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People person

YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2026 Hall of Fame inductee Wendy Rayner has a constant thread running through her trailblazing career: people at the centre.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners NZ boss Wendy Rayner began her working life not as a marketer, but as an accountant. 

“I didn’t even really like maths. But I had a good friend who was going to study accountancy so I decided to tag along,” she recalls.

After qualifying, Rayner worked as an assistant accountant. But quickly realised it wasn’t for her. So, displaying the curiosity that has characterised her career, she went back to studying. This time, marketing at Manukau Institute of Technology.

“From the first moment, I loved it. Through accountancy, I took a couple of papers about consumer behaviour. So I had an indication that the psychology of human behaviour would interest me. I love the creativity of figuring out how to influence behaviour, which is what I see as a marketer’s job,” says Rayner.

Clearly, she shone. After a recommendation from Manukau Tech’s head of marketing, Rayner walked into a role at an advertising agency. It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. Just six weeks later, the agency went under and she was made redundant. But again, her talent was picked up. 

“I was fortunate that one of my bosses decided she was going to get me my next job: sales at TVNZ.

“One of the common threads through my career thus far is some incredible people who enabled me to have other opportunities,” she says.

Rayner’s time at TVNZ spanned sales, advertising and trade marketing before a segue into “what is and always will be my love: brand marketing”. 

She loved the psychology: finding insights to create behaviour and achieve the desired outcome. That process saw her work magic for TV audiences and remains a go-to skill.

“I use that every day, in leadership or when I’m dealing with a customer. It’s a strength in this role.”

Her accountancy training – while seeming like a detour at first – has also been vital.

“It grounded me as a commercial marketer. Because I knew how the P&L worked, I could speak the language. That’s become increasingly important.”

A strategic architect

Next up were roles as marketing manager and then head of marketing at the NZ Lotteries Commission – again, through a “wonderful contact”.

The job led to many career highlights. Rayner’s “incredible boss” Todd McLeay encouraged her to dream big, and she did: turning Lotto’s declining sales into more than $250 million growth, being named Marketer of the Year at the NZ Marketing Awards 2011 and completing the prestigious Leadership Development Programme at Havard Business School. 

“I achieved more than I ever could have dreamed of in marketing at Lotto. And I was fortunate to make an ad about a dog called Wilson. It was beautiful storytelling that I remain super proud of.”

But Rayner had set her sights on being CEO. When she missed out on that role at Lotto, it was a moment to pause and take stock. 

Coming to Coca-Cola Europacific Partners NZ (CCEP) as GM, marketing was the start of 14 years at the company she now heads. She’s worked across the business, from Zephyr Coffee Co to L&P. Applying her consumer-led, commercial approach, she became a strategic architect of CCEP’s broader marketing strategy, shaping how the business built brands, connected with consumers and delivered growth.

Marketing skills in leadership

Appointed managing director of CCEP in 2024, she now leads a team of 1,100 people. How does her marketing background help? 

“As a marketer, you are working on human behaviour and human insight – and we all know humans can be completely illogical. So you get really used to working in what I call ‘the grey’. 

“I came from brand marketing – being very comfortable in the unknown. That served me super well coming into this role because it’s all about leadership. My job’s not to look back, it’s to look forward. No amount of facts give you a full picture.”

Being able to write briefs – in language your audience understands – is also a clear advantage, says Rayner. “Probably once a week I think, ‘OK, what if I was writing this as a brief? You have to articulate clearly what needs to happen – creating tight thinking, but allowing freedom within a framework. So your teams can still do their thing.”

Her brand manager knowledge is also constantly in use. “If I’m presenting to my regional or global leaders, a good half of what I’ll be talking to them about – say, in an annual business plan – is related to brand. ‘What are we trying to do on Coke and how are we going to do it? And what about the packaging?’ It’s all marketing,” she says.

“FMCG is one great place to be a CEO with a marketing background. You can bring value from a brand perspective – it allows you to bring more of your strength.”

As well as leaning on her “incredible team of specialists”, Rayner has a go-to tactic when she wants to know more: asking people. 

“The wonderful thing about New Zealanders is we don’t often say no. We love learning new things and  supporting people. If you ask someone to spend half an hour with you over a coffee, they usually say yes. Now I do that with other CEOs to say, ‘How are you handling this situation?’”

Having blazed a trail, Rayner is keen to pass on her expertise. 

“I have a passion for women in leadership,” she says. “So I’m always mentoring at least a couple of people, to make sure I’m paying it forward.”

In the meantime, if she has one piece of advice for those starting out, it’s this: network.

“Because New Zealand’s quite small, networking has an incredible amplifying effect. The degrees of separation are an absolute strength in New Zealand when it comes to networking. Someone always knows somebody when you want an opportunity.” 

This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 88, Sept-Nov 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.

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Read more stories from issue 88 here.