Women Behind The Brand: Nerina Singh

Today we meet Nerina Singh, our Beverages Brand Manager who is driven, engaging and collaborative. Most importantly, she is inspired every day to show up as her authentic, curious self, living wholeheartedly by the RCL FOODS culture of being MORE YOU and MORE CURIOUS. “Being my authentic self at work creates a better work environment and better experiences for all that I engage with”, she says. “The feeling that I can be myself at work improves engagement with my team, empowerment, trust, relationships, and happiness.” Constantly learning and being curious is what she loves most about her job. “I always want to see what’s around the next corner and having the freedom to apply that learning to the work I do every day has been one of the best parts of working at RCL FOODS.”

We sat down with her to hear about her journey at RCL FOODS, what excites her, what inspires her and what advice she has for others who aspire to follow in her footsteps.

Nerina has always been fascinated by consumer behaviour, which is what influenced her career in marketing. She has always been curious about why people purchase the things they do, what inspires people to purchase things in the way they purchase them, and what can be done to influence consumer purchase behaviour. During her time at RCL FOODS, she has worked on numerous successful innovations, including the launch of Ouma Choc Chip Rusks and Ouma Yum Yum Peanut Butter Rusks. She’s also worked on the launches of Mageu Number 1 Pineapple and Ginger with Vitamin C as well as the launch of Monati Instant Chocolate Flavour.

What excites her most about the brands she manages is Mageu Number 1. “It’s an iconic South African Brand. In an ever-changing world that is being influenced by Western practices, heritage is a core that Mageu Number 1 protects and promotes across every aspect of their brand identity, as well as across the promotional communications it associates itself with.” Says Nerina.

One of her most memorable moments in her career so far has been representing the Ouma Brand on the Expresso TV show during the launch of the Ouma Winter Drive Campaign and the launch of the Ouma new flavours. She finds inspiration in launching innovations that are consumer centric, and being able to see the success of them excites her. She is privileged to work on such iconic brands and believes that it provides her with the amazing job satisfaction of seeing her work positively affecting the lives of so many people.

But while working on these successful projects is exciting and rewarding, what Nerina finds most rewarding is putting a smile on consumers’ faces and finding purpose in this.

A brand manager wears many different hats and being a family-centric mum only adds to these each day. Her mornings consist of juggling her family life, her 7-year-old son’s commitments and keeping physically fit at the gym. Her workdays consist of many different projects working in tandem, and can include anything from building the innovation pipeline, to defining and executing communication strategies, to making pricing decisions, to keeping track of business performance and leveraging data to build compelling stories in order to get products or initiatives to market. In the evenings, she tackles homework with her son, prioritises quality family downtime and makes sure to end her day with gratitude.

She manages her many hats by staying focussed on her key priorities. “I work hard, but I love what I do!” She says.

Nerina’s advice for anyone wanting to pursue a career in Brand Management is to always consider the user’s experience, and she believes that the best way to get more perspective on this is to actually immerse yourself into the consumers’ environments.

We love having such talented, inspiring people in the RCL FOODS team, and we appreciate that she loves being part of our team too. Nerina shares that “RCL FOODS has a strong focus on and value their people in the organisation. Their culture inspires and empowers you to be MORE YOU! You get to be your authentic self. The environment allows us to be More Brave, express our creativity, maintain a work/life balance, grow our skills and become the best version of ourselves. The company gives us the platform for our voices to be heard”.

We look forward to seeing what else she achieves in the future, and we are grateful for the strength, curiosity and authenticity she brings to the RCL FOODS team!