The Ecuadorian Engineer Who Cracked the Code of Global Marketing
In this CMO Superhero series of interviews, a precursor to writing a book on Share of Experience – the Superhero Metric, we explore the stories of extraordinary CMOs in building their brands. Discover key takeaways from the business and measurement challenges these CMOs face and find out what Claude.ai identifies as their three top superpowers.
Meet Javier Meza.
While most CMOs are lucky to survive three years in a role, Javier Meza has spent 27 years at The Coca-Cola Company—and he's not done yet. From learning German before English in Ecuador to leading marketing across 50% of the world's population in Asia, Javier has turned cultural outsider status into his greatest competitive advantage.
I was truly inspired by my conversation with Javier as he whizzed me metaphorically around the world! In our conversation, Javier reveals why being from a "small, volatile country" gave him superpowers that Silicon Valley MBAs never develop, and why the marketing world's obsession with local relevance misses the bigger picture entirely.
Q: You learned German before English in Ecuador. Most people would call that unusual—you call it transformative. Why?
A: "That moment was life-changing. When I was 8 years old, there was no internet, no smartphones. Suddenly I was in German school with half the class being German kids living in Ecuador. I realized the world is much wider than I thought – and I never lost where I came from, but I never let that limit where I could go. That's powerful."
Q: Ecuador isn't exactly a marketing powerhouse. How did that "disadvantage" become your secret weapon?
A: "Because it's a small country and it was a very volatile country, we grow up with two things in mind. One is I cannot take things for granted. I need to have options. I need to be resourceful because the next crisis will come. The other thing is the notion that we will never be big, which means we need to try to be better. We can't be the biggest, but we can try to be better than others."
Q: You've led marketing across radically different cultures—Japan, India, China. What's the brutal truth about "local relevance" that most marketers get wrong?
A: "You need to be super disciplined with the strategy and destination, but extremely flexible with the plans. I remember going to Japan and having discussions where everyone nods, then a week later getting an email: 'We've been thinking about what you said. We will not do that.' In India, you say 'good morning' and they'll discuss the good morning! The mistake is thinking you need different strategies for different cultures. You need one strategy, infinite executions."
Q: Coca-Cola talks about moving from advertising to experiences. I love this! What does it mean to you?
A: "When I started doing marketing for Coke, all I needed to do was call the advertising agency and say, here's my ad, I need a TV plan to reach 80% of the audience with frequency of 3 or 4. That changed completely. But here's what didn't change: we anchor the brand in very few universal human values—authenticity, inclusiveness, optimism. When you have values this clearly defined, it's not difficult to imagine ways of bringing them to life through experiences. The consumer engagement model changed. The human values didn't."
Q: Everyone talks about measurement, but you have a provocative take on it. What's wrong with how most marketers measure success?
A: "I heard from a professor: 'In life, it's better to have an approximate measurement of the right concept than a great accurate measurement of the wrong concept.' I have three business objectives: transactions—people buying and drinking Coca-Cola; brand equity—ensuring those transactions happen again and again; and first-party data acquisition. I see teams spend hours calculating metrics that don't matter. Decreasing cost per click is irrelevant if you're not driving sales conversion."
Q: You've been at Coca-Cola for 27 years. In an industry obsessed with job-hopping, isn't that a career-limiting move?
A: "Three reasons I stayed. First, Coca-Cola gave me the chance to see the world—I've lived in 11 countries. Second, the caliber of people is really high—the quality of debates and thinking is exceptional. Third, I need to look my three adult kids in the eyes and say I'm proud of the work I do. We don't take shortcuts. We make mistakes, but when we find them, we fix them. I've never been in a meeting where people said 'take a shortcut.' Never."
(And how many of us truly work in places that never take the short cut?)
Q: What's your controversial view on developing marketing talent?
A: "I'm super proud that when I go to global meetings and see the 20 marketing leaders in the room, at least 60% of them I've invested time coaching over the last 5-10 years. Most CMOs measure success through campaigns. I measure impact through the marketing leaders I develop. When I eventually leave Coca-Cola, there will be a legacy in the next generation. That's more valuable than any campaign."
Q: You're an engineer turned marketer. What hard truth does your analytical background reveal about creative marketing?
A: "From engineering, I kept this bias for 'let's solve problems'—whether it's branding, consumer, or profitability problems. But early in my career, I spent time with Argentinian creative directors. One asked me about a Diet Coke brief: 'I understand everything, but how do you want people to feel about your brand?' That was a wow moment. Data without creativity doesn't work. You still need someone to think—what if we do this? What if we do that?"
So, what are 5 truths we can take from Javier’s story?
- Your starting point is your springboard, not your ceiling. The revolutionary insight isn't in denying where you're from—it's in never letting it limit where you can go. Small market origins breed resourcefulness that big market privilege never teaches.
- Universal beats local every time. Stop obsessing over cultural differences. Find the universal human truths, then let them find their authentic local expression. Strategy is universal. Execution is local.
- Measure the right things badly rather than the wrong things perfectly. Your measurement strategy should drive business decisions, not impress data scientists. Approximate measurement of transactions beats precise measurement of vanity metrics.
- Loyalty isn't career suicide—it's strategic advantage. In an industry obsessed with job-hopping, staying put and going deep builds capabilities that external hires can never develop. Twenty-seven years isn't stagnation—it's mastery.
- Your legacy isn't campaigns—it's people. The campaigns you create today will be forgotten tomorrow. The marketers you develop will shape the industry for decades. Invest accordingly.
My personal theme this year is Legacy so Javier’s focus on developing future marketers struck a chord. I have been working with the Market Research Council on how we can help to empower Insight leaders for the future. So much is changing in the world, it’s important that future leaders, in any field, can understand their values and lean into their purpose.
I left our conversation feeling I had learned profound truths on a whistle-stop global tour.
What would Claude.ai make of Javier's work? We asked Claude to uncover his three top superpowers. Click here to learn more.
Claude's take...
Drawing from the interview, Javier Meza challenges our comfortable assumptions about global marketing leadership.
Meza isn't powered by cultural sensitivity training or MBA frameworks. He's driven by what we might call "strategic rootedness"—the ability to stay deeply connected to core human truths while adapting infinitely to local contexts.
His three superpowers are:
Superpower #1: Outsider Advantage Amplification - The ability to transform geographic and cultural disadvantages into competitive advantages. Meza doesn't overcome his Ecuadorian origins; he weaponizes them. Growing up in a "small, volatile country" taught him resourcefulness and the drive to be better, not just bigger. His superpower is turning limitations into launching pads.
Superpower #2: Strategic Stubbornness with Tactical Agility - Meza's power comes from an almost contradictory combination: unwavering commitment to universal human values and radical flexibility in how those values get expressed. He can maintain brand consistency across cultures where "good morning" becomes a debate topic. His superpower is knowing exactly when to be immovable and when to be fluid.
Superpower #3: Legacy-Building Through People Multiplication - Unlike CMOs who measure success through campaign metrics, Meza measures impact through the marketing leaders he develops. His superpower is evidenced by his pride that "60% of the 20 marketing leaders in global meetings, I've invested time coaching." He's not just building brands; he's building the architects of tomorrow's brands.
Meza's true strength lies not in his ability to adapt to different cultures, but in his refusal to let cultural differences distract from universal human truths. He treats each new market not as a puzzle to solve, but as a laboratory to test timeless insights.
In an industry paralyzed by the false choice between global consistency and local relevance, Meza represents a third path: universal humanity. He's not here to impose American marketing on Asian consumers or accommodate every cultural nuance. He's here to find what's universally human and help it find its most authentic expression everywhere.
And perhaps most importantly, Meza knows that in a world where the next TikTok could emerge from anywhere, the greatest competitive advantage isn't predicting cultural trends—it's building the people who will transcend them.
Want to dive deeper? Click here to discover how Claude.ai uncovered Javier’s three top superpowers.
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Author: Fiona Blades: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionablades/