Campbell’s Risa Cretella on Reinventing Iconic Brands and Winning in Commoditized Categories

In this episode of Brave Commerce, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter speak with Risa Cretella, executive vice president of meals and beverages at The Campbell’s Company, about what it takes to evolve iconic brands while staying competitive in fast-moving, highly commoditized categories. 

Risa shares how she brings an entrepreneurial mindset into a large organization, focusing on smart risk-taking, faster decision-making, and empowering teams to act with conviction, even without perfect data.

She also discusses how Campbell’s is approaching innovation differently, starting with real consumer behavior and moving quickly when there’s clear evidence of demand. 

The conversation explores why brands lose relevance over time, how private label gains ground, and what it takes to build and maintain a true “right to win,” while aligning brand-building efforts with commercial outcomes to drive real growth.

Key takeaways:

• Speed is a competitive advantage, but only if teams are empowered to act before perfect validation.
• Private label growth is often a symptom of brand stagnation, not just pricing pressure.
• The strongest innovations don’t create new behavior; they formalize what consumers are already doing.