Next up in our Hispanic Heritage Month Creative Excellence series, Guest Editor Carmen Rodriguez hands over to Marcela Garcia, vice president of marketing for Stella Artois.

With 15 years of diverse marketing experience,  Colombian-born Garcia has a demonstrated track record of working and leading teams across some of the world’s top brands, including Netflix, Diageo and Anheuser-Busch InBev, where she previously served on the Bud Light and Michelob Ultra marketing teams. Rodriguez described her as "a fearless leader who works in a male-dominated industry and is paving the way for many other women to be inspired and to follow their dreams." 

Here she discusses Michelob Ultra's Contract for Change” campaign to create the first national USDA Certified Organic Beer, Michelob Ultra Pure Gold, which won a Titanium Lion at Cannes in 2021. 

I believe that understanding human truth is vital to building strong brands. I’ve established myself as a trailblazer within the marketing industry – from kick starting my career on Netflix’s global expansion team, to leading multicultural insights at Diageo, to transitioning to Anheuser-Busch InBev, where I served on the Bud Light and Michelob Ultra marketing teams,. I am currently vice president of marketing for Stella Artois, and I’m eager to expand upon my career by bringing Stella into the next chapter of its already world-renowned brand journey to connect with diverse and vibrant multicultural consumers.

My goal is to use my passion for creativity, diversity, and inclusivity to inspire the next generation of multicultural women in the marketing industry. I’m very proud of both my accomplishments and my failures. I’m especially proud to be a multicultural leader within corporate America, particularly representing women of color in an industry often dominated by male counterparts.

During my time at Anheuser-Busch, I’ve established a leadership style that encourages creativity to drive growth. n 2019, I wanted to make a real impact through Michelob Ultra Pure Gold, the first nationally distributed beer brand to be USDA Certified Organic, by addressing a challenge the organic industry faced in the U.S.

At the time, less than 1% of the US farmland was organic, given a lengthy and expensive conversion process for farmers. I saw this as a great opportunity to support the farming community by launching Contract for Change – a commitment from Anheuser-Busch to support U.S. barley farmers in their transition from conventional production to growing certified organic crops. Michelob Ultra Pure Gold purchased transitional barley at a premium price, supporting farmers during their transition window.  This is by far the most fulfilling project I’ve ever worked on in my career because I was able to support the farming community and make an impact on the industry through the power of creativity. At the end it got the highest creative award: the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2021.