Renee MacDonald | Science is Golden

The QUT Alumni Team sat down with Renee to chat about her career, inspiration and discuss how find the intersection between your passions.

Can you tell us more about your role at Hive + Wellness Australia?

As the Marketing Manager, I look after the strategy and execution of our flagship brand, Capilano across Australia as well as international markets including the USA, Europe, Middle East, Japan, China and Canada. Along with our team I also manage our premium pharmacy brand, Barnes Naturals as well as a portfolio of other honey brands. No day is ever the same! Some days I'll be working with the innovation team and media agencies planning new product launches, other days its meeting retailers, working on brand strategy projects, video shoots, content development, packaging design or planning partnerships with influencers and public relations agency partners. I'm also part of our sensory team so I taste a lot of great quality Aussie honey!

Your role is tied to the fortunes of the beekeeping industry. What do you think are the top three issues currently facing beekeepers?

I'm very lucky to be part of a company that has beekeeping at its heart, and sustainability of the Aussie beekeeping industry is a core value to all that we do. Beekeeping - generally speaking is an older profession so there's a need to ensure the craft is passed down to younger generations, as well as attract new talent to commercial beekeeping (including women). That aside, climate change and weather events continue to challenge Aussie beekeepers to keep their bees healthy, safe and free from major pests and disease, as well as ready access to a supply of fresh floral nectar. It's not well appreciated, but beekeeping is quite a nomadic profession - beekeepers will travel all over the country, far away from home just to ensure their bees are enjoying the best of our native eucalypt flowers - it makes the honey taste so much better for their efforts! The last challenge is a financial one - and thats how we can help Aussie beekeepers grow their business through high value honeys such as active Manuka honey. Australia has just won a huge trademark battle against New Zealand with regards to usage of the term 'Manuka' so this means our beekeepers are able to tap into the huge international demand and price premium of Manuka honey (which I might add, is native to both Australia and New Zealand).

What is one goal you'd like to achieve - professionally or personally - in 2024?

Marketing science has come a long way since my Masters days so I'm working to upskill in this area using live campaigns we have in market. It also involves partnering with our creative and media agencies to demonstrate the value of marketing campaigns to a business (and its growth). It's easy and still too common to think of marketing as a creative discipline but by tying the principles of effectiveness to financial business outcomes, we will be able to go a long way towards raising the profile of commercial acumen in our profession.

Four years into your food science career you returned to university to a study a Masters of Business majoring in Marketing. Can you share what prompted your return to study?

The consumer! I went into food science with an ambition to create food products consumers love. What I realised along the way is that I could have a larger impact by working as a Brand Manager - taking consumer insights through to development and finally, launch. It's also very rewarding (and challenging) working in a team to grow a business, enter new categories, penetrate new markets and work with a diverse range of people every day - from production to supply chain to sales, regulatory, printers, designers, finance and public relations.

Your first Marketing role was with Clovely Estate Winery. Can you tell how you landed the role and whether it was a deliberate choice to pair your love of food with marketing?

I love working in agriculture-based businesses for the connection to the land, and naturally storytelling aspects this opens up as a marketer. Clovely Estate were looking for a Marketing Coordinator and luckily, amongst the 13 candidates they interviewed, I was able to talk about wine tasting notes better than the rest (and be honest that their website needed some work!). Copywriting skills and a bit of hustle are an underrated way to get your foot in the door to a fun marketing job!

What are some of your career highlights?

You never forget special product projects. For me these are Queen Unicorn Dream flavour for icing that I conceptualised and developed with our Research and Development Team, Queen 120 Year Anniversary Vanilla (involving a trip to Tonga to meet our vanilla growers) and most recently, Capilano Hot Chilli Honey. I've eaten a lot of chilli honey on pizza lately to ensure the heat level was *just* right. Across my roles at Clovely, Queen and Capilano I've had the pleasure of hosting educational masterclasses and connecting consumers and customers with food/wine products, because I can talk about the technical as well as emotional product benefits. I've hosted winemaker's dinners, presented vanilla masterclasses to board members and magazine media and honey tasting workshops to new staff members. I've been lucky to be early in my career during many digital transformations and the rapid growth of social media too. I led the creation of a very large digital community for Queen and had the opportunity to travel to Copenhagen to present this work at the annual Dr. Oetker marketing conference where marketing colleagues form all around the world meet to share ideas and plan new strategies.

You spent over two years working inside some of Brisbane's leading agencies do you recommend this experience for people seeking to build their career in food or fast moving consumer goods?

Absolutely. This was a strategic move for me as I recognised I needed to rapidly acquire multi-brand, multi-industry knowledge before I could head back to an in-house role. Being in agency account management I learned how to pitch, proofread, support stressed clients, speak the language of creatives, write excellent briefs and see first-hand that to succeed in marketing, you need to stay on top of news, trends and culture outside of your day job. Working on food brands within an agency environment meant that I understood packaging development, press proofs, retailer presentations and campaign execution, which landed me my role at Queen.

Can you name some of your food heroes or favourite people to follow as you're quite the baking whiz.

I can't go past one of the original food bloggers, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. She's built an empire from her tiny NYC kitchen and creates recipes (and content) that is authentic and approachable.

As far as baking goes, I admire King Arthur Flour (sorry not a person but a business full of bakers) for their recipes and baking community. It's always a starting point for me when looking for a recipe - I always read all of the community reviews and tips.

Lastly, I couldn't answer this without including Donna Hay. An idol, and I got to meet her and work with her a lot in my time at Queen as she's such a huge vanilla fan!

What is one skill you couldnt live without and why?

Curiosity. When you're curious, you're always learning - and you'll have new ideas and inspiration to contribute to workshops, strategy sessions and briefings.

What is your best advice for pitching an idea to a client?

Build trust first and get to know the client as a person. Some of the best agency work I've engaged on has been built on the foundation of relationships formed many years prior by people that supported me without expectation of work in the short term. In today's fast paced world, this might feel unrealistic but you have to get creative in how to rapidly develop those relationships.

Do you have a question for Renee? Connect with her on LinkedIn.