From global giants to insurgent start-ups, Ben Dando has built brands across almost every corner of CPG. Danone, Red Bull, Liquid Death, Karma Drinks, Agua de Madre | B Corp™ and now Goodrays, to name a few.
Along the way he’s been recognised as one of the industry’s top operators - named in Marketing Week's Top 100, Campaign UK's Power 100, and shortlisted 3x for CEO of the Year.
But Ben’s approach to leadership and growth didn’t start in CPG. A former elite athlete, he now applies team sport mentality to building brands, leading teams and scaling businesses.
Jamie Holtum sat down with the sportsman-turned-CPG superstar to unpack functional beverages, challenger brand growth, leadership, sustainability and much more.
Here's what we discussed:
1. The Meteoric Rise of “Social Beverages”
“People still want to socialise, be with friends, family, connect… the opportunity for brands to innovate in that space is huge.”
2. When The Blurred Lines Go Too Far
“At some point a consumer will say, ‘I actually just want a beer’… the blurring of categories is exciting, but if you stand for everything, you stand for nothing.”
3. Translating Team-Sport Mentality into Leadership Style
“There’s lots of overlap between team sports and building teams.. everyone is working toward a common goal, and must lean into their individual strengths for team success”
4. International Brand Building Is Never One-Size-Fits-All
“When your brand is expanding into a new market, it’s essential to be aware of cultural nuances and then play to them."
5. Sustainability Is Now a Hygiene Factor and Brands Must Step Up
“Brands have to step up and actually try and make a difference. Because we're F*&£%D if they don't!”
Links & references
Jamie Holtum
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-holtum-85b79634/
Haines
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hainespartners/
https://www.instagram.com/youmeandcpg/
Ben Dando
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bendando/
Episode highlights:
"I found that the quicker pace that I could go, the more I enjoyed it with less constraints… the second half of my career was more entrepreneurial, faster paced, purpose driven, sustainability driven organisations." - Ben Dando
"There's a point in your career where you go from ‘I’ to ‘we’… a lot of it is about ‘we’ – the level of talent that I've got around me allows me to do lots of things all at the same time." - Ben Dando
"People are more aware of what they put into their body… if you can have a great tasting product and then the added benefit and function that's going to help you – gut health, cognitive function, energy – it's there for a reason." - Ben Dando
"At Liquid Death, we had two key objectives: can we grow the valuation of the brand, and could we get proof of concept in key markets… we grew valuation from 70 million to 1.4 billion, so big tick in terms of objective." - Ben Dando
"The creative at times was quite American. The British humour… it's not quite as brash or shouty. When you're a brand expanding into a new market, just be aware of those cultural nuances and then play to them." - Ben Dando
"The UK is definitely one of the toughest markets to crack… category knowledge and selling, the negotiations are really quite hard, and quite tough. It takes longer to crack, but when you do, you've got a really strong foothold." - Ben Dando
"We would call it blurring the lines between alcohol, non‑alc, functional – people still want to socialise and connect. The occasion hasn't really changed, they're just looking for products to fit that occasion." - Ben Dando
