Owl Have You Know
Transforming Everyday Products feat. Tanu Grewal ’05
Published: 12 February 2025 at 10:00 Europe/London
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Episode notes
Tanu Grewal ’05 knows that you can learn a lot about a person’s buying habits based on what brands are in their cabinets at home.
Tanu is a global marketing leader. In her roles at Coca-Cola, Whirlpool, and Kohler, she helped revolutionize iconic products used by millions of consumers in their homes everyday. She has continued this work as the Vice President of Marketing at AlEn, a Proctor & Gamble-like company with products in 95% of households in Mexico.
In his debut episode as the new co-host of Owl Have You Know, Brian Jackson ’21 sits down with Tanu to chat about her early marketing days at Coca-Cola in India, the strategies she gained from Whirlpool for understanding consumer behavior, and how she’s innovating at AlEn for different markets in the U.S. and Mexico.
Episode Guide:
01:02 Early Career and First Internship at Coca-Cola
02:23 Cultural Insights and Marketing Challenges in India
05:00 Navigating Global Markets: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
07:14 Understanding the American Consumer
09:36 Revitalizing Iconic Brands: Whirlpool and Maytag
13:14 Innovative Strategies in a Crowded Market
16:26 Adapting Products for the U.S. Market
18:58 Agile Innovation at AlEn USA
20:46 The Journey of ‘Art of Green'
23:21 Navigating COVID Challenges
26:03 The Rice MBA Experience
29:30 Commitment to Community and Diversity
37:40 Future Aspirations at AlEn
Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
How lived experiences shape true diversity
And so, that to me is diversity, because you can then look at the same problem and think about solving it very differently. And I have seen it in action, Brian, in every continent. And it always, always amazes me how five people looking at the same slide can interpret it so differently because how they've grown up, what they've, you know, what experiences have shaped their lives.
Tanu’s approach to navigating multi-cultural markets
06:30: Back in India, my dad was in the army. We moved around a lot, so I had the opportunity to really immerse myself in different cultures and have the ability to talk to different people, so I think that's what it is. And even when I went for my expat assignment, I was managing 33 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. And the first thing I said was, I need to understand people. So we went out and did focus groups in different cities to really understand what the brand means to someone in France, or somebody in Germany, or in Israel. And really, you know, I would recommend every marketer to really study. And once you get an understanding, don't just stop there. Keep doing this, right? Because people change, people evolve, and things around the people evolve. And I think the pace of change, if anything, has just kind of 10xed, right? So, that's kind of my secret sauce.On gratitude, growth and giving back
35:27: I really do think I've been extremely fortunate in a lot of things. You know, I grew up in India as a girl. My dad was like a feminist, way ahead of his time. I mean, just a man... I mean, we lost him a couple of years ago, but I mean, I always think about, am I going to be able to do that for my child, right? Be that progressive and all of that. And then, you know, getting the opportunity to come here, go to Rice, work in all the fabulous companies I have, lived in all these different countries. Sometimes, when I sit and think about it, I'm like, man, yeah. I have got to be thankful for all this, and then I have to give back, right? I have to help other people because that's just what you do. And I derive a lot of joy from giving back and from helping other people.
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