Carmen Fadel, VP of Marketing at WILDE, takes us inside one of the most unusual products in the CPG snack aisle — a 100% all-natural chicken breast chip that is growing 50% year over year and landing on shelves at Whole Foods, Costco, Target, and beyond. She breaks down the brand's "chips and lips" obsession with driving trial, the "shock and disbelief" campaign strategy that turns first reactions into word-of-mouth, and how she used a mixed media modeling platform to turn top-of-funnel brand spend into a board-ready, data-backed argument. From a NASCAR partnership to AI-powered competitive tracking, Carmen offers a candid, practical look at what it takes to build a brand-new snack category from scratch.

Topics Discussed

WILDE's origin story: how founder Jason Wright created a 100% chicken breast chip with proprietary manufacturing
50% year-over-year growth and the surging consumer protein trend
"Chips and lips" — the single-minded mission to drive product trial above all else
"Shock and disbelief" — the campaign philosophy built around the "wait, this is made from chicken breast?" reaction
Omnichannel strategy: TikTok Shop, CTV (Hulu), OOH, digital ads, and the Critical Mass approach
WILDE vs. Quest and other protein chips — natural protein from chicken vs. added whey or pea protein
The NASCAR partnership and what precision motorsport has in common with a chicken chip
Life Time Fitness sponsorship and community-building through health and fitness events
AI as a new SEO channel — why WILDE needs to show up when someone asks an AI for a high-protein snack
Using Claude and AI tools for competitive tracking, ideation, and automation
Mixed media modeling via Keen — connecting marketing spend to top-of-funnel sales data
Carmen's non-linear career: stay-at-home mom of four, side agency, return to CPG, rise to VP of Marketing

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