Vilma Livas Of Nature’s Bakery On Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand

An Interview With Martita Mestey

Be Authentic. Spend time defining who your brand is and what it isn’t. Brand guidelines and guardrails should be your bible. Just because it’s right for another brand doesn’t make it right for you. We faced pressure from retailers asking us for Paleo and Keto offerings, something that makes little sense for school-aged kids. It took explaining but our retail partners ultimately got it.

As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Vilma Livas, Chief Marketing Officer at Nature’s Bakery.

Vilma Livas is the CMO at Nature’s Bakery, a best-selling, plant-based, nut-free, better-for-you snack bar brand, which was acquired by KIND as part of Mars Inc. in December 2020. Since joining Nature’s Bakery in 2017, Livas executed a successful rebrand, launched two new product lines and scaled the brand’s omnichannel and e-commerce business. In this time, Nature’s Bakery has become the seventh best-selling, and fastest-growing granola and snack bar brand in a $4B category. On a mission to nourish and enable every family to thrive, Nature’s Bakery believes snacks should taste as good as they make you feel.

Prior to Nature’s Bakery, Livas lead marketing for Dogswell, Califia Farms, and Nestle’s Coffee-mate and Wonka brands. She’s worked on global category leaders as well as entrepreneurial, high-growth brands. Outside of work, Livas loves spending time in the kitchen cooking for family and friends or outdoors hiking and running. She lives in Pasadena, CA with her husband and their three school-aged kids. Livas earned her BA and MBA from Stanford University.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Since I can remember, brands have always mattered to me. We didn’t have much growing up but we tried to spend it on quality products we believed would last longer and perform better. Whether it was saving up for another pair of Converse or buying Clearly Canadian instead of plain water, I’ve always believed that brands have badge value. They reflect how we see ourselves. I watched ads even after TiVo let us skip them and was always fascinated by the influence brands yield. Fast forward to business school where I realized I could marry my other passion (food) with a career in marketing — and I was hooked.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

As the associate brand manager of our Halloween confectionary business at Nestle, I convinced my leadership and cross-functional team to support the launch of a new concept for Halloween — an all-in-one candy and bowl solution. The product even had a sound triggered when your hand dug in for candy. Ironically, it won packaging awards, but sales were soft and it was discontinued after one year.

I got lost in the ‘cool’ factor of the idea and made it way too complicated for the consumer. Ultimately, the value wasn’t there, and it flopped. It was a good lesson to learn — no matter how cool the idea is, it’s the consumer (not you) who must ‘get it,’ understand its value and be willing to pay for it in the end.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Nature’s Bakery went through a complete rebranding in 2019. It was an exercise in getting out of our own way. The new look was a turning point for the business, driving immediate sales lifts at retail that have yet to show any signs of slowing. We went from a brand that felt old and recessive to a joyful, vibrant brand that is easy to shop and understand. We know consumers make decisions quickly. They’re scrolling swiftly on their mobile phones so our message had to be simple, clear, and compelling. I think what makes us stand out is our use of bright colors inspired by our ingredients, as well as product photography that tells you exactly what you’re getting — a deliciously satisfying snack you’ll feel good about eating! We’re being discovered by more and more households every day who in turn are telling their friends to buy Nature’s Bakery.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Our purpose is to nourish all families and enable them to thrive one snack at a time.

Our innovation team has deep empathy for our consumers. Moms of school-aged children know first-hand the challenge of finding healthier snacks of great value that kids want to eat. In the average active family, kids are having 3+ snacks daily — that’s a lot of choices to make. If we are being honest, snacking has become the way we eat so nutrition is at the heart of most snacking decisions. Our team is laser-focused on bringing more great tasting, better-for-you snacks to families with the goodness of real and recognizable ingredients and added nutritional benefits. We’re going to continue finding ways to make healthier snacking an easy and accessible choice.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Good question. In my opinion, brand marketing is the relationship built on a promise between the brand/company and the consumer. It requires proof points and trust that is built over time. Those proof points come from positive experiences with the brand, likely through your products or a swift DM reply to a comment on social media. Product marketing centers on communicating compelling product features and benefits in a manner that is memorable and hopefully inspires action (a purchase). I’d tell any marketer that brand building doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a plant you care for if you want to see it grow. Product marketing, when it’s most effective, will entertain us and incite us to act. It is part of brand-building but often has very clear short-term goals or desired outcomes.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

I’m going to stay with my plant analogy. If you’re like me, you stare at it wondering why it’s not changing or when it will grow. You question whether you’re doing the right thing. Results may not be immediate but if you care for it, eventually you’ll have a healthy plant. In the same way, you must remain steadfast and consistent when building a brand. A brand is built over time and through many touchpoints, so you’ve got to stay the course. The challenge we have as marketing leaders is balancing the natural tension that exists between long-term brand-building investments and short-term tactics tied directly to current year sales and growth objectives.

Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.

1. Be Authentic. Spend time defining who your brand is and what it isn’t. Brand guidelines and guardrails should be your bible. Just because it’s right for another brand doesn’t make it right for you. We faced pressure from retailers asking us for Paleo and Keto offerings, something that makes little sense for school-aged kids. It took explaining but our retail partners ultimately got it.
2. Treat your Consumers with Respect. They don’t expect you to be perfect, but they want you to be real with them. If you mess up, admit it and try to do better. We recently had to undo a minor packaging change that consumers missed more than we expected. After all, remember that they’re the ones paying with their wallet.
3. Keep Listening. The closer you get to understanding your consumers — how they live, and what they care about — the better you will be at bringing them content and products that truly resonate. Show them you “get them.” Our monthly “voice of the consumer” meeting is a great forum to stop and listen to what consumers are saying.
4. Invite Consumers to the Conversation. You don’t always have to own the message or the content; invite consumers in to help you spread the love. And it wouldn’t hurt if you rewarded them for this. Check out our Snack Squad and Pantry Perks programs at naturesbakery.com.
5. Keep Yourself Honest. Don’t forget to close the loop and measure whether you are getting it right. Look at your product review average ratings, your NPS scores, and your % repeat buyer rates. Are consumers happy? And if not, why? What can you improve upon?

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand? What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

There are many brands I admire. I’ll pick something outside of food and say Nordstrom continues to earn my trust and respect. Even as they’ve evolved to digitize every aspect of the shopping experience, they’ve kept their focus on superior and excellent customer service. I’m impressed by the lengths they go to make things right. I’m very loyal to them as a result. How have I applied this to Nature’s Bakery? We moved Consumer Services into Marketing and made the deliberate choice NOT to outsource this to a 3rd party. We have so many letters and emails from our consumers thanking us for an exceptional consumer experience. These never get old!

In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand-building campaign? Is it similar, or is it different?

As a fast-growing brand, we’re focused not only on sales growth but also on our ability to attract new households. To know Nature’s Bakery is to love Nature’s Bakery, so our #1 goal as a team is to introduce the brand to as many likely brand buyers as possible. Doing so supports our topline sales objectives and builds the brand at the same time.

What role does social media play in your branding efforts?

Social media is about a lot of little things that add up over time. Strong community management, and engaging content that is relevant and timely all act in the service of building a one-on-one relationship with the consumer. We strive to earn permission to show up regularly in their feeds and believe it’s a fantastic way to create intimacy and connection between the brand and its end users. Now if only the platforms would just stop messing with what’s so great about each of them!

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I want to challenge every marketer, entrepreneur, and brand-builder out there to make better-for-you products with ALL consumers in mind. Healthy food should not be a luxury. Families shouldn’t have to make those trade-offs between quantity and health. I want to see us all work to make better-for-you foods and snacks more available to all families. Food is health, and right now we are not doing all we can to be inclusive and accessible. Be creative, we can do this!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I grew up in a first-generation, working-class family. My mom frequently reminded us, “money comes and goes, but an education is forever.” In other words, tie your self-worth to how much you know not to how much you have in your wallet. These words shaped my motivation for higher education and a graduate degree and kept me from making choices driven solely by how much money I could earn. Instead, I’ve asked myself what I could learn, and how I can grow. This has helped me sustain a growth mindset through every phase of my career.

We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have lunch or breakfast? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

After reading Becoming, I realized how much I shared with Michelle Obama. Her story resonates so much with me (minus marrying a guy who later became President). A conversation with her would fill my tank for a long time. Call me anytime Michelle, I’ll clear my calendar.

How can our readers follow your brand on social media?

Follow @NaturesBakery on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.