When experienced marketer Frankie Coulter was tasked with turning around the performance of some of New Zealand’s most beloved food brands, he put people first.
Goodman Fielder’s Head of Marketing & Category has been lauded for transforming the company’s approach to marketing, unshackling his team and allowing a more creative approach that led to significant sales boosts for key brands.
The Marketing Awards entry nominating Coulter highlights the impact he has had on Goodman Fielder’s marketing team and the wider business.
“Much like Frankie himself, this submission won’t include any buzzwords, growth hacking, snackable content or gamification. Just good, old-fashioned, tested, proven marketing and people leadership that has turned Goodman Fielder Marketing into the thought leaders and driving force within NZ’s biggest FMCG company.
“In the process, he turned doubters into believers, from operations to the CEO, breathing new life into some of our most iconic household brands: Vogel’s, Meadow Fresh, Kaló, Freya’s, Nature’s Fresh, Fortune Rice and Edmonds.”
Described as “a businessman first, then a marketer”, Coulter has more than 25 years of international experience at Kellogg’s, Durex, Boots, Wattie’s, and now Goodman Fielder, and has held global roles in leading marketing-led organisations.
Coulter has created high-performing teams in the UK, Greece, Turkey and New Zealand and created a multinational Scholl global team.
“Frankie joined a team that felt shackled and without a voice. Risk-averse, heads buried in spreadsheets, desperately doing everything but marketing. This was damaging morale and some of New Zealand’s most beloved brands,” Goodman Fielder says.
“Out of all the options available to him, Frankie decided to invest in people. Upskilling boosted confidence and competence, creating more effective outputs and wins that could be built on.”
One of the key numbers showing Coulter’s impact on Goodman Fielder is the company’s investment in marketing – up 30% on 2023 and 63% on 2022.
His colleagues say there is now a sense of pride among the team, a real feeling of custodianship of Aotearoa’s biggest brands and a recognition of the role of marketing within the business.
“From struggling to keep a functioning team in the building, to having some of New Zealand’s freshest – and some of the most experienced – knocking on the door to join. This is a department transformed in 12 months.”
One of his key initiatives is known as the “Goodman Fielder Way”.
Following both a third-party cross-functional and external audit of Goodman Fielder marketing operations, Coulter is building the ‘GF Way’ playbook for all marketing operations: a set of tools, principles and marketing brand guides, in one accessible hub.
Coulter is also credited with fixing the agency-client relationship, allowing more innovative campaigns that caught Kiwis’ attention and led to brand growth.
“By empowering his team to buy big, brave work, Goodman Fielder is now a creative leader in FMCG.”
Among category-wide turmoil, Goodman Fielder’s brands are winning, from award shows (Kaló and Vogel’s at Axis), to testing (Meadow Fresh second overall in the Kantar Ad Impact Awards 2023), to the supermarket aisle.
Vogel’s brand platform “Nothing Compares” powered the brand, increasing share and total business EBIT by 40%.
Meadow Fresh’s “That’s Nice Milk” campaign featuring Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams has helped the brand outperform forecasting by 10% to deliver profit growth of 64%. And Kaló’s earnings contribution to Goodman Fielder grew 50% vs the prior year.
His colleagues say he’s created a high-performance mindset, people empowerment and organisational transformation.
“There is pride, belief, and – arguably most importantly – fun, in marketing at Goodman Fielder, driving results that speak for themselves.”
Judges’ comments
“Frankie was a standout among a high-calibre group of marketing leaders. He exemplified authentic leadership, resilience and an energetic attitude. Blending passion with commercial acumen, he drove a remarkable improvement in EBIT for the business. He fostered a performance culture and built structured frameworks for effective marketing execution, placing marketing at the centre of Goodman Fielder’s business success.
“Goodman Fielder’s brand purpose is simple: making everyday food better for everyone. Frankie’s is to make everyday marketing better for everyone, connecting his team to this vision demonstrated through a massive improvement in eNPS.
“A focus on servant leadership, genuine connection and a significant impact on the brand drove advocacy from the factory floor to the CEO, instilling pride throughout the company.
“Marketing needs people like Frankie demonstrating bravery, humour and playfulness to transform business, brands and culture.”
This was first published in the 2024 September-October NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
