“When I arrived, marketing was seen as an expense. It was referred to on the P&L as ‘Direct Marketing Expense,’ which tells you everything about how it was valued. We changed that to ‘Direct Marketing Investment’ because marketing is an investment in growth, not just a cost centre. That was just the first step.”
Rather than working within the traditional executional model, where agencies led the creative and strategic thinking, Coulter wanted Goodman Fielder’s marketing team to be working with agency partners to be at the forefront of brand strategy and innovation.
“New Zealand has a history of being world-class in so many areas, from rugby to aviation, and even how we brand ourselves as a country. So why should our marketing be any different? I wanted Goodman Fielder to be recognised alongside brands like ANZ, Air New Zealand, and the All Blacks… organisations that operate at a global standard, regardless of where they are based.”
Achieving this vision meant a major transformation in three key areas: internal capabilities, marketing culture, and the way the team leveraged insights.
For years, Goodman Fielder’s marketing function had relied heavily on external agencies to drive strategy and creative direction, while internal teams focused primarily on commercial execution. One of the first steps in the transformation was to upskill the team and shift their role from executional to becoming more involved in leading the strategic direction of the brands and categories. “We have made progress, but it is a journey we are still on as we continue to invest in upskilling.”
“We did an audit and found that many in our team had never worked on ATL creative, things like TVCs or large-scale campaigns. It wasn’t a lack of talent; it was a lack of exposure. We were outsourcing the intellectual responsibility to agencies, which meant our team wasn’t learning or growing in those areas.”
To bridge the gap, Goodman Fielder invested heavily in training and professional development, ensuring that every team member completed Mark Ritson’s Mini MBA and additional training through the Marketing Association and University of Canterbury.
“When they feel like their capability is improving and they’re being invested in, straight away that improves the culture because they feel more confident. Where you get confidence, you get momentum…”
This new focus on capability building was critical in reshaping the culture of marketing at Goodman Fielder.
Coulter knew that simply improving technical skills would not be enough; he needed to build a culture of confidence within the marketing team, one where they were willing to take risks, challenge ideas, and demand more from their creative partners.
"Three years ago, people laughed when we said we would be a world-class marketing team. Now, agencies worldwide want to work with us, our team is more engaged than ever, and we are pushing the boundaries of marketing in New Zealand.”
A prime example of this cultural shift was Goodman Fielder’s approach to creative development. Previously, agencies would present only the safest, most conventional ideas. Coulter flipped the script.
“I told DDB, ‘If you give us great work, we’ll buy it.’ That completely changed the relationship. Now, instead of getting two or three conservative ideas, we get five, six, seven scripts… some bold, some wacky, but all pushing the envelope. The Vogel’s Gareth ad? That was actually the fourth script, the one they weren’t going to show us. Now, agencies know to bring us their best, boldest ideas because we’ll back them.”
This culture of creative boldness also extended to Goodman Fielder’s approach to insights and research, an area that had long been dominated by traditional, slow-moving research agencies.
For years, consumer research at Goodman Fielder followed a traditional agency-led model that was slow, expensive, and often detached from the internal marketing process. With a push toward greater agility and ownership, Head of Insights, Kay Bramley, was given the autonomy to explore new research methodologies and tools.
“I’ve worked in this industry in New Zealand for over 30 years, and in that time, I have seen frustrations with the tools available. When something new, different, quicker, and easier comes along, we give it a try. Frankie has given me the autonomy to trial new methodologies, platforms, and tools as they emerge.”
This mindset led Goodman Fielder to adopt Ideally, a platform that allows for real-time, cost-effective consumer insights that the team can act on immediately.
“The change to the different tools that we are using has made us more agile. If we identify a missing piece of information, we can test it and get answers in 24 hours. Whether it is advertising, product awareness, or NPD launches, we now have consumer input at every stage… something we just were not doing well enough before.”
One of the most significant impacts of this transformation has been the accessibility and affordability of consumer insights. Where once research had to be prioritised carefully due to cost, Goodman Fielder can now test more ideas across more teams without financial constraints.
“Previously, research costs meant we had to be selective about what we tested. Now, we are able to test significantly more, about twice as much research for half the cost, while still getting high-quality and useful outputs,” Kay said.
He's [Frankie] given everybody license to try things, to give things a go, to do something different and to try things that are new.”
This shift has empowered teams across Goodman Fielder to validate decisions faster, reducing reliance on assumptions and increasing confidence in marketing strategies.
The transformation at Goodman Fielder has not gone unnoticed. The company has won industry awards, attracted top marketing talent, and redefined how insights and marketing work together.
Frankie sees the work of his team and the culture shift changing things already. “Three years ago, people laughed when we said we would be a world-class marketing team. Now, agencies worldwide want to work with us, our team is more engaged than ever, and we are pushing the boundaries of marketing in New Zealand.”
By embracing new research methodologies, fostering internal capability, and shifting away from traditional models, Goodman Fielder has proven that marketing excellence is not defined by geography, it’s defined by a strategy empowering people and investing in capability development.
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