PepsiCo's Formula for Building Enduring Brands with Mark Kirkham

**Jim Stengel** (0:00)
I spent years at Procter & Gamble trying to answer that question. We had the creative, we had the reach, we had campaigns that genuinely stopped people. And then we watched that value quietly disappear somewhere between the moment of engagement and the proof of a business result. That gap between attention and action is where most media budgets go to die. And most digital media platforms have been content to live inside it just a little upstream from accountability. Enfilion is the company that decided to close it. They started as the original attention company, built on the idea that a consumer choosing to engage with an ad is worth more than one who ignores it. But they did not stop there. They have built the infrastructure to connect the moment of attention to the proof of action across every screen, every format, every vertical. That is not a feature. That is a fundamentally different idea of what an ad platform should be. And it is the one brands have been waiting for. Learn more in the show notes.
What's the first brand you remember making an impact on you growing up many years ago, maybe in Lancaster?
Tasty Cakes?

**Mark Kirkham** (1:01)
Nobody bakes a cake, cause tasty is a tasty cake. Oh my god. That's actually a good one. I hadn't even thought about that, but yet the jingle is stuck in my head. Remember we saw Barry Manilow at the end, he was playing those little jingles. You know what? All right. I am going to go Lancaster on this. Turkey Hill Orange Tea Cooler.
They don't even make it anymore. And I'm so upset about it.

**Jim Stengel** (1:23)
Hi, I'm Jim Stengel. I've helped hundreds of major brands discover and activate their purpose.
Because when a brand's purpose is clear, compelling and authentic, profit naturally follows. Each week, I welcome the CMOs, the chief marketing officers of your favorite brands to speak to how their job is so much more than marketing. These leaders share their inspiration and challenges along with how they try to build a full, healthy and happy life in and out of the office. And it's that energy that reaches everyone they touch. And we're glad you're here to feel that energy and to learn from these remarkable leaders. So here we go.
One of the great joys of this podcast is reconnecting with people whose careers I've admired for years. Mark Kirkham and I actually share more history than most guests. We both grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, started our careers at Procter & Gamble, and have spent our lives building brands. So it was especially meaningful to sit down with him during the Cannes Lions Festival. My guest Mark is the chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Beverages US., where he leads brand and marketing strategy across a $28 billion portfolio that includes Pepsi, of course, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Starbucks, Ready-to-Drink Beverages, Lipton and Poppy. Over the past 15 years at PepsiCo, Mark's held marketing leadership roles across the globe, helping shape campaigns like the Pepsi Taste Challenge and the brand's UEFA Champions League partnership. Before PepsiCo, Mark built his foundation of research and analytics at Forrester and Nielsen before moving into brand management at Procter & Gamble. Our conversation explores what it takes to build brands in one of the world's most competitive categories. But what stayed with me most was Mark's perspective on leadership, whether he's teaching at universities, writing a weekly letter to his marketing organization, or leading one of the industry's most diverse portfolios, he believes the best leaders leave things better than they found them. So let's welcome my fellow Lancastrian. Here's Mark.
Mark, welcome to The CMO Podcast. Now, we got to get right to it, okay? We have a bit of a shared history.

**Mark Kirkham** (3:21)
Yes, we do.

**Jim Stengel** (3:22)
Okay, and it's a place far, far away from Cannes.

**Mark Kirkham** (3:25)
Very.

**Jim Stengel** (3:25)
Okay, so tell us a little bit about what you learned about our shared history.

**Mark Kirkham** (3:29)
Well, first off, at one point, I worked for you. Couple rings down, but more importantly, we both lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And I guess if you call going to high school and middle school and everything growing up, then we both grew up in Pennsylvania. And my dad knew your brother. And yeah, it's just amazing to see how two kids who grew up in Amish country could actually turn around and run some pretty amazing brands.
So it's awesome. And it's a beautiful part of the world. They always have a special place in my heart, but it's amazing to kind of meet people who have kind of grown up with those same kind of values and seen the character that is central Pennsylvania.