine which was I've been in the confectionery side of the Mars business but now in the last couple of years in leading our food and nutrition business, I think we've got to appreciate the differences that food cuisine is very local in some instances but equally 80% is the same across multi geographies dishes like chicken and rice and pasta, they extend well beyond one individual market. And the conversation that I continually have with my team inside Mars is how do we make sure we play to what we have more in common but understand the nuances and how we Tailor the office from an execution point of view at a local level. And you know, we've done that with Ben's original around how we've sort of some of our inspired rice dishes around Jasmine and basmati in and Mexican style rice in markets like the US but equally. And how we've also pushed into sort of world cuisines like Indian and Asian with our Tasty Bite brand that we purchased a few years ago as well. So playing to those local nuances, but making sure we scale where it makes sense because 80%, there's a lot of commonality across 80% of what we do across our markets is really important. The interesting statistic which I love to quote inside our business is over the test of time. The top 10 meals across the US or the UK or the Australian market that we deal in heavily haven't changed over the last 20 years. They might have had twists on those recipes, but they the staples are still what they are today, which is incredible. So.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Yeah, well, we gotta ask, what are they?

[Matthew Graham]

Yeah, I thought you'd jump on that. I thought you would jump on that. Go for it.

[Podcast Host]

No, just elaborate more. That sounds so antithetical to everything that we've heard. Are we getting caught up in the fringe? Like if I think about like the big trends of what's happened over the past 20 years, I don't say, well, not much has changed. Right. Help us understand, contextualize for us.

[Matthew Graham]

So if I make it real in anyone's weekly dinner agenda, you're probably going to have something with pasta and Bolognese and that pushes into Italian. Obviously there's rice and chicken as I mentioned earlier. So there's these staples that live in obviously Mexican in the US there's these staple meals that live on now. People put twists like pasta bake as a twist on Bolognese in many of our markets is a twist, but it's still a pasta with Bolognese sauce at the heart of it. Equally around New Mexican in the US but equally sort of some Asian flavors and Asian cuisines in in the uk this is very rarely have we seen other big cuisines. The only one that's made it into the top 10 in the UK as an example is pesto as a flavor which it wasn't there 10 years ago. But the majority of the others have always stood the test of time. So how we can make those recipes easier to make from a convenient point of more nutritious is important. That making sure that we can push into that from a trend point of view is what we're focused on but they haven't really changed. But there are twists on those recipes that we're seeing across geography.

[Podcast Host]

I don't know if this translates as well, but maybe a follow up is. I'm going to send you a clip from Saturday Night Live. The Penny a Lavaga. Rachel, you ever see that one, right?

[Rachel Tippograph]

No. Which era is that? Is it the Kristen Wiig era?

[Podcast Host]

No, I think it was last season. It was like this whole thing about no matter what Penny Alla Vodka is just like it's something you see everywhere and yet it is always mediocre. People get overly excited about it and yet it's just the same crap ever. But to your point, it's about reframing the thinking through where that is. But I appreciate you kind of giving us a a macro view of what's changed and what hasn't so we don't get distracted by bright shiny objects which I think could be a semi transition into a follow on on what it means to meet customers on that how much has changed versus meet our consumers, our shoppers? How much has changed in terms of what it takes to win or are we constantly chasing the bright shiny object? In the end, consumer behavior on how they purchase stuff has changed drastically. Right. Even if their meals are not measurably different, even though you're finding easier ways to bring it to people, there's still a nuance in terms of how you meet them on their terms. And so whether it's the TikTok generation or it's the mechanism of researching online, buying in store, being in store, and while you're in store, you're researching online to compare products. How have you changed the way you think about that without ignoring the fundamentals?

[Matthew Graham]

Definitely how people are consuming is changing in the sense of numbers of times they're eating across the day part the occasions at which they're buying the products, you know, the different channel blurring around Omni channel now is also is all blurring. So reaching consumers is becoming more challenging than it ever has before. And we talk a lot about this, what I call the fat word of digital but digitization inside our business a lot. When you try and unpack, what does it really mean? It's how do we be consistent across the meal journey for our consumers so they have a consistent experience with our brands. Going back to the TikTok point, I think what it's proved to us is the power of influences and this human to human approach around how we're transforming, reaching our consumers. And this is the role social does play around giving the education, but equally the inspiration to our consumers around how they can eat healthier in a very convenient way. And if we can provide part of the solution for them to do that, I think it's really important. I think what we've done and one of the big sort of transformations since I've come into this role a couple of years ago is for us to act differently and meet our consumers where they are. We've had to create a whole new agency ecosystem which we've titled the kitchen. But really ultimately what it is is rather than come up from a place of a traditional communication point of view where you put a brief in and then you'd write a 30 second 1 minute ad and then you'd spin off social on the back of that. Actually we've said what's the best way into the kitchen to solve that business problem. And it could be through pr, it could be through retail media, could be through social, or it could be through core comms. But equally it's that team, that collective team across Mars associates, but equally our agency partners that go and solve that business problem together. And it's a fundamental different way. Certainly in my 20 plus career in marketing is fundamentally different than what we've done before. But it's absolutely where we need to be certainly in food and nutrition, around meeting consumers where they are on that journey and especially pushing into more human to human communication, that user generated content versus brand to consumer as we'd normally traditionally have done it and push content out. But it's proving so far we're sort of 18 months into the new model, but it's certainly having a great impact for us. We're getting a lot closer to our consumers as a result.

[Rachel Tippograph]

So you touch on something that I was really curious about. The landscape of food is changing from how consumers are engaging with food. Though apparently 80% of what we eat has remained the same. That's a new fact. 80% of meals.

[Matthew Graham]

80% of meals, yeah.

[Rachel Tippograph]

At Mars like we understand that there is this strategy of one demand and it seems like the kitchen might be a part of that overall strategy. But can you talk about how you're trying to operationalize the organization to get around all of this consumer change to drive demand across the category?

[Matthew Graham]

As you can tell from my accent, I'm Australian and it's a very mature market back there with two big retailers. And what I learned very early in my career is the power of the combined agenda across sales and marketing. And for me the one demand philosophy is really local. In by nature. And it's how we show up from a unified perspective, from a brand and category point of view in front of our customers. Because ultimately in many of our brands that we go through the retail landscape to reach our consumers. All right, but having one combined vision, one powerful voice across sales and marketing is what we deem how I determine the definition of one demand. But the power of it is actually when it ladders all the way through to execution. And the example I'll give you, it's probably quite a recent one. Again, back to our newly launch of Lunchbox Ready Meals proposition in the uk, where the traditional way we would have done that innovation and brought it to market, we've done a whole lot of consumer work upstream. We would have got it to a fairly formed proposition to get it ready to launch and then sold it into one of the four big retailers in the uk instead. Two years ago we actually worked with the biggest retailer in the uk, Tesco in this case, to say, we've got a huge insight here around convenient meal solutions that we think is a big opportunity in category busting opportunity. We want to partner on you and get your feedback. And we partnered with them over the course of 18 months to form not only the propositions a little bit, but they were very consumer driven, but more around the execution plan, both from a marketing and sales point of view and really how that stood up from a category, what we call a category vision for Tesco. In this case, they were so bought into the idea that they said, well, we're not only going to give you a certain section in the current aisle, we're going to create a whole new aisle in the store for ready meals, which we want you to lead with us and we're going to bring some of your competitors in to form this new aisle within the store. We launched that in mid 2024, hugely successful, so far exceeding our expectations. It wouldn't have happened if marketing and sales weren't as one from the start, showing up as one voice with a clear vision, clear insight around how we want to go to market and then partner with our key customer to make it happen from an execution point of view. And that's what I term one demand. And so often though, you hear of the marketing strategy and then you hear the execution strategy. For me, it's on one. How we link the measures across sales and marketing is all one and that's how we sort of drive this one demand culture within our organization.

[Podcast Host]

I gotta tell you, I think you could teach a masterclass on that. To most CPGs, that's probably one of the biggest disconnects that we have seen in the space. It's likely testament to the fact that you have grown up in Mars different business units, geographies. I'm assuming that plays a role but let me know if it has. And what's kept you at Mars all this time?

[Matthew Graham]

I sort of tell the story about my career around if I hadn't have sort of taken a leap in my early career to go from marketing into a big sales role to manage multi geographical part of that sales agenda, big teams, I wouldn't be doing a job like I'm doing today because the blur between consumer and customer is so tight today that to understand how you can link a strategy to execution, I don't think you can be effective without having that one demand experience as I spoke about earlier. So for me that experience early on in my career was a big risk for me at the time because you go am I going to be any good in front of a customer? But the learning and the ability to be out of your comfort zone as part of that has made me grow as a business leader but equally has put me in positions like I am today to be effective because you can link both consumer and customer agendas together. I think what's kept me at Mars 20 plus years and I always think I'm old when I say that, been in this business so long but I wouldn't have thought a guy from Australia, Melbourne, Australia could be sort of leading a global business like food and nutrition for Mars in London. But they support the development of the associates so well you're working with some of the best known brands around the world but at the heart of it being a family run business as Mars is the power of being family run is we just don't think about our business in quarters. The family thinks of it in generations. And it's not a cliche. We have five principles of Mars quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency and freedom. And these five principles are really what guides our decisions with inside the business and when that links to your personal values inside of work and outside of work, which it has for me, it's not personal professional anymore. It's one part of your life, big part of your life that sort of carries you forward. So for me I've been very fortunate but equally then surrounding myself with great people, talented teams, encouraging curiosity and embracing this sort of test and learn approach as well as I've sort of formed teams, built teams as I've built my career, that's sort of what I've enjoyed more as you have got on in my career and how much impact I can have on other people around me. And that's what's kept me on Mars for the time, for the 20 plus years I spoke about.

[Rachel Tippograph]

It's such a competitive advantage, what you said, the ability to think in generations and not quarters. The majority of your competitive set, they don't, they don't have an opportunity like that. Right. Because they have to meet Wall street every single day. It's really amazing to see how it's permeated throughout the culture. Well, Matt, we have to ask you our famous last question. What's the bravest thing you've ever done?

[Matthew Graham]

Yeah, well, I mean there's so many and you know, I've sort of, I could talk professionally, you know, some critical times in my career like the sales. Going from marketing into sales was a critical intersection in my career. Again, was I going to be any good at it? I did a side hustle many years ago from a business point of view with some friends when I was still at Mars. That went horribly wrong and I learned some very tough lessons that taught me a lot personally and professionally. That one did hurt. But probably the personal one, which is a professional one as well, is when I, seven years ago when I moved my young family from Melbourne to London, the other side of the world, to lead our European confectionery business. When we were sort of bringing together our Wrigley gum business with our global, with our chocolate business. And the story probably uprooting my family, but more particularly my 13 year old daughter. At the time when we told the kids that we were going to be heading overseas, there was a level of excitement, bit of trepidation, but they really didn't know. But it was only when one morning she went to school, the next when she got home from school, the house had been packed up and only left on her floor was her mattress. And when I've come home from work I've seen virtually this inconsolable 13 year old that couldn't strike two words together but virtually saying, I don't know why you're doing this to me. So fast forward we get to London and fast forward for the first 10 months she wasn't loving life. She wasn't, I don't, I think she was loving me but she wasn't appreciating me and was only until probably 10 months into that journey. I think it's finally hit her that saying that she wrote a card when I was going away on a Work trip. It was my birthday and I was away for it and she wrote a card and I thought I'd just read it out to you. She wrote, father. Well, first off, I hate to admit it, but you have let me see the world in a much better way. Thank you and I love you. And that was all I needed to hear. That validation that she was going to be okay. And to be honest with you, she's grown up now, she's at university and she's back in Melbourne. But she's such a well rounded individual and I couldn't have been prouder of her and what the opportunity I've been able to give her. So that's probably my biggest lesson in life.

[Rachel Tippograph]

So beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And I grew up under two working parents, so I, I understand that dynamic when you have parents that have high demanding jobs. And I think it's really beautiful.

[Podcast Host]

I'm totally tearing up. I mean, I just moved homes and my kids are pretty pissed off at me too. But I'm half a mile away, not half a world away.

[Matthew Graham]

So when I got that card, when I was leaving to this work trip, I was running a conference in Athens and we were going through a big change program bringing Wrigley and Chocolate together. And it was my first time on stage to launch this conference. And I put that card, photo of the card up on the screen and told the story around. We're all going through change and I had someone just last week ironically recite the story that I told on stage. So it's, it's powerful just how that stuff can cut through as well. But it certainly impacted me. But luckily, fortunately for me, it's, she turned out pretty good. So it's good.

[Podcast Host]

As adults, it's incumbent on us to embrace change and also acknowledge that a many children are not at the mindset of wanting to embrace it. And even more so, adults are even less receptive to change. So our roles as leaders, particularly in areas like sales and marketing, which has to be so incredibly dynamic, must be open to change. And so if you can get a preteen or an early teenager to see the light, then all the more so we should be able to do so with those who follow us. So thank you so much for imparting these very critical lessons, for being vulnerable, sharing your story and inspiring us in terms of what it means to really look at businesses for longevity but also short term efficacy as well. Thank you.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Well everyone go hit those ready to eat aisles and find Mars across your greatest grocery store. Thank you. If you like what you heard and you want to hear from another angle within the Mars business, please go check out an episode we recorded with the Mars Wrigley CMO Gabrielle Wesley. And if you're fascinated by multi billion dollar companies that are still family run, you can go check out an episode we did with the CEO of Bic, Gonzel Bic who is a part of the family. If you like what you heard, tell a friend. Write a review. Thanks for Listen.

[US Cellular Representative]

Gifting is hard, but here's a hint. Give the Gift of connection from US Cellular. Not sure what that means. Well, here's a slightly more specific hint. You can choose four free phones and get four lines for $90 a month from US Cellular. Your family wants new phones? How do we know? Well, they told us. The good news is that compared to wrapping presents, you're great at getting hints. So take the hint and get them four free phones in four lines for $90 a month US Cellular built for us.

[Jackie Cooper]

Hi, I'm Jackie Cooper, Global Chief Brand Officer at Edelman and the host of Touch of True, a new podcast launching on the Ad Week Pod Podcast Network. My dad gave me this incredibly smart piece of advice. Meet everyone once. As a result, I've met some of the most fascinating and inspiring people on the planet. Now on Touch of Truth, we're coming center stage and sharing the mic to experience stories of truth, insights and visions for the future that will challenge your way of thinking. Touch of Truth is available wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes come out every Tuesday. I do hope to see you there.

[Instacart Representative]

It.