Jones Soda Taps Former Kellogg Exec Jerry Goldner As New Chief Growth Officer
Jones Soda Co. has named CPG industry veteran Jerry Goldner its latest chief growth officer.
Goldner brings some thirty years’ experience to the role, having spent his career in the food and beverage industry in a number of senior executive leadership roles at Kellogg, Tribe Foods/Nestle, Stryve Foods, Farmwise, Scout Backcountry, and Saxco International.
At Jones, Goldner will be responsible for creating and leading programs focused on driving financial initiatives and sales, including coordinating cross-departmental efforts that align with the Jones brand and overall business objectives.
As an early adopter of user-generated content, Jones Soda has leveraged its innovative marketing efforts to build a loyal and passionate customer base. For many years, the brand has invited consumers to submit photos to be featured on its bottles, which are then voted on by fellow Jones aficionados.
In a podcast with CGT last year, Bohb Blair, Jones' CMO, portrayed this strategy as unique in today's culture, in which consumers often prioritize immediacy and have shorter attention spans.
“The engagement of the Jones fan wanting to get their photo on the label is insane. And we love it. And it just shows that even in today's age where people are used to pushing one button, they'll fill out a form, sign a model release, sign a photographer release, and send it all to us blindly in the hopes that we'll pick it.”
Commenting on the news of his appointment, Goldner emphasized the distinctive space that the brand occupies in the consumer landscape, particularly when it comes to consumer engagement, marketing and its messaging: “Jones Soda has such a unique and valuable position as a pioneer of the craft soda industry and market leader today,” Goldner shared. “There is no other CPG beverage brand that has the one-of-a-kind personality or passionate consumer following that Jones has.”
Marketing’s Mindset Shift
Marketing and business growth are increasingly recognized as two sides of the same coin, with executives in this space tasked with innovating and advancing the commercial capabilities of marketing and using them to fuel business expansion and sales.
CGT’s most recent chief marketing officer of the year winner, Alison Lewis, chief growth officer for Kimberly-Clark, explained the mindset shift marketers should aim to make in order to drive value: “Think about marketing in terms of the value that it creates for the business. I think marketers get themselves into trouble when it's something that looks great in a boardroom or great in a PowerPoint presentation, but the value that it actually creates for the consumer or for the business is weaker.”
Hear more about Jones Soda's marketing efforts in CGT/RIS News' podcast, Tech Transformation:
