An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Connecting on a personal level. Advancements in technology have impacted how we interact with each other at home, in school — and certainly in business. Consumers buy from people they trust. Many of us rely on recommendations from friends and family, customer reviews, and even endorsements by influencers. There’s a social element in the buyer’s journey — and more so when that purchasing decision affects our health and wellness.
As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Ibi Montesino, executive vice president of Distributor and Customer Experience and Chief of Staff at Herbalife Nutrition.
As executive vice president of Distributor and Customer Experience, Ibi Montesino helps global nutrition industry leader, Herbalife Nutrition, deliver on its purpose to nourish the potential in everyone for a healthier future. She oversees functions that develop and deliver tools and programs that support the Company’s independent distributors and their customers. Her responsibilities also include serving as Chief of Staff, coordinating the work of the Company’s executive committee and interaction with the Board of Directors.
Previously, Ms. Montesino served as senior vice president and managing director for North America, where she was responsible for all business, strategic, sales and marketing functions across the region, which includes the U.S., Canada, Jamaica and the Caribbean.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Prior to my current position, I’ve been fortunate to hold several positions within the company, which has helped me understand how to best support the heart of Herbalife Nutrition — our independent distributors. I joined the Company in in 1998 as an assistant to the vice president of personal care training, and then went on to become a global product marketing manager before joining the North America regional team. During my tenure with the North America regional team, I served in multiple capacities; first as manager of the West Coast and then director, senior director, vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. Latin market.
The most rewarding part of my job, and I believe what has led me to the position I am today, was the passion I developed over many years of helping the Company and independent distributors offer healthier lifestyle choices to people in a wide range of socioeconomic conditions.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Herbalife Nutrition is a global nutrition company that not only manufactures and sells science-backed nutrition products, but also aims to enhance the overall wellbeing of its consumers by nourishing them physically, emotionally, and with a financial opportunity through the company’s direct selling business opportunity.
We may not think about it often, but nutrition is complex. Many people struggle to form healthy habits like keeping up with a well-balanced diet, exercise program, or supplement regimens. Our direct sales channel helps consumers around the world pursue their diverse nutrition and wellness goals through a personalized experience provided by our independent distributors, who have already experienced their own personal success with the products. Additionally, they receive education and training support from our corporate nutrition and fitness experts on coaching principles to aid them in creating trusting relationships with their customers, so they can provide the daily motivation, accountability and guidance their customers need to achieve their healthy lifestyle goals.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Yes, there are a few things our corporate team has been working on to support the success of our sales force:
- This past year in Mexico, we initiated a new weekly commission payment system that enables our independent distributors to receive their commissions on a weekly basis instead of monthly. This payment system is the first of its kind for our company, and it’s an exciting opportunity for our sales force to receive their income more frequently and expedite their cash flow patterns. We’ll be analyzing this program’s success, including its impact on distributor metrics, and evaluate the possibility of extending it to additional markets in the future.
- In North America, we are planning our first-ever vegan product line to launch in 2023. While our products have always been primarily plant-based, we believe this new line will allow us to better meet the needs of conscious vegan consumers seeking certified vegan and organic nutrition products and dietary supplements.
- From a corporate perspective, we are also refreshing our brand to help consumers better understand our company’s holistic approach positioning our science-backed nutrition products as self-care solutions to support the body as it ages and nourish one’s whole self.
Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
A brand is the complete and distinct impression a company leaves in consumers’ minds. Brand marketing is creating a broader experience that can have several touch points, including advertising, which essentially support that brand.
Strong brands help drive preference, loyalty, advocacy, and attract and retain talent. Because we understand that a “brand” touches every part of the business, our re-brand project strategy will ensure consistency within our top touch points, including the science-backed nutrition products, the services we supply through our business opportunity, and the education and training provided to our independent distributors to better help their customers.
People are increasingly placing more value on personalized shopping experiences. They can make better educated buying decisions when guided by a product expert, or someone who has had successful first-hand experience and results using the product. That is why social selling or direct selling– selling products directly to people through trusted relationships — has proven to be an effective sales channel.
These trusting relationships are especially important when it comes to nutrition. Every person has unique health and wellness goals; achieving results can be difficult if you simply purchase products off the shelf, online, or without any guidance or support. Our independent distributors not only provide nutritious, high-quality, science-backed products, but they also serve as trusted coaches to their customers, providing the motivation and confidence to help their customers establish healthier habits and meet their health goals.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
While general marketing and advertising build brand recognition that brand recognition will quickly erode if you haven’t built trust with your customers. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 90% of consumers surveyed across 15 global markets said they are more likely to recommend a brand that they trust to family or friends compared to other brands; 88% of global consumers said they are willing to buy more of a trusted brand’s products or services — or buy them more frequently; 75% of global consumers with high brand trust say they will buy the brand’s product even if it isn’t the cheapest.
As a company, we don’t typically advertise, except through social media and minimal advertising in our regional marketing. Instead, we rely mainly on our independent distributor to build brand awareness and recognition, as they embody the brand and act as brand stewards. (or as brand ambassadors)
One of our main goals is to drive consumer lifetime value, or retention, and increase brand awareness, familiarity and trust. Thus, we are investing in Brand strategy work like building foundational tools to tell the compelling story of who we are, what we do and why we do it. These tools will also help upgrade our creative expression personalizing the brand experience for our independent distributors and their customers.
Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.
- Connecting on a personal level. Advancements in technology have impacted how we interact with each other at home, in school — and certainly in business. Consumers buy from people they trust. Many of us rely on recommendations from friends and family, customer reviews, and even endorsements by influencers. There’s a social element in the buyer’s journey — and more so when that purchasing decision affects our health and wellness.
- Meeting the needs of your customers. In our case, this means our distributors and their customers. Trust is the confidence people have in our company and in our brand, and is impacted by whether we consistently deliver on our promises and stay true to our values. We continue to see an ever-increasing trend toward healthier food. And consumers are relying on science and technology to make more educated choices when selecting products to support their overall health and wellness goals. To aid consumers in this process, it’s our responsibility to ensure we’re providing a variety of products to meet consumers’ individual dietary needs including plant-based, gluten free diets, or those focused on building muscle through sports nutrition. It is our goal to ensure that consumers can easily personalize their programs by adding optimal amounts of protein, healthy carb sources, fiber, good fats, vitamins, and hydration that meet their needs.
- Delivering consistent product quality. Consistency in your product or service offerings allows your customers to know exactly what to expect every time they purchase from you. At our company, we invest in technology and staff that ensures consumer safety and ingredient transparency which has earned consumer trust by providing high-quality, science-backed products that deliver results.
- Educating yourself and your customers. Whether you’re an established company or opening a new business, customers and clients immediately see you as an expert in that field. Whether you are selling software solutions or nutrition products, people expect you to know your industry and to have effective solutions to their problems and educated answers to their questions. This is why it’s important to increase your knowledge and elevate your skills with ongoing education and personal development to make sure you are the pro that your customers expect and deserve.
- Committing to bettering our planet and social responsibility. While companies and business owners are focused on building their business, they also need to connect with and be active in their community. Your ability to connect over a shared passion or cause creates an opportunity to provide support and expertise without a heavy sales motive. We’ve made our commitment to global responsibility by partnering with organizations that nourish economic empowerment, nutrition, and a thriving planet to continue improving the health and wellbeing of future generations.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
What makes a brand strong is its ability to stay consistent and relevant by evolving its offerings through deeply understanding it’s audience, pivoting to what they need and delivering consistent products and services that enrich the lives of their customers helping them meet their goals and or unlock potential to make changes they didn’t know they could. Driving that positive experience ultimately creates lifelong customers.
We’re inspired, obviously, by many of the larger, globally recognized companies who have successfully been able to consistently deliver on their promise to consumers and have ingrained themselves into our culture.
Apple, for example, has succeeded in building a brand based on strong insight that consumers are inspired to buy technology that empowers them. At their stores, they organize their products and services in a simple way to help customers find, select, and buy, offering a single holistic experience from interface to packaging, retail store to website, Genius service to content — driven by simplicity, inspiration and empowerment to enrich customers’ lives.
Another example is Nike. Their vision is that everyone has the potential to be an athlete, and everyone should have the chance to maximize that potential, no matter who they are or where they come from. They lead their brand with a strong purpose: to unite the world through sport to create a healthy planet, active communities and an equal playing field for all.
In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?
Everyone who leads a company or runs a business wants to make sure they are profitable — but what’s even more important for sustainable success is building brand awareness, familiarity to ensure you retain repeat-customers.
As a direct-sales company, our success is measured by the retention of both our customers and independent distributors. We are committed to creating and improving resources for our distributors based on market needs and consumer demand, as well as partnering with them on safe product use and customer retention strategies. These efforts allow them to build confidence in their communities as they prioritize their customer’s safety and well-being — ultimately retaining those customers and attracting new ones.
This past year, our global retention of sales leaders hit a record 68.9%, which was up from last year’s prior record of 67.9%. We believe this reflects the ongoing sustainability of our business and the business opportunity that we offer.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Connecting through social media allows our company, as well as our sales force, to establish connections based on similar interests and new people who are looking to lead a healthier life.
From a corporate perspective, we use social media to engage our audience through nutritional tips, company news and creative recipes using our products. We also use social media as an opportunity to leverage our internal nutrition and scientific experts, and our executive leadership, to educate people about the company.
Especially during the pandemic, our independent distributors were able to use social media to maintain one-on-one interactions with their customers, which is critical to running their businesses. Whether sharing weekly meal plans on Instagram or talking about wellness journeys on Facebook Messenger, our distributors have continued to connect with their customers around the world, from anywhere in the world, using these digital tools. The relationships they support daily are a huge part of building and maintaining a successful business.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
We’ve all faced challenges during the pandemic. Covid-19 wasn’t just a virus that took the lives of many, it became political and divided us as a nation. We all learn lessons through challenges and hard times, and it taught me that we must always lead with love, because if we do, it reduces the friction, frustration and anger and helps us to understand that we have more in common than we think. Life is so much better when we put our differences aside and start looking people in the eyes and have real conversations and take more time to listen. So, my movement would be called “Lead with love movement”.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“To whom much is given, much will be required.” My faith sustains me and reminds me that I have been blessed throughout my life. Yes, like so many of us, I have experienced heartache, fear, anger and loss, but I have also been blessed beyond compare.
I left Cuba when I was four years old with my parents and grandparents. Like many immigrants, my parents wanted a better life for me and that meant leaving their country and coming to America. They didn’t speak the language and had a handful of relatives that were settled in Los Angeles. They worked hard all their lives to give my sister and me the opportunities that we wouldn’t have had back in Cuba. I credit my parents for my work ethic and integrity.
When I found Herbalife Nutrition, I started working as an assistant, and now almost 25 years later, I have been given a platform to lead, guide and mentor our employees and our independent distributors. I have a passion to always give back and give more than I have received to ensure that others are given the same opportunities in life — because, to whom much is given, much will be required!
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Given the opportunity, I would love to meet Sara Blakey. Talk about someone who started from nothing and built an empire. But more than that, she and her husband are always giving back to communities and helping other entrepreneurs. She also started “the sisterhood of the traveling wedding dress.” When the pandemic began, she decided to loan her wedding dress to brides who had to make last minute changes to their wedding. I mean, doesn’t get better than that!
How can our readers follow you on social media?
To see what we’re doing at my Company, follow @Herbaife on Instagram!
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Ibi Montesino Of Herbalife Nutrition: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
