Katrina Plummer started life at Mondelēz International as an MBA Intern back in the summer of 2012 before joining us full time in August 2013. She brought with her experience working with companies such as Estee Launder and Burberry, and has since worked with a range of our brands, including Halls, Swedish Fish, Teddy and, most recently, Honey Maid.
Before joining MDLZ, my experience was in premium skincare and cosmetics. I worked on the global communications teams for Clinique at the Estee Launder Companies in NYC. My responsibilities included press outreach and new product launch planning. I also held a PR internship with Burberry in London, and an advertising internship with Deutsch in LA.
Every time I change brands or business, I feel challenged. It is so much easier when you have the time and expertise with the brand you are working with but with each new challenge, my learning agility grows hugely! I remind myself to embrace the fresh eyes and fresh thinking of a new role and take advantage of developing skills in new markets and consumers.
Since joining MDLZ, I have had the pleasure of working on a number of brands over the past 3 years. To start with, I was the Associate Brand Manager for Halls Cough Drops US, where I learnt business fundamentals, lead monthly budgeting, sales and inventory tracking, forecasting, supporting the social media campaign, and commercialized flavour line extensions.
I then became Senior Associate Brand Manager for Candy & Cough in North America, where I was able to lead business decision making based on my analysis of category and consumer trends. During this time, I re-launched the Swedish Fish brand to target a new consumer demographic and recommended a strategy for how best to compete in the category.
Most recently, I became Equity Brand Manager for our Kids Biscuit business in North America where my portfolio includes Honey Maid, Teddy and Multi-Packs. In this role I get to set the strategy for the business based on external trends and capabilities to drive our sales growth based on a certain level of marketing spend. This will inform the new products and advertising that you will start seeing in market very soon.
I experience such a high every time I see something I have worked on in the market. It can take years for something to go from ideation to implementation and often it reaches market when I am no longer working on that brand. I find it hard to fast forward through commercials and I cannot go the food store without walking own all of the aisles because I love seeing the finished product of the work I supported!
In 2014, Honey Maid launched the groundbreaking "This is Wholesome" campaign, rooted in the idea that while the makeup and day-to-day lives of families have evolved – just like Honey Maid products – the importance of wholesome family connections remains the same. Since launch, we've received accolades internally and externally for boldly showcasing the diversity of American families.
We feature five real American families: an adopted son, a disabled veteran, a Hispanic gay couple and neighbors of different cultures. And we tell their stories while inviting viewers to think about acceptance in their own lives. Each video culminates with the creation of a wholesome Honey Maid snack, showing how snacking moments can bring families together. Our integrated marketing campaign includes TV, a dedicated digital and social media program, and media collaborations with the PR team. The creation of this campaign has been a relay race, with lots of baton passing, and with teamwork and trust that took us over the finish line!
Three years ago, colleagues of mine created the concept for the campaign. When I had the privilege of taking over, my role was to finalize the creative, gather alignment and approvals, and work closely with my Media & Content counterpart to get the videos (the “spots”) up and support via our agency partners.
We created this campaign during a time of great change for our Marketing team and our media partners. It required attention to detail, and strong communication to ensure we had continuity and everyone was aligned. There was a lot of learning while doing! As we got ready to launch, our team put an outreach plan in place to consumers and media, mindful of the external environment and how our message would come across. Together we accepted the risk that comes with a fearless marketing campaign like this … and we prepared for many different responses! Fortunately, the public response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"This is Wholesome" makes me proud on so many levels. I'm proud to work for a company and on a brand that spreads messaging of positivity and inclusion. And I'm proud that I was on a team that could rally together in times of change to deliver great work. But what brings me the most pride is hearing the reactions to the campaign from colleagues. We wouldn't have a "This is Wholesome" campaign if it were not for the courage and support of so many people. From RD&Q to Sales to our in-store team – we're all working together to create and deliver great products that give us a reason to tell great stories. I know firsthand our advertising instills pride in those who work on Honey Maid and at MDLZ. And I'm so proud to be part of an organization that gives me the opportunity to make campaigns like this a reality.
Honey Maid recently released the latest chapter in the “This Is Wholesome” campaign, which underscores the importance of acceptance in a changing American culture. The brand is celebrating four different stories of acceptance featuring five families, including a traditional Hispanic father who found joy and love in accepting his gay son and son-in-law, a disabled veteran and wife that have come to accept their new post-war reality, a young boy who has accepted his adopted brother, and two neighboring families who have grown to realize they have more similarities than differences. Congratulations to Katrina Plummer and her team on this great accomplishment!
Read an interview with Katrina here.