Summit Hill Foods: How CMO Kyle Peterson Introduced an AI-Enabled, Digital-First Approach
Editor's Note: This article is a part of a CGT series that digs into leadership hires a year into the new positions, to learn how roles are evolving and how fresh eyes can transform business operations.
Kyle Peterson joined Summit Hill Foods as its chief marketing officer last summer, tasked with overseeing the company’s marketing, advertising and digital strategies.
"When the opportunity arose to lead two iconic Summit Hill Foods brands — Better Than Bouillon and The Original Louisiana Hot Sauce — I saw the chance to build on their strong momentum and unlock even greater potential," Peterson tells CGT.
More About Peterson
Peterson brings an extensive 20-year background in the food industry across categories such as baking, cereal, yogurt, frozen meals and plant-based beverages.
He served across several senior marketing and brand management roles at leading CPG companies, including General Mills, Post and SunOpta, where he focused on strengthening consumer connections and brand equity across both established and emerging brands.
For Better Than Bouillon, the goal was twofold. The company looked to strengthen its connection with loyalists through increased creativity in the kitchen and also expand its reach to next-gen foodies.
For Louisiana Hot Sauce, Summit Hill Foods wanted to support its expanding geographic footprint by introducing the brand to new consumers, taking it from a regional powerhouse and turning it into a national brand.
Modernizing Marketing
The company sought a leader who could not only build on a strong growth trajectory but also accelerate that growth by shifting marketing to a digital-first mindset that transformed the marketing mix and how Summit Hill Foods approaches campaign and creative development.
Historically, the company's marketing approach was heavily focused on traditional media, with most support concentrated around the holidays, says Peterson.
"The shift to a digital-first approach has enabled us to support the brand year-round with sharper targeting and highly tailored messaging, while also strengthening our real-time performance measurement," he says. "This allows us to more quickly assess what’s working and make timely adjustments."
It has resulted in increased variety and volume in the creation of creative assets, bringing a new level of complexity to marketing. It has led to more agile processes and workflows, and structures that act on real-time learnings so the company can be more responsive to consumer needs.
The experience-led approach leverages digital touchpoints that enhance every stage of the customer journey through tactics such as targeted CTV, add-to-cart functionality and recipe-focused contextual placements.
"Digital-first has allowed us to tighten our segmentation and targeting," says Peterson. "By aligning campaigns to well-defined consumer segments, we can deliver messaging and inspiration that are more personal and relevant."
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Additionally, Peterson helped introduce a marketing mix model that strengthens real-time performance measurement using AI-enabled tools that quickly assess what’s working and can suggest timely adjustments to continually optimize marketing.
"The AI features also allow us to automate complex calculations and utilize predictive analytics for scenario-based planning," Peterson says, adding that the journey to integrating AI in new ways continues to help the company work faster, smarter and more efficiently.
At Summit Hill Foods, he is leading the charge in helping to identify where AI can accelerate efforts while keeping the human touch at the core to maintain authenticity and the company's culture of creativity and storytelling.
"As the technology evolves, we’ll keep refining that balance to ensure our brands remain both innovative and deeply connected to consumers," he says.
Additionally, the company will be leaning into video storytelling and new partnerships to connect its brands to food culture and create engaging messaging that resonates with new audiences.
Building a Strategy that Adapts to Change
Change is never easy, but it's where the most meaningful process happens, he says. And so one of his biggest takeaways has been to integrate flexibility into the marketing process, allowing plans and priorities to adapt as new learnings and challenges are introduced.
It's an essential practice that keeps teams aligned and brands moving forward, he says.
"We’ve built a strong foundation in brand campaigns, consumer insight and performance measurement. The next step is increasing our speed to market and continuing to sharpen the personalization of our messaging and inspiration."
