Rachel Ferdinando

Rachel Ferdinando oversees brand marketing, innovation, strategic insights, design and media initiatives for Frito-Lay North America – a $16 billion division of PepsiCo. As CMO, she has the honor of overseeing some of the most iconic brands in culture, infusing a sense of purpose across her team and brands – with everything in service of bringing moments of smiles and joy to consumers.

Recently named 2020 marketer of the year by The Drum US, following an honor of brand marketer of the year in 2019 by Ad Age, Rachel has inspired her team at Frito-Lay with the guiding philosophy that “we aren’t just business stewards; we are icon builders and magic-makers.”

She joined Frito-Lay in 2017, bringing to the role her vast experience in Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and significant knowledge of the global marketplace. During her professional career, Rachel has gained operational and strategic marketing experience across a range of categories including oral care, consumer healthcare, drinks & beverages, nutrition and skin care.

At Frito-Lay, Ferdinando has led the team that accelerated the growth of brands across the portfolio, including evolving the Doritos brand for the next generation (see here); overseeing the most successful product launch in company history in Doritos Flamin’ Hot Nacho; and most recently leading yet another breakthrough Super Bowl initiative landing two brands in the top 10 of the USA TODAY Super Bowl Ad Meter.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Rachel was VP & global sector leader for family care at Kimberly-Clark Corporation. In this position, she was responsible for leading global brands, including Scott and Kleenex, which represented one-third of total company sales and profit.

Earlier in her career, Rachel held various global marketing and general management leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline, including managing director, VP & general manager for the Malaysia & Brunei operations and VP and global business leader of a global category.

Rachel holds a First Class BSC with Honors degree in chemistry from Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine in London. Rachel and her family currently reside in Dallas, Texas.