• by Barbie Romero , February 11, 2025

Joey Rath mentioned “As marketers we should continue to actively listen to consumers directly about what they love and hate about our brands to stay connected to how we best engage with them.”

1. In our last CPG summit, you spoke about using Addison Rae in the NERDS gummy clusters campaign. NERDS are a candy enjoyed across generations. How did you narrow down the selection of influencers to choose her? 

As we built our celebrity strategy, we had to find an influencer who had the authentic credibility (i.e., a true fan of the NERDS brand and products and someone skilled in dance) to match the concept of our Super Bowl spot and Teaser idea which was based on the iconic dance moment from Flashdance. While most everyone loves NERDS, our core consumer is Gen Z, so we wanted to connect with them through a recognizable talent, too, who is active on the channels where they are most engaged. Addison was a no-brainer because she has risen to fame first as a dancer, captivating an audience especially on TikTok where we know Gen Z is most active, and now she has become a multi-hyphenate icon for Gen Z. Addison also has been a long-time fan of the NERDS brand, so it all felt like a very natural fit.

2. Did you leverage UGC as part of that campaign? I imagine you got some great dancing content from Addison Rae’s and NERDS’ social media account followers.

We were pleasantly surprised to see the overwhelmingly positive response to the brand’s first Super Bowl ad consumers loved the nod to the iconic dance routine from Flashdance to “What a Feeling” performed by Irene Cara, the introduction of our new NERDS Gummy character, and of course Addison’s cameo at the end. We did see a lot of UGC from NERDS fans trying to guess who it was that Addison was coaching in our Teaser. Ultimately, in our ad spot, we find out that Addison had been coaching our new NERDS Gummy character all along.

3. So many brands create characters and use those characters on social to connect with fans. Will the NERDS Gummy character ever have its own personality and perhaps social account? 

NERDS Gummy will be a distinctive asset that we will continue to leverage moving forward. It is a personification of the multi-sensory crunchy and gummy experience of NERDS Gummy Clusters product with a positive, dynamic personality in-line with the brand. That being said, we don’t have plans to build out a separate social account for the NERDS Gummy, something interesting to consider for the future!

4. What do you wish we’d stop doing as marketers? 

I think sometimes we try to breakthrough in our planned comms with “smart” creative, copy, or tactics and we lose touch of how the everyday consumer perceives our brands and our right to play in certain topics or trends. As marketers we should continue to actively listen to consumers directly about what they love and hate about our brands to stay connected to how we best engage with them. In other words, we need to break out of our corporate bubble.

5. Who do you admire, dead or alive? Why?

I admire working parents who try to stay career oriented while balancing their family commitments. It’s a difficult challenge where one underperforms in one or both areas constantly. However, I strongly believe that as a working parent I have thrived in my leadership, problem-solving and negotiation skills, which I try to apply back into my career. 

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