NatWest Group

Research Consultant

Noggin The Brain People

🧠 Noggin The Brain People 🧠

Sainsbury's Bank

Head of Research, Planning & Brand

Head of Propositions & Innovation

Head of Customer Insight & Innovation

The Marketing Society Scotland

Chair Of Marketing Society Scotland

Heineken UK

Head Of CMI (Consumer & Market Intelligence)

Category Insights Controller

PepsiCo Intl

Consumer Insights For All PepsiCo Portfolio Of Beverage Brands across Western & Eastern Europe

European Consumer & Market Insights Director

PepsiCo

Worked on creating new International Trademarks for PepsiCo to play in exciting growing Asian beverage categories e.g. Healthy Whites (RTD Soymilk/Drinking Yoghurts) in China, India, Vietnam & Thailand.

Asia Regional Innovation Insights Manager

Quorn Foods

Consumer & market insights for the Quorn brand.

Consumer Insight Manager

Procter & Gamble

Consumer & Product Researcher Working In Skin Beauty Care (Oil Of Olay).

Products Research

🧠 Noggin - helping improve the cognitive health of the nation 🧠 | P&G | PepsiCo | Heineken | Sainsbury's |

I have over 25 years of insight, marketing, and innovation leadership experience in FMCG and FS sectors, I know, I don't look THAT old.

I've enjoyed working for some of the world's leading brands in various categories (health & beauty, food & beverages & financial services) and regions, delivering impactful consumer and market intelligence, brand strategy, and product innovation. My time spent working on Oil Of Olay made me my mum's favourite son.

Currently, I'm a research consultant at NatWest Group, where I'm supporting the bank's customer, technology and data-driven approach to enhancing its products and services. 

I'm a co-founder at Noggin The Brain People, on a mission to improve the cognitive health of the nation & founding investor in Gutzy Organic which makes having a healthy, happy gut, fun and easy. Active investor in the technology & health & wellness arena.

I'm a former chair and current fellow of the Marketing Society in Scotland.

We plan.
We schedule.
We cram one more thing in.
But we rarely think about the thing that makes it all happen.
Our Noggins.
Dr. Clara Doran MBBS MRCGP had to.
An MS diagnosis at 34 made sure of that.
She learned how to care for her brain.
How to rest it.
Fuel it.
Keep it working, even when life feels full on.
She wrote the book on how we can all care for our Noggins.
Remember your brain is your greatest asset.
Looking after it is not selfish.
It’s the smart think to do.
Because everything starts… and ends… up there.

#book #useyournoggin #braincare

Mick Doran

Like many former PepsiCo employees on here, I remember the days of "pepsi pretty" decks.

The love language was crisp slides, bold colours & layouts and narratives that could align teams quickly.

Those decks worked hard.

They rallied people behind good strategies.

Sometimes great ones.

But we all should remember that a great deck isn’t a strategy.

So it was interesting to read Elliott’s latest presentation on PepsiCo that they sent to their Board of Directors this week.

Personally I think it's a beauty.

 It’s activist storytelling at its finest:

 Charts that look crisp.
 Comparisons that sting.
 A promise of 50% upside that probably makes Wall Street salivate.

But pretty slides don’t build strategy.

People do.

Execution does

So talking about refranchising bottlers one needs to remember that this isn’t a PowerPoint exercise, it would be years of capital, contracts, and cultural change.

Cutting SKUs is a knife fight for shelf space, although presented as a tidy bullet point.

And glossy margin targets don’t guarantee market realities will play along.

I love a well-built narrative and a pretty deck & Elliott’s deck could be seen as a solid activist case.

But PepsiCo had/has an amazing culture .... 

... I'm sure the smart people working there will be challenging themselves about the future of their business as they face into many external realities ... such as 

- GLP-1 drugs and health-conscious lifestyles 
- Persistent inflationary pressures 
- Regulatory tightening
- Retailer & e-commerce platforms evolution
- FX volatility and geopolitical risks 
- AI hype 
- Execution risk

of course lots of opportunities in there too.

Will be interesting how this plays out!

#pepsiCo #usetheirnoggins #elliottinvestments

Elliott's Perspective on PepsiCo

One to ponder …


“Where your fear is, there is your task”
Carl Jung


#thoughtoftheday #useyournoggin

Most professionals make the same mistake.


They sometimes confuse activity with progress.

But the fact is that Your brain doesn’t do its best work when it’s running on fumes.

you sometimes need to pause.

Science backs it.

The pause reduces stress hormones, improves memory consolidation, and helps decision-making.

That “aha” moment in the shower?

See that as your noggin thanking you for taking five minutes off the hamster wheel.

The best leaders, creators, and thinkers don’t just grind.

They build positive pauses into their working days.

And then return sharper, calmer, and more effective.

So if you want to stand out and not  burn out…

Take a PAUSE

Check out nogginbrain.co.uk for more details info

#pause #useyournoggin #braincare

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We can’t all be experts.
 

Whether that be on climate science.
Or medicine.
Or AI.
So we rely on other people’s brains/expertise.
That’s what trust is surely; knowing their credentials.
However, when trust breaks…
One might mistake opinions for facts.
I get that blind faith is dangerous.
But so too is blind distrust surely.
The sweet spot has to be intelligent trust.
Trust that asks questions.
Trust that checks the receipts.
Trust that can change its mind.
We need to think of civilisation as a sort of a relay race.
We pass the baton of knowledge forward.
However, without trust, It gets dropped
Who would you trust enough to carry the baton?
I think motherhood statements of 'don't trust the experts' is dangerous ...
... as I see too many non experts talking 💩 on social media ...
...low on credentials but high on confidence ...

#trust #useyournoggin #expertise #RFKJnr

Taplio

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