Episode 18
Brand Story Podcast

A Brand’s Purpose

featuring Patricia Corsi

Global Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Bayer Consumer Health

Patricia Corsi, Global Chief Marketing and Digital Officer of Bayer Consumer Health, encourages brands to stop playing it safe and challenge the status quo in her conversation with our president, Steve GIlman.

Times have changed in the world of marketing. While collaboration and innovation have always been hallmarks of excellent marketing — and marketers — this new era is requiring something deeper of us all: Courage.

No longer can brands play it safe by sitting on the sidelines of relevant conversations. No longer can marketers play it safe by doing what’s “always been done.” No one knows this better than Bayer Global CMO/CDO Patricia Corsi. After a decades-long career leading some of the most globally-recognized brands, Patricia is challenging the status quo of marketing, leadership, and how brands engage with the world around them.

In this episode, we cover topics ranging from leadership as a selfless endeavor to breaking the silos and norms of how marketers approach audience-first messaging to honor the local market.

Patricia embodies all it means to be a courageous and collaborative leader by asking those around her to bring their previously shut-down “ideas in a drawer” and, ultimately, being the best version of her for those she leads and loves, as she “puts on her oxygen mask first.”

About the Guest

Patricia Corsi

Global Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Bayer Consumer Health

Patricia Corsi’s career has spanned decades across globally-recognized brands, including Kraft Foods, a 10-year tenure at Unilever, and serving as the SVP/CMO of The HEINEKEN Company. For the last 3 years, however, Patricia has served in a highly-recognized and impactful role as the Global Chief Marketing & Digital Officer (CMO/CDO) of Bayer Consumer Health.

Quickfire Questions & Answers

If you weren't a marketer, what would you be?

Oh, very easy. I would be a chef. It’s my family tradition… So, my grandfather was a chef. He had a hotel. I was raised in the kitchen of his hotel. My father had restaurants… It’s a very hard life. I have tremendous respect for chefs – this is absolutely what I would do.

From your point of view for other marketers, what do you think is a must-read, a must-watch, or must-listen?

I think this has been such an intense year, my best recommendation for everyone at the end of the year is to just watch cool things and relax. But my professional recommendation is a few books I keep coming back to: ‘Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?’, ‘What Got You Here Won’t Get You There’, and ‘Who Cares Wins’.

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

Be kinder to yourself. Be as kind to yourself as you are to the people that you love the most. I’m from Latin America, I’m a woman, I’m a breadwinner, and I’ve always been very hard on myself. And sometimes I think it helps tremendously to be kind with yourself because there are already a lot of difficulties on the way.

About The Host

Steve Gilman

As the President of Gravity Group, Steve is passionate about helping brands reach their goals through honest, creative marketing and powerful brand stories.

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