Red Bull topped a list of non-alcoholic beverage brands that generated the highest return on investment for influencer marketing last year, according to CreatorIQ, which helps brands track and manage influencer marketing programs. The firm developed a proprietary metric called Earned Media Value (EMV) to benchmark and evaluate the effectiveness of influencer campaigns in engaging consumers. The top-10 ranking shows...

Two senior executives from major soft drink bottlers shared insights during BD’s recent Future Smarts conference into how their bottling organizations are navigating everything from evolving consumer preferences to capital expenditures in the age of technology. Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages President Jean-Claude Tissot and Admiral Beverage EVP and General...

If you joined us for Future Smarts last week, you know what a compelling and inspiring day it was. If you were unable to attend, we’d love for you to experience the insights and networking firsthand next year. I’ve...

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Beverage Digest hosted on-stage conversations with the global CMOs of both Coca-Cola and Keurig Dr Pepper during its Future Smarts conference in New York on Dec. 15. The thrust of the discussion centered on digital technology — including artificial intelligence — in marketing operations, data-driven...

Our Future Smarts 2025 speaker lineup is set. Get ready for a power packed day on Dec. 15 in New York City.

Just this week, we announced PepsiCo Beverages US CEO Ram Krishnan. He joins the conference as investors pay renewed attention to PepsiCo’s performance and structure. On stage, Ram and I will discuss the product, consumer, retail, and economic changes that are shaping PepsiCo’s beverage business.

Last week, we announced the addition of Keurig Dr Pepper CMO Drew Panayiotou. He, too, joins at a pivotal time, as KDP looks to close the $18 billion acquisition of JDE Peet’s before separating its coffee and refreshment beverage businesses. We’ll discuss how Drew’s team is enticing consumers of both portfolios.

We’ll also spend time with another high-profile marketing leader: Coca-Cola Global CMO Manolo Arroyo. Of high interest in this discussion is how technology, such as AI, and social media are influencing marketing investment and organizational decisions.

And this will be compelling: Monster Beverage Co-founder Rodney Sacks will discuss the soaring energy drink category he helped forge over two decades on the way to building a $7.5 billion global powerhouse with a $65 billion market cap. I will be honored as well to present Rodney with the Beverage Digest Visionary Award. Past honorees have included the late PepsiCo CEO Don Kendall and the late Coca-Cola President and COO Don Keough.

No Future Smarts event is complete without the presence of our beverage bottling community. This year, we’ll hear from Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages President Jean Claude Tissot, as well as from Kelly Clay, president and CEO of Pepsi bottler Admiral Beverage. These leaders are experts on local market execution, the retail landscape, and just about anything else beverage related.

We’ve also assembled a panel to dissect one of the hottest beverage trends: Hemp-based ready-to-drink THC. The category is on a regulatory roller coaster ride. Brand owners Drea Groeschel of Better Than Booze and David Mukpo of Pamos Cannabis Cocktails & Spirits will illuminate this challenging and potentially lucrative category. To help make sense of the ever changing regulatory haze, cannabis and hemp Attorney Seth Goldberg of Pashman Stein Walder Hayden will join the panel as well.

Experts from our conference sponsor EY will share insights on industry disruptors and the future of beverages. You’ll hear from Americas Beverage Sector Leader Sean Harapko, EY-Parthenon Partner and Beverage Transactions Leader Greg Miller, and Former Chief Digital Transformation Officer and EY Executive in Residence Dan Werth.

Future Smarts 2025 will tackle regulatory issues and Wall Street views, too. Our popular sell-side analyst panel will feature Kaumil Gajrawala from Jefferies, Bonnie Herzog from Goldman Sachs, and Nik Modi from RBC Capital Markets. In an additional session, Nik will use data to dive into several topics our readers often ask us about. Plus, American Beverage President and CEO Kevin Keane will help assess everything from ingredient regulation to SNAP soda bans and what’s being done to create a constructive outcome.

This is another Future Smarts you don’t want to miss.

I’ve never been a pot smoker, aside from some low-key experimentation in college. The idea of trying hemp-based THC drinks was daunting, I’ll admit.

As a 55-year-old who came of age during the Reagan “Just Say No” to drugs era of the 1980s, there is still stigma and apprehension attached to marijuana for me. That’s despite 15% of US adults telling Gallup last year that they smoke marijuana, up from 7.0% in 2013. Forty-seven percent of Americans said they have tried marijuana. THC is now legal in some form in all but four states.

Meanwhile, the

Besides being beverage industry icons, what will the late PepsiCo veteran Don Kendall, the late Coca-Cola veteran Don Keough, and Monster Beverage Co-founder Rodney Sacks soon have in common? All three will have received Beverage Digest’s Visionary Award.

I will be honored to present Rodney with our highest award during the Future Smarts conference in New York on Dec. 15. He and I will then sit down for an on-stage conversation about...