This week on the Be Epic podcast, Brent engages in a dynamic discussion with Mike Del Pozzo, President and General Manager of Gatorade at PepsiCo. During the episode they dive into the challenge of maintaining engagement with core and light Gatorade consumers, the importance of product timing, and strategies for PepsiCo's beverage and snack segments. Mike shares his personal journey from starting as a PepsiCo intern to leading Gatorade. He highlights the value of internships, and the benefits of having a diverse professional background. They also touch on the unique business environment in Northwest Arkansas and the comprehensive view necessary for successful brand management in the competitive CPG and retail industries.
Mike Del Pozzo: For us, one of the biggest problems to solve
Speaker:is, you know, our Gatorade. Our core Gatorade users are still
Speaker:using Gatorade. But sometimes there are light users are
Speaker:picking something else up for a second purchase or throughout
Speaker:different parts of the day. So those day parts are becoming
Speaker:increasingly important across, particularly for PepsiCo
Speaker:snacking and beverages and within Gatorade, that's how we
Speaker:think about it.
Brent Williams:Welcome to the be epic podcast, brought to you
Brent Williams:by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of
Brent Williams:Arkansas. I'm your host, Brent Williams. Together, we'll
Brent Williams:explore the dynamic landscape of business and uncover the
Brent Williams:strategies, insights and stories that drive business today.
Brent Williams:Well, today, I have with me, Mike Del Pozzo. Mike is
Brent Williams:president and general manager of Gatorade, Mike, thanks for being
Brent Williams:here today.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: No, thanks for having me. It's awesome to be
Brent Williams:back in Arkansas.
Brent Williams:Well, we're glad to have you back. And you've got
Brent Williams:a little bit of a history in Arkansas in Northwest Arkansas.
Brent Williams:Today, I want to talk about the brand that you get the
Brent Williams:opportunity to lead some of what you see coming in the CPG and
Brent Williams:retail industry and some of the cool experiences that you get
Brent Williams:leading this brand. But but to begin, love to hear a little bit
Brent Williams:about your background, how did you land at you know, what's
Brent Williams:your history look like? And how do you land as president and GM
Brent Williams:of Gatorade?
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah, well, thanks. It's, uh, I mean,
Brent Williams:honestly, it's, it's pretty, I feel very fortunate one, you
Brent Williams:know, like many probably, that are listening to this. I grew up
Brent Williams:playing sports, and I was an athlete, not quite as good as
Brent Williams:some of these student athletes I got to meet with this morning
Brent Williams:here at the university. But, you know, the brand was some very
Brent Williams:personal to me, and, and so I came into PepsiCo, which is the
Brent Williams:parent company of Gatorade, right out of school, actually,
Brent Williams:as an intern, and I got to intern on Gatorade, that was
Brent Williams:about 23 years ago. And I remember saying, oh, I want to
Brent Williams:get I want to go full time on Gatorade. And it was kind of the
Brent Williams:the crown jewel at the company then and that was my, my goal.
Brent Williams:And if I'd ever known that 23 years later, I'd be sitting here
Brent Williams:with you talking about it, it was, I wouldn't have believed
Brent Williams:it. So over the 23 years at PepsiCo, I've worked across a
Brent Williams:lot of different parts of the business, I've been on the
Brent Williams:customer side, the supply chain side, the marketing side, have
Brent Williams:moved around about nine times throughout the country, all
Brent Williams:within the US. And then I took over the Gatorade job almost two
Brent Williams:years ago. So I serve as the president of Gatorade. So I have
Brent Williams:responsibility for everything from what we say make move,
Brent Williams:market and sell. So where we make our products and
Brent Williams:manufacturing sites, moving the product on go to market, the
Brent Williams:brand side, which is the fun part of the business people like
Brent Williams:to talk about, which is all the marketing of Gatorade, our
Brent Williams:sports, our athletes, our lead partners. And then obviously,
Brent Williams:all of our customer kind of relationships I've managed with
Brent Williams:with Gatorade as well. So over the years, that's been kind of
Brent Williams:kind of hit and I, I, you know, came into this one the last two
Brent Williams:years.
Brent Williams:Well, a couple of things out of, out of your
Brent Williams:story leading up to this point that that are interesting to me.
Brent Williams:internship you mentioned, which is something at the Walton
Brent Williams:College we're extremely focused on. And we're extremely
Brent Williams:fortunate to have a concentration of business around
Brent Williams:us that our students can engage in that way. But clearly, the
Brent Williams:internship made a difference in your life.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Big time. And, you know, we were obviously with
Brent Williams:your support able to talk to some students today. And they
Brent Williams:asked some really good questions. Actually, I was
Brent Williams:sitting there like, wow, I'm impressed. I don't know that I
Brent Williams:would have been able to come up with those years ago, around,
Brent Williams:you know, internships and opportunities. And I did tell
Brent Williams:them I mean, frankly, you know, you've got a really special
Brent Williams:unique situation here in Northwest Arkansas. And as you
Brent Williams:mentioned, I've been here I've lived in Univer. I've lived in
Brent Williams:Northwest Arkansas twice. My wife went to university here. My
Brent Williams:daughter was born in Bentonville. And I tell the
Brent Williams:students now, you know, utilize the the unique situation you're
Brent Williams:Yeah, I think they're critically important to get to know
Brent Williams:in, you've got obviously big companies out here, big CPGs you
Brent Williams:know, PepsiCo, obviously, I'd rather everybody come to us, but
Brent Williams:there's a lot of other opportunities out here with, you
Brent Williams:know, with what Walmart's brought down here. And
Brent Williams:obviously, we have a team on the ground here a big team that sits
Brent Williams:in Northwest Arkansas and the internships I think what they
Brent Williams:you know, what they do is they really provide an opportunity
Brent Williams:not only for us to get to know students in what they're capable
Brent Williams:of, but the students an opportunity to check out the
Brent Williams:company. Is this something I want to be a part of? Do I
Brent Williams:believe in their values? Do I believe in what they stand for?
Brent Williams:Do I believe they've got growth potential? And so I kind of see
Brent Williams:it that way. And we try and come into those things you know,
Brent Williams:really wide open in fact, that told somebody today we're not as
Brent Williams:narrow on functions, even you might come in with a supply
Brent Williams:chain. You guys have an unbelievable supply chain
Brent Williams:program here at the university. But we also want you to get a
Brent Williams:breadth of experience. You may come in and do that but we want
Brent Williams:to you learn how to interact with sales and marketing and,
Brent Williams:you know, all the brand side and that allows people then to say,
Brent Williams:hey, maybe I maybe I don't want to be supply chain, maybe I want
Brent Williams:to do something else. And so that's what those internships provide.
Brent Williams:companies to understand what you like, what you don't like. And
Brent Williams:and then to apply, you know, I think that I, personally, if I
Brent Williams:learn something, I need to apply it for that, like really kind of
Brent Williams:set in and internships offer that ability.
Brent Williams:Yeah, for sure.
Brent Williams:You know, you also said that you've had the
Brent Williams:opportunity, you've moved, you know, several times, but you've
Brent Williams:moved functionally, which I assume set you up pretty well to
Brent Williams:run a business like Gatorade.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah, it. I joke about it a bit, because I think
Brent Williams:some of it was accidental. And now we're actually really trying
Brent Williams:to teach that and develop within PepsiCo, I, I came in, you know,
Brent Williams:really, in what we call business development. At the time, it was
Brent Williams:kind of like the centerpiece of supply chain and a little bit of
Brent Williams:kind of getting product from point A to point B, and, you
Brent Williams:know, understanding kind of how to do that. And then they said,
Brent Williams:Hey, you want to move to Northwest Arkansas, and I was a
Brent Williams:young guy living in Chicago working, just getting started at
Brent Williams:PepsiCo. And I said, absolutely, I knew what, what was going on
Brent Williams:out here. This was almost 20 years ago. And I came out into a
Brent Williams:sales role. And while I was in sales, I was actually on the
Brent Williams:Frito Lay business. And then they moved me over to Gatorade
Brent Williams:and in part of our Pepsi business, in a different
Brent Williams:function. And so over the years, those moves were, you know, they
Brent Williams:weren't necessarily always promotions, they were new
Brent Williams:experiences either cross functional into a different part
Brent Williams:of the business or a different brand. And so, as I told some of
Brent Williams:the students today, it's time flies. I mean, I think people
Brent Williams:look and say, how do you spend 20 plus years at the same
Brent Williams:company and you know, I'm in my mid 40s, so it's, for me, that's
Brent Williams:been most of my life. And the reality is, if you find the
Brent Williams:right company that you love, and you love what you do, and don't
Brent Williams:get me wrong, there's everybody's got days that they
Brent Williams:say, boy, you know, I don't love it, but you time flies, you're
Brent Williams:like, holy cow. I've been in all these different businesses and,
Brent Williams:and I've built, you know, my career on diverse experiences.
Brent Williams:So now I actually hire for that I try and build what I call a GM
Brent Williams:mindset, somebody that can come in and learn lots of functions.
Brent Williams:So when they talk to a customer, like Walmart down here, we're
Brent Williams:not just looking for people to talk sales, they need to talk
Brent Williams:supply chain, and go to market and finance. And so that's kind
Brent Williams:of what we're looking for now.
Brent Williams:You know, you mentioned a couple of stints in
Brent Williams:Northwest Arkansas, anything, you know, in particular that
Brent Williams:stands out in those experiences that you learned that that
Brent Williams:you've kind of taken forward into your future roles?
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Well, I think the one is, what I love about
Brent Williams:being out here actually is the competitive nature, we're you
Brent Williams:know, just like anybody, we want to be the best CPG. So you see a
Brent Williams:lot of you get great visibility for great companies out here.
Brent Williams:And so it always puts you on you see something or like, you know,
Brent Williams:whether your boss says, hey, you know why is so and so doing that
Brent Williams:you're like, oh, my gosh, we gotta be better. So I actually
Brent Williams:love that. I almost think about it, like a bunch of elite teams
Brent Williams:down here, right? All work. I mean, this is one of the, you
Brent Williams:know, biggest and best customers obviously. So you've got your,
Brent Williams:your great talent down here. So that's the same for all of our
Brent Williams:competitive CPG groups. So I think that's one it makes us
Brent Williams:better. I think the other is, I've always loved when you you
Brent Williams:know, when you work in down here on a business this size, the
Brent Williams:decisions you make have a material impact. And I like that
Brent Williams:we we joke sometimes we say you come out here and you blow up or
Brent Williams:blow up you know, it's like it's it's an opportunity to really
Brent Williams:make a name for yourself. And you know, you learn a lot so I
Brent Williams:made stupid decisions too when I came out here that I thought
Brent Williams:were right on the business that I'm going to try something and
Brent Williams:maybe it didn't work and when you make a bad decision on
Brent Williams:business that size within PepsiCo, even it's like, oh my
Brent Williams:gosh, I gotta I gotta learn from that. What did I do wrong? Maybe
Brent Williams:that business wasn't right for the time maybe it was, you know,
Brent Williams:the the go to market was different than it needed to be
Brent Williams:whatever it is. It's so big that you learn from it and you
Brent Williams:optimize so there's just so much opportunity that comes with
Brent Williams:being on the customer this size.
Brent Williams:Yeah, there sure is. I love what you said about
Brent Williams:like, you know, the the talent that comes through this region
Brent Williams:through various CPG companies and some developed here, some
Brent Williams:coming in from other places. It's a pretty unique place in
Brent Williams:that way.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: For sure. Yeah.
Brent Williams:Well, I'd love to talk a little bit about
Brent Williams:Gatorade because what an engaging brand, it's a dynamic
Brent Williams:brand and seems to fit you in some ways, right? You bring the
Brent Williams:energy and you're bringing an inner you to an energetic brand.
Brent Williams:I'd love to hear a little bit about the history of the brand
Brent Williams:and anything you're excited about going forward.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah, it's uh, I mean, it's a special story. I
Brent Williams:don't know. I mean, probably people. You know, you have a
Brent Williams:little bit of context for Gatorade being you know,
Brent Williams:invented through this idea of kind of solving a problem of you
Brent Williams:know, hydration but it next year will be 60 years from when the
Brent Williams:brand was was developed. 1965 on the sideline of Florida, Florida
Brent Williams:Gators, and what was so special about it, it was a we were
Brent Williams:talking about inventorship it was an inventor that worked at
Brent Williams:the university there, Dr. Robert Cade. And you can there's books
Brent Williams:out there first and thirst and a bunch of others. You can read on
Brent Williams:it. It's pretty amazing. You know, he basically had, you
Brent Williams:know, what you would assume is you know, they call it the swamp
Brent Williams:out there. It's it's hot market. These players were getting
Brent Williams:dehydrated. And Dr. Cade was working in the university in the
Brent Williams:science and r&d lab and created the basically electrolyte
Brent Williams:formula that's now in Gatorade and obviously a proprietary
Brent Williams:Gatorade electrolyte blend. He invented it and they got it on
Brent Williams:the sideline, they called it Gatorade for the Florida Gators.
Brent Williams:And I believe after the first year using it, they went on to
Brent Williams:win a national championship. And then there's even more history
Brent Williams:you can follow where they from there, he shared that formula
Brent Williams:with the Kansas City Chiefs, and then they won a championship and
Brent Williams:then it kind of goes on from there. And you know, that the
Brent Williams:Cade family is still actively involved in philanthropy out
Brent Williams:there. And I stay close with his daughter, Phoebe Cade. So it's
Brent Williams:real, it's personal to me. I mean, when I took the job two
Brent Williams:years ago, the first thing I wanted to do is understand the
Brent Williams:history of the brand. And it's a balance, right? Because I don't
Brent Williams:want us to, like, you know, rest on the laurels of 1965, sports
Brent Williams:drink hydration, we've got to reinvent ourselves. So the brand
Brent Williams:itself was in probably one of the biggest transformations
Brent Williams:ever, portfolio transformation, brand transformation. But what I
Brent Williams:try and do is strike a balance of protecting the history, the
Brent Williams:heritage of the brand, and thinking about what we need to
Brent Williams:move forward. And that's why you'll you know, we'll talk you
Brent Williams:see some of the portfolio expansion, but it's such a fun
Brent Williams:story out there, it's part of who we are, it's part of the
Brent Williams:heritage. And then honestly, you know, that is what I think has
Brent Williams:us is such a relevant brand within obviously the sidelines
Brent Williams:of University of Arkansas, most colleges and universities, all
Brent Williams:32 NFL sidelines, all major league baseball dugouts, all NBA
Brent Williams:sidelines, you know, the brand is synonymous with sports, with
Brent Williams:athletes and with competition, and we intend to keep it that
Brent Williams:way.
Brent Williams:You mentioned that, you know, you're always
Brent Williams:trying to strike that balance, I guess, between the history and,
Brent Williams:and continuing to innovate and, and, you know, it's in a fairly
Brent Williams:established category, right, the beverage category, how do you go
Brent Williams:about innovating with with that historical brand in that type of
Brent Williams:category?
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah. It starts with a consumer, you know, we
Brent Williams:talk about, we talk about it as the athlete more, but I use the
Brent Williams:term athlete, loosely now. I talked about the modern athlete,
Brent Williams:because I think the core athlete, there's a need for
Brent Williams:Gatorade, how they used it hydrated either before, during,
Brent Williams:after whatever occasion, you know, sweat, occasion, etc. The
Brent Williams:modern athlete is more of what I'd call this 24 wellness
Brent Williams:hydration like they want they want to they want this product
Brent Williams:or some of the functional benefits of the product all day.
Brent Williams:And we have a portfolio for all parts of that day. And that's
Brent Williams:the goal. And so, what we think about is, you know, I think
Brent Williams:about the brand Gatorade zero for example, we didn't have a
Brent Williams:zero sugar Gatorade product till 2018. It was the first liquid
Brent Williams:refresh LRB called liquid refreshment beverage to a
Brent Williams:billion dollars, it's now going to be about a $2 billion brand
Brent Williams:by itself. Because not everybody wants they don't always want
Brent Williams:sugar. A lot of athletes do want sugar and your body actually
Brent Williams:needs sugar and carbohydrates for those those harder workout
Brent Williams:occasions. But we introduced zero, we introduced a product
Brent Williams:called Gator light. Just in the last year and a half. It's a
Brent Williams:rapid rehydration product. It's already almost a half a billion
Brent Williams:dollars. It's the market leader. And that is a unique benefit
Brent Williams:that brings 2x electrolyte blend plus potassium, magnesium, other
Brent Williams:things that the body needs for like a rapid quick recovery. We
Brent Williams:introduced that. Last year we introduced a product called fast
Brent Williams:twitch which is athletic energy Gatorade's first foray into
Brent Williams:caffeine, 200 milligrams of caffeine, Gatorade,
Brent Williams:electrolytes, B vitamins, in partnership with the NFL, and
Brent Williams:that was a very big launch for us because the NFL didn't have a
Brent Williams:caffeinated product that they had on the sideline anywhere. So
Brent Williams:that was a big deal. This year, as we sit today actually, this
Brent Williams:week, we launched Gatorade water, which is an alkaline base
Brent Williams:water, with electrolytes. And then you see this go on and you
Brent Williams:think about the portfolio. It looks a lot different than it
Brent Williams:used to. The other thing we're really focused on, as you talked
Brent Williams:about how to you innovate in a developed category is function
Brent Williams:and form. And so we're really focused on this beyond the
Brent Williams:bottle agenda. You know, we invented Gatorade was a powder
Brent Williams:when it started. So I kind of tell people like we were the OG
Brent Williams:of powders. But now people are bringing it. There's lots of new
Brent Williams:players in this space. And it's either because people want to
Brent Williams:create their own like I want to control my own functional
Brent Williams:ingredients. or I care about the planet more than I probably used
Brent Williams:to, I didn't know how much plastic I was, I was wasting.
Brent Williams:And so I want to be more cognizant of that. Or there's a
Brent Williams:component of convenience and portability, hey, I bring our
Brent Williams:tablets or our powders when I go play golf or when I go travel.
Brent Williams:So I know I've got that. So this whole category, you know, when
Brent Williams:you're 65 share of a category that's this big, you have a
Brent Williams:responsibility to disrupt yourself or somebody else will
Brent Williams:disrupt you. And that's what we're doing.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah, for sure.
Brent Williams:What a great point, you know, when when you
Brent Williams:Well, you know, and maybe, you know, taking that
Brent Williams:lead in a category that you have the responsibility to push that
Brent Williams:a little bit more broad. So, just talk about, you know, I
Brent Williams:category forward?
Brent Williams:think you said at the beginning of how do you innovate in a
Brent Williams:category, you mentioned the consumer, what are some ways you
Brent Williams:see the consumer evolving? What does that mean, in your opinion
Brent Williams:for the industry CPG. And for retail, you know, so I blend
Brent Williams:those two together?
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Well, two two kind of areas, I'd say, one, the
Brent Williams:macros on the consumer, and that's what's happening in the
Brent Williams:environment right now. And that is, you know, frankly, whether
Brent Williams:it's inflation, whether it's trends in you know, you know,
Brent Williams:people trying to think differently about how they
Brent Williams:engage in brands throughout the day, whether it's, there's these
Brent Williams:macros of the environment that we're all navigating that are
Brent Williams:important, you know, and that has a material impact on all
Brent Williams:food and beverage, and certainly Gatorade and PepsiCo being, you
Brent Williams:know, the largest food and beverage company has a big
Brent Williams:responsibility, make sure we've got the right kind of solutions
Brent Williams:for that. And that means pack price architecture. So you've
Brent Williams:got great value on packaging needed. That means your route,
Brent Williams:you're you're thinking about making sure all your products
Brent Williams:are either sustainable, biodegradable, and you've got a,
Brent Williams:you know, a real strong sustainability agenda. And that
Brent Williams:means, so the consumer is driving that all that so we
Brent Williams:talked about it as macros, but it really is because the
Brent Williams:consumers are choosing to engage in brands and companies
Brent Williams:differently. So that's something we take a big responsibility of,
Brent Williams:more near. And I think, though, is this consumer behavior stuff,
Brent Williams:which is, you know, whether it's health and wellness would be a
Brent Williams:big one, right? And it doesn't necessarily mean what it used to
Brent Williams:it's, oh, I'm cutting calories, not it's not necessarily it.
Brent Williams:It's a lot of people. In fact, if you look at some soft drink
Brent Williams:businesses, real sugar is actually doing better, like
Brent Williams:people are like, no, it's artificials. Or it's,
Brent Williams:everybody's different. So you can't, you can't pivot your
Brent Williams:brand one way, you've got to really listen to the consumer
Brent Williams:and say, how do I solve that need? And so, I health and
Brent Williams:wellness is certainly a big part of it that we're focused on and
Brent Williams:making sure we've got the portfolio that people need and
Brent Williams:people want. I think the other is this idea of convenience.
Brent Williams:People are on the go more than ever you think about COVID
Brent Williams:people were at home they were working out they were exercising
Brent Williams:on their peloton, whatever. So the peloton sales go way up and
Brent Williams:our product was way up because people were at home. Now they're
Brent Williams:on the go. And you would think okay, well, then you would have
Brent Williams:more purchases? Well, the reality is they've got more
Brent Williams:choices. So they're thinking about things throughout the day,
Brent Williams:differently. So for us, one of the biggest problems to solve
Brent Williams:is, you know, our Gatorade, our core Gatorade, users are still
Brent Williams:using Gatorade. But sometimes there are light users are
Brent Williams:picking something else up for a second purchase or throughout
Brent Williams:different parts of the day. So those day parts are becoming
Brent Williams:increasingly important across, particularly for PepsiCo
Brent Williams:snacking, and beverages and within Gatorade, that's how we
Brent Williams:think about it. And we think about building this kind of
Brent Williams:competitive moat around our business to make sure that we've
Brent Williams:got solutions for all those day parts, but the consumers
Brent Williams:changing, you know, so rapidly. The other thing, I think, youth
Brent Williams:is changing a lot, you know, I've got two daughters that are,
Brent Williams:you know, 11 and nine and things that I drank as a kid or
Brent Williams:consumed they're not, they're just not touching it. And so I
Brent Williams:listen to them a lot. I mean, I we do a lot of great marketing
Brent Williams:studies. Now, I always tell my marketers like, okay, I hear
Brent Williams:what you say, I'm gonna go talk to a bunch of kids in the
Brent Williams:neighborhood and see what they say. So I think it's just being
Brent Williams:aware. And lastly, I'd say competitive. These are
Brent Williams:competitive categories, they're, they're high growth categories
Brent Williams:that you know, a lot of people come into. And so when you're a
Brent Williams:big company like ours, you know, claims are important. Being
Brent Williams:aware of kind of competitors and not you know, reacting but
Brent Williams:understanding what consumer need they're meeting that you're not
Brent Williams:meeting and and how do you go meet that. And that's a big part
Brent Williams:of we focus on,
Brent Williams:Yeah, you know, when you talk about that younger
Brent Williams:consumer, I'm the dad of two daughters as well. So that
Brent Williams:resonates with me. How is your strategy for marketing shifting?
Brent Williams:Is it shifting in any ways, the way you're engaging through
Brent Williams:content? Experiences?
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah, I'd say a couple things. You know, one,
Brent Williams:it's really how you reach that consumer is different as you
Brent Williams:know, I mean, my girls like, I mean, I don't even know if know
Brent Williams:how to turn the TV on, you know, I mean, they want to watch.
Brent Williams:We've got, you know, TVs right in front of them. They want to
Brent Williams:watch their shows on iPads. They want to engage, you know,
Brent Williams:socially differently. So how we reach the consumer, I think is
Brent Williams:very different. You know, I sat through a session with the NBA a
Brent Williams:couple weeks ago on this very thing with all the tech and
Brent Williams:streaming giants there and talking about content, how
Brent Williams:people want to view sports, it's different, it really is. And the
Brent Williams:same is on our brands. We still advertise on live sports,
Brent Williams:because it's one that you know, I still feel like is going to be
Brent Williams:very relevant for a long time now how people engage might be
Brent Williams:different, but they're going to engage live, they're not going
Brent Williams:to watch a game later and see what happened.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: So we still do that, socially digitally, is you
Brent Williams:Right.
Brent Williams:know, I mean, I know it goes without saying, but I think how
Brent Williams:we do it is more important, the intentionality targeting is more
Brent Williams:important, otherwise, it's wasted media dollars. So being
Brent Williams:smart about who we're connecting with and when is, is it's
Brent Williams:harder, it's a lot of work on the brand, it's making sure
Brent Williams:you're authentic in how you in how you communicate, you know,
Brent Williams:we, we sign a lot of athletes. And so when we sign an athlete,
Brent Williams:like we're very, very close to why are we doing this? Do they
Brent Williams:mean, does it? Do they? Is there a storytelling opportunity? Is
Brent Williams:there authentic opportunity to talk about this partnership? And
Brent Williams:that's it. And I mean, we feel like the other thing somebody
Brent Williams:told me once recently that I thought it's stuck with me as
Brent Williams:coaches used to be your coaches in sports, like if you were
Brent Williams:playing a sport, and a coach said, hey, drink this, eat this
Brent Williams:study this you did it?
Brent Williams:Yeah.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Coaches now or like social media influencers or
Brent Williams:and it's scary, right.
Brent Williams:Yeah.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: You know, I think they told me something
Brent Williams:like, you know, 60% of the content that's now viewed is
Brent Williams:from non experts even on so they're just so how we help
Brent Williams:message that is different too.
Brent Williams:Yeah, well, you know, as I've gotten to know you
Brent Williams:a little bit today, I thought, and I'm a big sports fan, like
Brent Williams:you get some really cool sports experiences, it sounds like,
Brent Williams:give us a little bit of flavor for that. Because, you know, you
Brent Williams:mentioned you mentioned NFL, NBA, college sports, I'm sure
Brent Williams:I'm just kind of touching the tip of the iceberg there, any
Brent Williams:any cool experiences that have been really fun for you?
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: It's a fun business. I, you know, I joke
Brent Williams:sometimes because the the job comes with great, fun events,
Brent Williams:the last couple of weeks from Super Bowl to the NBA All Star
Brent Williams:game, and when we're there, we engage with our partners and,
Brent Williams:you know, then my boss reminds me, you know, hey, you gotta get
Brent Williams:back and run the P&L Today so, you know, it's a balance of both
Brent Williams:those things, but it's somebody that's been, you know, just an
Brent Williams:avid fan of all sports, you know, I've been, I've been able
Brent Williams:to go to, you know, a dozen Super Bowls, and gotten to
Brent Williams:engage with some of the athletes that you know, I idolized over
Brent Williams:the years and I always enjoy that what I enjoy most about it
Brent Williams:is and it's funny, the time they give us I always at first was
Brent Williams:like, oh, is it because they think we're gonna you know,
Brent Williams:we've got dollars to spend or is it really it's it's more these
Brent Williams:these athletes want to talk about the brand the experiences
Brent Williams:they had the fun they had and for and for me that's that's
Brent Williams:pretty special. We we do a lot of shoots, I go out to our
Brent Williams:shoots, those are always fun. I went out and did one we did a
Brent Williams:spot last year called don't go missing with Damian Lillard
Brent Williams:who's you know, just was named the MVP of the NBA All Star
Brent Williams:game, awesome athlete, great Gatorade supporter, and we had
Brent Williams:fun with it. And I got to see you know, how these these guys
Brent Williams:are in their element. And, you know, doing those is fun. And
Brent Williams:frankly, you know, really anything that I think gets us
Brent Williams:closer to our our core athletes is something I really enjoy
Brent Williams:doing. You know, we talk about being always everywhere, I'd
Brent Williams:love to have every I'm competitive just like anybody
Brent Williams:Love it. Well, no, sort of shift back personal.
Brent Williams:else. I, you know, I hate when I see a brand that's not ours on a
Brent Williams:You've had a great career thus far. You're nowhere near
Brent Williams:sideline or, you know, in somebody's hand, and we figure
Brent Williams:out how do we get it and work to get better?
Brent Williams:finished. But you've had a great career thus far with a great
Brent Williams:company. If you think about our students, and you're to put
Brent Williams:yourself back in the shoes of a college senior, you know about
Brent Williams:to go into that first job and build a career. Any is there
Brent Williams:anything you've learned that you say like, oh, this really helps
Brent Williams:me now. And this is something I would share?
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah, you know, I just talked to a few about
Brent Williams:this this morning. I know it's a little cliche, but I really
Brent Williams:believe there's, I say for two reasons. One, I believe it and
Brent Williams:two, I think we've gotten away from this a little bit when I
Brent Williams:think about students and it's this relationship component. You
Brent Williams:know, a lot of people want to talk about their resume, which
Brent Williams:is important, the experiences, their grades, all the things
Brent Williams:they did in school, I think that's really important. But
Brent Williams:when I sit across from somebody and look at bringing people into
Brent Williams:PepsiCo, whatever, it's it truly is about the experiences they've
Brent Williams:gotten. And then frankly, building and leveraging those
Brent Williams:relationships when they come in, and I think that, you know,
Brent Williams:that's the one thing we talked about it here what an
Brent Williams:unbelievable opportunity with all the companies based out
Brent Williams:here. At a university that's got, you know, great credibility
Brent Williams:in the community with the CPG industry. So I think, you know,
Brent Williams:when you're coming into a company, and I'll use myself as
Brent Williams:an example, I, I let the reason I got opportunities is through
Brent Williams:just naturally building new relate, I'd ask somebody, go get
Brent Williams:coffee, I was the Frito Lay, you know, junior marketer, and I'd
Brent Williams:go talk to the Pepsi guy and say, hey, can we grab coffee let
Brent Williams:me buy you a coffee? Or can we go out in a store together and
Brent Williams:walk a store, I did that constantly, and one I learned
Brent Williams:from it, and then I built relationships, and that opened
Brent Williams:up so many doors. And so the, these businesses are still heavy
Brent Williams:relationship opportunities. And I think I teach my daughters now
Brent Williams:I bring them to business dinners with me a lot. I had them sit
Brent Williams:through a business dinner with the owner of the Chicago Bulls
Brent Williams:like a month ago, and it was a two hour dinner. And I said,
Brent Williams:you're gonna sit here and listen to us talk, and we're gonna
Brent Williams:engage you. But like, I worry that that kind of stuff has kind
Brent Williams:of went away, you know, and I think for, for us, that's a big
Brent Williams:one, I'd tell students that build those relationships. The
Brent Williams:other is, you know, getting, you know, a multitude of
Brent Williams:experiences, like really not just coming in with like, you
Brent Williams:know, one particular skill set, but you know, developing
Brent Williams:yourself with different experiences that round you out
Brent Williams:as a person is an opportunity. I think that that really goes kind
Brent Williams:of sometimes missing when you come into these conversations.
Brent Williams:And then lastly, I think, you know, this authenticity is
Brent Williams:another big one we talked about this morning a bit like being
Brent Williams:yourself and talking about who you are, I think that's a luxury
Brent Williams:like back, I felt like 20 years ago, I would just be trying to
Brent Williams:get a job and be like, oh, no, I'm gonna work as hard as I can
Brent Williams:all day. Now, it really is about what's important to you, you
Brent Williams:know, what motivates you. And I think bringing that to these
Brent Williams:conversations for students is super important as well.
Brent Williams:Well Mike, I couldn't agree more the
Brent Williams:relationship component. And, you know, it's one of the one of the
Brent Williams:things that I think about, you know, our typical undergraduate
Brent Williams:student, at least traditional undergraduate student, you know,
Brent Williams:the transformation that happens during this these college years,
Brent Williams:and you're in the classroom, but I'm always encouraging them, I
Brent Williams:think, like you are get as many experiences as you can build as
Brent Williams:many relationships as you can do that authentically. So that, you
Brent Williams:know, you get value out of it, and the other person gets value
Brent Williams:out of it. And you know, you just never know where that leads
Brent Williams:to.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: Yeah. 100%. And typically, to your point, you
Brent Williams:don't I mean, it, it typically opens up a door that you didn't
Brent Williams:even see comin, right? Because you, you know, you put yourself
Brent Williams:out there. And I think that's, you know, that's something we're
Brent Williams:trying to do do more of as we bring people in is put them in
Brent Williams:even uncomfortable situations, see how they do and typically
Brent Williams:they end up finding, you know, something they didn't realize
Brent Williams:they'd be that good at.
Brent Williams:Well, Mike, thank you for being engaged with
Brent Williams:the Walton College. We're really appreciative of you, the
Brent Williams:partnership and excited to see what you do with the brand in
Brent Williams:the future.
Brent Williams:Mike Del Pozzo: No, thanks for having me. This is a real honor.
Brent Williams:Like I said, coming back here and, you know, think about when
Brent Williams:I first came here to work in Northwest Arkansas, if I thought
Brent Williams:I'd be coming back here to do this podcast with you and be
Brent Williams:running the Gatorade business is a dream and I think that's, you
Brent Williams:know, a lot of what this this is about, how do we build more of
Brent Williams:those through the partnership with the University and PepsiCo
Brent Williams:and certainly happy to bring any, any folks in as they come
Brent Williams:over.
Brent Williams:On behalf of the Walton College. Thank you for
Brent Williams:joining us for this captivating conversation. To stay connected
Brent Williams:and never miss an episode. Simply search for be epic on
Brent Williams:your preferred podcast service.