Next up on our Talking Straight series is Brent Vrdoljak, Marketing Consultant & FMCG whizz. We asked Brent about the FMCG industry & some fun quick fire questions -
Let's get into it!
Name & title:
Brent Vrdoljak, Marketing Consultant
Tell us a bit about you & what you do:
I'm a marketer by trade, I spent ten years working in a range of different consumer goods companies, mostly in product and brand roles.
I recently left the corporate world to build my own thing - it's still evolving but think of it as a hyper-niche marketing consultancy for FMCG brands.
By day, I spend my time working with startup founders in the FMCG space, helping them to align their brand strategies and execute on impactful marketing initiatives.
By night, I create content highlighting the interesting stuff I see along the way and sharing stuff I've learnt over the years.
What do you love about the FMCG industry?
I'm a complete design nerd, I've always loved art and although I'm not a designer, I have a strong interest in visual aesthetics (particularly packaging design). I think this pairs nicely with my analytical brain to create an odd obsession with brand identity and how that translates to physical products. I guess I love FMCG because in most cases, the packaging is a big part of the physical product. It's such an interesting space because we get to mesh the visual identity of the brand into the actual product and experience.
What trends are you predicting for the FMCG space for the rest of the year?
Australia is so far behind the global leaders like the US/UK in consumer packaging goods trends that it's kind of boring to predict what comes next. I think we'll keep seeing startups attempt to make healthy and cute versions of existing products, but fail to hit the mainstream because they miss on taste. What I really want to see is brands embracing the bad stuff again - accepting that a little bit of sugar is OK instead of these weird concoctions of chemicals to make stuff taste sweet. But who knows.
What’s the best piece of advice you were given?
"You don't have a decision to make until you have a decision to make". My father-in-law says this constantly and it runs true in so many aspects of life - take time to figure out what you want and stop wandering about the 15 different scenarios until things simply play out.
& what’s the worst?
The careers counsellor at school recommended that I become a painter. not like the cool artist kind but the painting walls kind. I'd have sucked at it, and hated it.
If weren’t in the FMCG space, what industry / job would you do / be?
I often romanticise the idea of starting a landscaping business. But my hands are too soft for that.
Complete the following sentences:
On the weekend you’ll find me: with my two kids at a playground
I can’t live without: Caffeine - it's bordering problematic
My go-to coffee order is: I'm very picky about coffee. single-origin V60 pour over. or just black, whatever...
If I were a cocktail, I would be: I asked chatGPT to answer given what it knows about me. Apparently I'm a classic Negroni with a twist - bold, balanced and slightly edgy. I'll take that.
My favourite way to sweat is: Pickleball!
An inspiring quote that sums me up is: Again, back to chatGPT here. "Creativity is intelligence having fun" - Albert Einstein. I think if chatGPT thinks I'm creative, I'm probably not very creative....
To connect with Brent, or to check out his insightful LinkedIn posts - check out his profile here.
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