Daniel Braga, Service Manager, Louis Dreyfus Company
My professional career has spanned various types of companies, primarily in the FMCG sector (food and beverages, alcoholic beverages, and frozen foods), but I have also worked in B2B companies. This has allowed me to experience different business situations and challenges that require great creativity and the breaking of certain paradigms that sometimes persist in the marketing field.
I mean going beyond having a good product/brand, a competitive price, and good distribution and advertising. The most important value a marketing executive brings to a company is a correct understanding of the context and current challenges facing the business, and subsequently, a strategic vision that allows for continued growth through proper execution, regardless of the type of company. I believe this has been my philosophy.
Teams Align Purpose with Performance and Growth
This is the great challenge facing leaders in charge of a team: we must meet business objectives without forgetting that we work with human beings who have their own goals and life concerns.
Personally, I think great leaders are those who ensure that business objectives align, inspire, and make sense of the specific objectives of their employees so that a team objective is achieved and everyone is motivated to work toward it.
To achieve this, employees must clearly understand and answer the following questions:
1. What is the purpose of this team, and how does my work impact its achievement?
2. What problem am I solving that is most significant and positively impact my environment?
When team members understand and connect with a team’s purpose, they are more emotionally invested in their work. This goes beyond financial incentives, driving deeper commitment and a greater willingness to contribute to the objectives.
Universal Values Anchor Cross Generational Storytelling
I believe most emotional connections come from universal values and are timeless. Trust, love, honesty, and kindness aren’t exclusive to one generation.
From baby boomers to Generation Z, we all seek a product or brand that evokes different emotions, such as peace, excitement, and enjoyment, which ultimately translates into a deep connection with our target consumers.
These are the reasons why an advertising campaign must have a good storytelling.
Execute with Purpose, Decide with AI
Growth is the result of teamwork, from having clear direction from senior management to developing high-performance teams that creatively develop and execute the right strategies to achieve objectives.
That’s why the answer I mentioned in question two of this interview is very important: aligning a common business purpose and answering the question: How does my effort impact the achievement of this purpose?
I think that marketing in general, not just in Latin America, is experiencing very interesting times of change with all the technological innovations, specifically AI.
I believe if we know how to use this tool well, it will be an ally for marketing teams in their various roles, to develop business strategies for communications and innovation processes in order to make processes more agile and decisions faster and more accurate.
In the end, marketers are like doctors: our main source of work is human beings (consumers), and we are always evolving. Therefore, it is imperative for marketers to stay up-to-date with new technologies and tools to satisfy the present and future needs and desires of our consumers.
In this sense, I see technology as more than a threat—it’s an ally with which we must adapt and learn to use, but without losing a humanistic and ethical perspective.
Five Practices Build Brands with Real Connection
I would give them five pieces of advice:
1. Understand the context in which their brands are developed and the impact this has on their business strategies: macroeconomic issues, politics, and the social mood. These are essential to developing a successful marketing strategy.
2. Keep up with the use of new technologies and consumer behavior to develop truly relevant marketing plans.
3. Use your intuition and creativity to develop your brand strategies. These are often the main differentiators and competitive advantage, and no other tool can replace them.
4. Develop cross-functional teams. Goals are not achieved alone; they are the result of combining different talents.
5. Discover how your work purpose contributes to your own life purpose. If you can align them, you will develop your best version as people.