Madame Nestlé - Interview with Global CEO Aude Gandon
As Nestlé’s Global CMO, French executive Aude Gandon manages a veritable brand empire and is also a dedicated advocate for «working parents.» A conversation about balancing children and career, leadership, and a zest for life.
m&k: You started your job as Global CMO and Chief Digital Officer at Nestlé in July 2020—right in the middle of the pandemic. Not exactly an easy time to take on such a high-responsibility role, was it?
Of course, CMOs are only as good as their respective teams. Do you find it easy to delegate responsibility?
I like to delegate, but of course I also want to set a specific goal, a specific direction, and a specific tone. And then I have to make sure I bring the right people together to achieve those goals. I’m not a «micromanager»—because I firmly believe that anyone working at a company like Nestlé knows what they’re doing. And that every employee’s work has value. I always start with trust, and if it doesn’t work out, then it just doesn’t work out. But trust—and with it, the willingness to delegate responsibility—should always be the starting point. And: humility and respect for employees’ experience and skills are incredibly important.
Can you elaborate on that?
Marketing, as a discipline, is by its very nature in a state of never-ending transformation. Just as the world and technology change, we marketers must change as well. There is no final goal we can reach. We make a plan, implement it—and we think, okay, we’ve done it. But then things have already shifted again; so we start over, and it’s on to the next round. And when you join a new company—as I did in 2020—that’s been doing so well for so long, there’s a reason for it: the employees understand the transformative power of marketing, and they know how to harness it. I don’t presume to know everything better than my team; rather, I want to help provide the right impetus in the right places.
Entire doctoral dissertations have been written about Nestlé’s marketing, and of course there are differences among the various brands owned by the company. So, unfortunately, we can’t go into all the details here. But: Is there a «guiding star» that you use to steer all your marketing activities?
That’s a good question. The key—and this is something Nestlé does well—is understanding what a brand stands for. That creates long-term stability. We’re doing a lot of work on brand equity and «Brands with Purpose.» This leads us to sustainability, an area where we’ve done a lot of work over the years and are now consolidating our ambitious goals from recent years under «Generation Regeneration.» We need to talk about the impact our work and our products have—on society, on the lives of consumers and suppliers, and on the climate. And what changes are necessary to meet the standards of tomorrow. Furthermore, I believe we need to evolve toward «always-on marketing»—meaning we must always be exactly where consumers are looking for us. And not just make an appearance when we think we have something to say or something to promote.
In the early 2000s, there was talk for a while of the—metaphorical—«death of the CMO.» People said the role was becoming obsolete. How «alive» do you feel?
It’s a very dynamic field. But to be successful as a CMO within a large organization today, you need a pretty broad range of expertise. You really have to understand at least the basics of everything—from marketing and consumer behavior to various aspects of digital transformation. You have to know how TV advertising works, but you also need to be familiar with Google’s ad platform; understand Google Search and its parameters, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest… and it doesn’t stop there. How do I use CRM tools? How can Salesforce help me optimize my business? I could go on and on. But in recent years, some of the fundamentals of marketing may have been lost, which is why people are once again looking more to CMOs—you have to have something to say.
Managing multiple channels while staying true to a core message: That's never been more complex than it is today, right?
Absolutely. In the past, you might have had just a handful of ways to communicate your brand value and purpose. Now you have practically endless options. Sometimes you have a shorter format available for this, and other times a longer one. If you’re on Twitter, you use a different style of expression than in an Instagram feed—but the goal you’re pursuing is ultimately the same. So you need to be able to adapt your message to the different channels without losing sight of your «North Star.».
Now we've talked about a lot of technical details. What I find exciting is that when people search for you on Google, Ms. Gandon, the first thing they find is not business statements from you - but a plea for the need to be able to combine family and career. Why is it so important to you to champion this issue?
Because I want all parents—all women and men—to understand that you can have both. It’s not easy; it can be a lot of work at times, and you need the right support. But it’s possible. Fortunately, companies are becoming increasingly aware of this as well: When I think back to when I had my first child, more than two decades ago… I was working in England at the time and was only granted six weeks of maternity leave. That’s much less than what Nestlé offers today, and fortunately, we’re not the only company to do so. It was never easy, but my children are now 23 and 19 years old—very well-adjusted and happy. They’re motivated to set goals for themselves and to stand up for what they want. And if I was able to set an example for them, even just a little bit, it was all more than worth it.
Nevertheless, in some executive circles, the belief still prevails that family and leadership cannot be combined—that the desire for flexibility means a lack of commitment to the job.
I think it all depends on how you organize yourself as a leader—how you establish structures and boundaries, and how you communicate to your team that you might not be working on a particular day. Of course, in emergencies, you have to be reachable. If that’s guaranteed—why shouldn’t a company offer flexible models to employees and leaders? Marketing teams, in particular, need to be very diverse in order to understand the perspectives of as many people as possible and to develop brands and products for them. But if company policy makes it impossible for people with diverse needs to join an organization, then there won’t be diverse teams either. As long as there’s a good team spirit and everyone pulls together, the work will always get done well in the end. And that’s what matters, isn’t it?
What advice would you give to young people who want to break into advertising, communications, or marketing today?
You have to stay curious, enjoy working with others, and have a passion for brands. I’m interested in everything that’s happening in the world, and I believe that helps me understand our female consumers much better. The team and the work environment are also very important. People who are desperate to climb the career ladder quickly sometimes forget that. If someone wants to be entrusted with responsibility, they first need patience, empathy, and the ability to compromise. If you have these qualities, you’ll be successful—and have fun doing it, too.
About the person
Aude Gandon is Senior Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer, and Digital Officer at Nestlé. Previously, she served as Global Managing Director, Brand, at Google; Worldwide Account Director at Publicis Groupe; and Worldwide Account Director at the McCann Group, among other roles. A native of France, she is married and the mother of two adult children.
