Maisie Antoniello - Adapting and Evolving as a Leader in the Food and Beverage Industry

“As a brand and as a business, you got to evolve with the times and really think about what you really stand for and how it manifests nowadays.” – Maisie Antoniello

This week on the Gooder Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Maisie Antoniello, the Senior Marketing Executive Jones Soda Inc., a Seattle-based premium craft soda brand. We chat about Maisie’s big shift from big CPG brands (Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, and Starbucks) to the beloved regional Jones Soda brand - and how that move changed her life. We also learn about why Jones Soda implemented one of the most cutting-edge augmented reality technologies into their packaging – and discuss some of the marketing trends her brand is leveraging. We tackle everything from innovation, supply chain, and women leadership – to interesting facts about the trends/companies in the food and beverage world.

In this episode we learn:

- The history and the story of Jones Soda and what the “secret sauce” is that differentiates Jones Soda from other beverage brands
- How the pandemic impacted Jones Soda and the challenges and opportunities that came along with it
- About utilizing augmented reality in packaging and marketing, and the inspiration behind Jones Soda’s exciting project using AR
- How Masie leverages her big CPG experience to fuel the growth of a smaller “fighter” brand
- Why the shift from large to small brand is instrumental in her career growth
- Why Maisie heavily invests in research and data as a leader
- The advice Maisie gives to other leaders who desire to transition to smaller brands
- Trends in the food and beverage industry

About Maisie Antoniello:

Maisie Antoniello is a passionate brand marketer with over 14 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. Currently, she serves as the VP of Marketing at Jones Soda, where she is helping to lead the turnaround of a 25-year-old craft soda business. Prior to Jones, Maisie had various roles at Starbucks supporting both retail and packaged goods business units. Prior to Starbucks, she worked at Frito Lay where she had roles in brand, innovation, shopper, and multicultural marketing including building Frito-Lay’s Hispanic Portfolio.

Having had the good fortune of working on megabrands like Cheetos and Frappuccino, Maisie loves to take the “secret sauce” of brands and help them scale for growth by making them relevant to today’s consumer. 

When she’s not working on “the People’s Craft Soda”, you can often find Maisie having a craft beer with her husband or chasing around her two young boys. 

Guests Social Media Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maisiechanantoniello/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/meishichan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonessodaco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonessodaco/
Email: mantoniello@jonessoda.com
Website: https://www.jonessoda.com/ and https://drinklemoncocco.com/

Show Resources:

Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods.

Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. As the world's largest coffeehouse chain, Starbucks is seen to be the main representation of the United States' third wave of coffee culture.

Cheetos is a brand of cheese puff snack made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company and H.W.

Frappuccino is a trademarked brand of the Starbucks Corporation for a line of highly-sweetened iced, blended coffee drinks. It consists of coffee or crème base, blended with ice and other various ingredients like flavored syrups, usually topped with whipped cream and or spices.

Forbes is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics.

TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a Chinese video-sharing focused social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance. The social media platform is used to make a variety of short-form videos, from genres like dance, comedy, and education, that have a duration from 15 seconds to one minute.

A liquid ode to bad guys everywhere. Inspired by British criminals who, beginning in 1788, were transported to Australia. Pioneers in a harsh frontier colony, they proved that good things can come from a checkered past. 19 Crimes celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built. From a bad seed comes a truly great wine.

PepsiCo, Inc. is an American based multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of its products.

Episode Sponsor - Retail Voodoo:

A creative marketing firm specializing in growing, fixing and reinventing brands in the food, beverage, wellness and fitness industry. If your natural brand is in need of positioning, package design or marketing activation, we’re here to help. You can find more information at www.retail-voodoo.com