The New Rules of Brand Management

Having a great brand alone is no longer enough to help your product succeed. But without branding strategies and tactics to increase preference, it is harder than ever to stand out, especially in the food & beverage industry. Effective branding still gives you that extra edge to win. No, brand management is not dead, but some of the tools and techniques historically used to achieve branding goals may now be obsolete. 

Today, the fractured media environment requires new and creative ways to successfully keep your brands in front of consumers. Join us for a panel discussion about the new rules of marketing and brand management and learn to navigate this new world by seeing successful marketing by food and beverage companies both large and small. 

Join us* for cocktails and appetizers as our top-notch speakers provide an overview of the new rules of Brand Management as well as some real world examples of their experiences in branding their products and services effectively.

AGENDA

5:00 PM Doors Open / Welcome

5:30 PM Panel Discussion

6:15 PM Q&A

6:30 PM Networking

8:00 PM Event Ends

PANEL

JESSICA BARRUTIA

Executive Vice President

Edelman

Jessica Barrutia is an Execuive Vice President on Edelman’s Integrated Brand team, with a specialization in Food & Beverage. Jessica has spent nearly two decades leading communication strategy and storytelling for food & beverage and retail industry leaders. Her experience spans brands like Hellmann’s, Target, General Mills, Miller Lite, and Chili’s Grill & Bar. Jessica is at the forefront of helping clients attract younger consumers, drive business performance and brand love with breakthrough consumer-facing programming. She served as a teacher’s assistant for several years, teaching a Public Relations in Marketing graduate course at The University of Chicago. A connection made from her role as VP of Marketing on Chicago’s historic Lookingglass Theatre junior board. Jessica is married to a fellow Comms professional and has two children.

(moderator)

LARRY DEUTSCH

CEO & Co-Founder

dvk Marketing

Larry is CEO & Co-Founder of dvk, a boutique marketing agency with a BE BOLD mission to deliver solutions that unlock growth and move leaders forward with confidence and courage. 

As a Futurist and Alchemist, Larry is a passionate champion of collaboration, creativity, and change.  He brings a unique mix of strategy, creativity and innovation formed over his career consulting at Technomic (now Winsight), brand management and new product development at Kraft Foods and Wrigley, and agency leadership at iconic firms including Wunderman, Ogilvy, and Havas prior to launching dvk with Doug Van Andel and Adam Kaplan.   Throughout his career, Larry has helped to launch, grow and reimagine brands for  Fortune 500, mid-market and start-up organizations.

A recognized industry leader, Larry is a member of Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network’s Board of Directors.

ASHLEY FINDLAY

Senior Director of Brand Marketing

Simple Mills 

Ashley has over 15 years of experience in Food and Beverage, growing brands at both high-growth disruptors and established category leaders. She is currently the Senior Director of Brand Marketing at Simple Mills, where she leads the team of brand managers.   Past roles at Mars, Unilever and Sola included leading brands such as Ben’s Original (formerly Uncle Ben’s), 5 gum, Altoids, Life Savers, and Sola.   She earned her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and her BA from Colgate University.  She chairs the Marketing and Communications committee and serves on the board of Minds Matter Chicago, an organization that provides mentoring and college prep to first generation college students.  She currently resides in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago.

STEPHEN (Steve) GAITHER

EVP of Growth and Strategy

1o8

Steve Gaither is the EVP of Growth and Strategy for 1o8, a creative meets commerce agency for CPG that focuses on brand strategy, creative and digital performance marketing . He was the founder of JB Chicago, a CPG focused branding and creative agency in 2000 with a client roster that included Unilever, Goodbelly and Dish Network. Steve exited the agency to C.A. Fortune in 2019, where he ran the Branding unit and became CMO of the larger organization.  As a mentor at the Good Food Business Accelerator, ICNC, the Food Foundry, Chicagoland Food and Bev, and The Hatchery, his relationships with entrepreneurs led him to co-found the Windy City Troublemakers, an early-stage food meetup and Podcast. Steve was also a partner in Spiral Sun Ventures and Windy City Food Brands, where he and his fellow CPG experts provided the capital and go-to market strategies that help brands accelerate their growth. 

JANET GARETTO

Intellectual Property Partner & Co-Leader of Food, Beverage and Agribusiness Practice 

Nixon Peabody

Janet advises her clients, which includes food and beverage as well as pharmaceutical and medical device companies, on brand development strategies. This process involves trademark procurement, trademark portfolio development and maintenance, addressing brand misuse issues and developing internal branding guidelines and best practices.

In addition, she counsels clients on developing and implementing patent strategies. Her work includes patent procurement, patent portfolio development and maintenance, analyzing and enforcing patents and assisting clients on patent protection and litigation prevention issues.

TRACY HATFIELD

CEO/Owner

Social Snacks Video

Emmy-award winning storyteller. Tracy Hatfield worked the TV News trenches as a special project producer and as editor-in-chief at womensforum.com before starting her own video marketing agency Social Snacks. Mixing the guerilla style and authentic real-world storytelling from news with the creative turns on brand campaigns and advertorial partnerships from the lifestyle website, she has built a company that knows how to be nimble, organic, and efficient. Working with brands like O-Cedar, Johnsonville, Prego and TruMoo as well as agencies like BBDO, Edelman, and Kimberly-Clarke the team works in the social and digital spaces building video libraries and video programs that produce watchable fun and functional content.

SAVERIO SPONTELLA

Senior Vice President Sales, Marketing & Innovation

Land O'Frost

As Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Innovation at Land O'Frost, Saverio is leading the charge on values-driven growth for Land O’Frost, one of the nation’s best-selling brands of pre-sliced deli meats and producer of specialty meats. Leaning on his passion for introducing winning products, accelerating revenue and profit growth, he steer sales, marketing and R&D teams to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with cross-functional teams, retail partners, suppliers, and media outlets.

Saverio has 15+ years of experience successfully penetrating target markets, growing share, driving sales performance in the food & beverage and health and wellness industries and is using that knowledge to gain strategic advantage in competitive environments through long-term platform innovation.

*Please note, refunds will not be processed for registrations cancelled within 24 hours of the event.