Rena Nickerson (SodaStream)
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On this episode of Marketing News Canada, Darian Kovacs interviews Rena Nickerson, the General Manager of SodaStream Canada.
Experienced with Canadian Brands such as Church and Dwight, Kraft, Campell and more, Rena has a lot to offer the team at SodaStream. She is proud of the team and their culture as they have grown from 14-82 employees. Founded on creativity, optimism and risk-taking, the brand is much more than a beverage company.
Rena has been an advertising awards judge for the past five years, including the North-American & Canadian Effie Awards, and the Canadian Marketing Association Awards. She is passionate about public speaking as she claims, “I have never met a mic I didn’t like.” Her specialties include, leadership, marketing, coaching, P&L management, consumer insights analysis and more.
Founded on empowerment, Rena believes that SodaStream does more for consumers than just providing them with a fun sparkling beverage. To her it is more about the experience of making it. It gives consumers the power to customize how bubbly they want their water and how strong they want the flavouring to be. She states, “that the brand grew significantly during quarantine due to its DIY appeal as people were very focused on the activities they could do at home.”
The brand capitalizes on being fun and accessible. They design their campaigns to be just as fun as their products. That is why they use celebrities such as Michael Bublé and Snoop Dogg to advertise their newest products. Examples of this would be their word play with the use of bubble and Bublé and having Snoop Dogg be a part of their Christmas campaign.
In order for a company to flow successfully, Rena believes understanding each other's roles are key. She states that people need to know more than just how their own job works. She attributes her success as a General Manager to this method. Although she is a General Manager, she can confidently say she knows about the product and how it is made even though this is the “role” of the technology department. “The deeper you understand your brand, the better the product will be,” says Rena. When asked rapid fire questions, she answered as follows;
Marketing book you’d recommend?
Podcast you’d recommend?
Newsletter or website you’d recommend for resources/inspiration?
Rena’s 20 years of experience in sustainable long term growth at Canadian consumer product goods organizations makes her the ideal General Manager for SodaStream. Her drive and desire to use the best marketing practices ensures success for the company.
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