Crafting a brand that resonates with varied audiences in the global business and technology domain demands an exceptional combination of strategic foresight and a deep understanding of consumer behavior.
With industries advancing at a swift pace, the role of a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has become pivotal in shaping brand stories and driving innovation. This leadership position involves managing brand identity, anticipating market trends, aligning marketing strategies with organizational goals, and leveraging data-driven insights to enhance consumer engagement. The leader must navigate complex market dynamics, foster creativity and ensure that the brand remains relevant and compelling in a competitive environment.
Yumi Clevenger-Lee, the Chief Marketing Officer at Quest Global, is an exemplar in this role. With over 18 years of marketing experience, Yumi has demonstrated a remarkable ability to place consumers at the core of product and campaign developments, achieving faster and more effective results.
Yumi’s impressive career includes a significant tenure as EVP and CMO at Nestlé Waters North America, where she led the growth of a $4.5 billion portfolio and managed a team of 80 marketers. Yumi holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and International Studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
At Quest Global, Yumi continues to leverage her expertise to drive both growth and social impact, staying true to her commitment to ‘delivering a superior and consistent brand experience and emotionally connecting brands with people.’ Her ability to transform visionary ideas into tangible market successes underscores her leadership and innovative approach in the continually progressing business landscape.
Brands for Humans
Yumi’s commitment to excellence in brand building is evident in her decision to transition from B2B to B2C a couple of years ago. This move was not just a challenge but a testament to her adaptability and the transferability of her skills. As she reflects, “I wanted to challenge myself to go from B2B into B2C to see which skills that I had honed in the B2B market carried over into the B2C world.” This transition not only showcased her value beyond just products in the marketplace but also reassured her ability to handle diverse marketing challenges.
During her tenure as CMO at Quest Global, Yumi wrote about the similarities between B2B and B2C, emphasizing that both ultimately revolve around B4H (Brands for Humans). Early in her career, Yumi learned that budget and money aren’t the keys to success—instead, innovation and product quality are paramount. She notes that tighter budget constraints push for greater creativity and innovation. In B2C, especially in services, every brand interaction and touchpoint is crucial, making brand building a collective responsibility.
Entrepreneurial Roots and Early Influences
Yumi Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, shaped Yumi’s aspiration to enter the business world from a young age. Business isn’t just what she knows—it’s a fascination. The idea of growing a business, creating value for people and making them happy to work for it intrigues her deeply. She says, “I am motivated by the next challenge, so it also intrigued me to figure out how you create a product/service that makes people want to partway with their hard-earned money and buy the product or utilize your services vs. other products/services.”
The Power of Branding and Emotional Connection
She relishes the challenge of developing business strategies that inspire organizations to think and act differently. Her focus remains on connecting brands with people and finding a balance where brands can be a force for growth and good.
Her journey took a significant turn when she pursued her MBA. This period became a full circle moment, where she comprehended the immense power of branding and its impact on influencing people’s emotions and decisions. Yumi realized that branding has the power to move people beyond rational thinking, igniting their passion and prompting action. This revelation sparked her internal drive. “The power of branding gets people to do something and take action. This is impact,” she notes.
Building Brands with Trust and Responsibility
Yumi’s career started in the food and beverage industry—a deliberate choice given the high level of trust and efficacy required in this sector. Consumers are deeply concerned about what they put into their bodies, which gives Yumi an opportunity to influence individual behaviours and the broader Supply Chain.
On the surface, she is marketing and branding water, but beneath that, she tackles critical questions about health, sustainability and climate change. She asks, “How can I do my job well and sell more water so that America is healthier? 70% of Americans are dehydrated – what can our brand do about this?”
Engineering Change
Today, as the CMO at an engineering solutions company, Yumi continues to believe in the transformative power of engineering to solve the world’s toughest problems. She moved to this sector to work for a company that values doing business for the right reasons. She firmly believes that her work can make a positive difference in the world.
Marketers, according to Yumi, hold tremendous influence and responsibility, making their roles exceptionally rewarding. She aspires to tell her children about her work and its contribution to the greater good of society, whether it’s selling water or engineering services that improve the world.
Yumi emphasizes her commitment to using her position to influence for good. She states, “If I can provide more access to the world’s engineering solutions… it is not lost on me that we provide a lot of opportunities for people to have a great way of living.”
Her career at the engineering company has seen substantial growth, with the workforce expanding from 13,900 to an additional 6,000 employees under her tenure, reflecting her impact and dedication to creating opportunities for others.
Redefining Brand Strategy
Yumi developed the RED model to revolutionize marketing that connects with people. RED stands for Relevant, Emotive and Descriptive. The RELEVANT aspect emphasizes consumer and customer insights, which differentiate a brand from the competition. She believes, “When we hit relevancy, we are able to differentiate ourselves from the competition so that everything doesn’t look and sound the same.” This approach highlights a brand’s unique qualities and emphasizes why it exists.
In the B2B space, Yumi observes that marketing often becomes dehumanized and overly rational. She stresses that even in B2B, they are still selling to humans and need to articulate their go-to-market strategy and purpose clearly. Effective brand growth strategies must start with a deep understanding of the market and the brand’s role within it.
She insists on going beyond data and comprehensive reporting when it comes to consumer insights. She argues that averages can obscure important information found on the outskirts of data, where the most significant insights often lie. “In my opinion, it is often in the outskirts of the data that reveal the biggest insights,” she asserts, highlighting the importance of addressing these insights in the go-to-market strategy.
As a people person, Yumi enjoys understanding others’ perspectives and finding ways to make their lives easier. She champions the consumer by delving into the details and understanding both business and consumer needs. Yumi notes the importance of not outsourcing critical tasks like consolidating customer feedback, as true insights live in the details. This hands-on approach ensures she remains connected to the consumer, driving more effective and human-centered marketing strategies.
Mastering Brand Differentiation
Yumi emphasizes the importance of taking time to deeply understand what’s working and what isn’t in marketing. She believes in the philosophy of ‘go slow to go fast.’ She advises deeply listening and asking numerous ‘why’ questions to uncover insights, which she considers the superpower of marketing. “The insights are the superpower of marketing, and then on the back end, you can go super-fast,” she notes.
At Quest Global, Yumi tackled the question of the company’s identity. By identifying their unique combination of achiever and caregiver, she successfully relaunched the brand in six months. This swift rebranding was possible because they started with a thorough root cause analysis.
Yumi accentuates the need to avoid sounding and looking the same as competitors. Instead, marketers should focus on showcasing what makes their brand unique. Adaptability, effective task prioritization and continuous growth opportunities are also key elements in her approach to successful brand management.
Innovating with Intent
Yumi identifies key ingredients for developing successful business strategies. She emphasizes being in business for the right reasons, ensuring that the work contributes positively to the world.
“I believe in truly understanding the problem you’re trying to solve’ as a fundamental step,” shares Yumi. This approach allows organizations to inspire and think differently, aligning their efforts with meaningful impact and effectively addressing real issues. Understanding the problem deeply ensures that strategies are not only innovative but also purposeful.
Defining and Managing Priorities
Yumi advises prioritizing initiatives and motivating diverse teams by clearly defining and managing priorities. She stresses, “It is important to not only manage your time through prioritization but to also manage what you focus on.” She highlights the need to limit interruptions and stay disciplined to avoid distractions from numerous daily demands.
She focuses on the importance of being ‘crystal clear what is the best use of your time’ and articulating these priorities to yourself and your team. This clarity helps maintain focus and alignment with your vision and goals, preventing distractions from the next ‘best thing.’
Empowering Brands with Purpose
Purpose is essential in reinventing brands and driving growth. Yumi believes that a well-executed job can influence society and purchasing decisions, impacting both health and the environment. “If I do my job well, we can influence society and purchasing decisions to make the best decisions,” she asserts. Yumi uses examples like Green Giant, where she aims to improve American health by encouraging vegetable consumption.
She highlights critical issues such as dehydration, over-caffeination and water scarcity, emphasizing how she can influence purchasing decisions and supply chain practices. She prioritizes making brands 100% recyclable and ensuring responsible water use.
Yumi finds fulfillment in using her role to promote growth for good, aligning her work with important issues like ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). This purpose-driven approach enables her to share with her children how she impacts significant global challenges.
Creating Meaningful Change
Yumi is deeply engaged in innovation, seeing it as where everything converges as a brand builder. She emphasizes that innovation is all about understanding consumer needs and insights. “Answering the question: How do you build a more valuable product than what is on the market today so that people change behavior and buy your product instead?” drives her approach. This focus fosters a culture of continuous innovation.
She believes that Quest Global offers an opportunity to leave a legacy, making work more than just a job. It becomes a chance to improve lives and make a lasting impact.
Yumi finds inspiration in leading with the mentality that everyone wants their work to be meaningful. For her, innovation represents the intersection of supply chain, production, operations, P&L, and pricing, which is why she finds it so fulfilling.
The Active Marketer
Yumi stays informed about emerging trends and developments in marketing by keeping an ear to the ground and delving into specific projects. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the details firsthand.
For example, while working on a project for Suddenly Salad, she personally read over 800 reviews, stating, “I wanted to know and understand deeply what was happening and being said.” Yumi does not outsource this critical work, believing ‘the devil’s in the details.’
She also engages with valuable resources such as ANA and remains active on LinkedIn. Her role as a judge for the ANA In-House Excellence awards further keeps her grounded in current trends and developments, reflecting her commitment to staying connected with the marketing landscape.
Adapting to AI Trends
Generative AI will significantly impact the future of marketing, demanding active involvement rather than passive observation. Previously, marketing underwent Digital Transformation, embracing social media and other technologies.
Now, generative AI marks another transformative moment, profoundly affecting content creation and expanding creative possibilities. Yumi notes, “Brands become the sea of sameness and those details require the human to make it come to life.” She emphasizes that details matter.
In her role as CMO, Yumi stays adaptable to evolving consumer preferences and market trends, striving to drive success in the ever-changing marketing landscape. Her focus remains on leveraging these advancements effectively.
Connecting with Consumers through Authentic Marketing
Yumi advises aspiring marketers to embrace curiosity and stay engaged. She says, “I am a sucker for great marketing. First, experience it as a consumer and then examine it as a marketer.” Analyze successful campaigns, like Reese’s Super Bowl ad that humorously reflected the game’s highs and lows. This kind of authentic, consumer-focused marketing connects deeply with audiences.
Yumi emphasizes the importance of being genuine and aligning with what matters to consumers. She reminds marketers to remember they are selling to humans, whether B2B or B2C. Marketers should avoid dehumanizing their approach and instead tell a “RED story/narrative that is humanized.”
