From agency beginnings to leading marketing at beverage brand Fever-Tree, Caroline Wood knows a thing or two about what goes into making a brand sing on the world stage.
Chatting with The Growth Distillery’s Stories (Un)Told vodcast live at Cairns Crocodiles, Wood shared how her time at agencies, clarity, collaboration and an unwavering focus on quality have shaped her approach to marketing and leadership.
“There’s a lot of learnings from agency land that some marketers have never had because you do work with so many different people,” she explained.
“I think strong leadership is important, like in any team, but also I think for me it’s about bringing different skills together to get the best outcomes”.
“I have a great team that all have their strengths, their weaknesses, like we all do, but bringing that all together and really helping each other out, and as a marketing leader, hiring people that can do things better than you can, because that’s not your job,” she said.
“I get spoken about a lot in the era that we’re in about the different skill sets that are needed. I think you’ve gotta find people whose qualities and strengths support and complement each other. I think that’s critical”.
“I look for people who are really passionate about what they do”.
Underpinning a well-rounded leadership style is a true passion for what she does – a genuine love for her product and the great privilege of selling a product she truly believes in.
“When you have a great team, it just makes all the difference. A great team and great people coming together are always gonna drive success for the organisation,” she explained.
“It’s a very, very strong brand. The quality of our products is unbelievable. I’ve never worked for any company where I felt so proud. I’ve worked for this brand for five and a half years, and I can count on one hand how many people don’t like it”.
The best brands, she said, are those agile enough to move fast and evolve with tech.
“Things are moving so quickly. It’s those who embrace and relish new opportunities that will succeed and those brands that can move quickly”.
“I’m fortunate that at Fever Tree, we are working quickly and evolving very quickly, and I see that support from a tech and a sustainability perspective, which is, is really super exciting”.
