In an era dominated by algorithmic saturation, frictionless price comparisons, and an endless race to the bottom, modern brand stewardship faces an existential crisis. When every product can be replicated, discounted, or replaced within twenty-four hours by a white-label alternative, how do market leaders protect their margins, secure consumer loyalty, and achieve enduring cultural relevance?
This central question forms the backbone of a high-stakes conversation recorded live at Brandweek 2026. In a special, guest-only episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, two elite marketing executives—Paulie Dery, Chief Marketing Officer at AG1, and Victoria Lozano, Chief Marketing Officer at Crayola—sat down to dissect the mechanics of modern value creation. Moderated with a focus on actionable enterprise strategy, the session explored how brands can transcend mere functional utility to forge deeper emotional connections.
Rather than competing on price points or iterative feature updates, Dery and Lozano revealed how their respective organizations defend premium positioning. By anchoring their brands in behavioral psychology, cultural resonance, and lifestyle integration, AG1 and Crayola offer a masterclass in modern marketing leadership. This report investigates the core strategies, operational philosophies, and long-term frameworks shared during the session, providing an authoritative roadmap for CMOs navigating today’s volatile commercial landscape.
Executive Overview: The Death of the Feature Race
For decades, traditional brand strategy relied on a relatively straightforward formula: identify a consumer pain point, build a superior functional product, and communicate its technical advantages through high-reach media channels. However, as global supply chains have democratized manufacturing and digital marketing tools have lowered barriers to entry, this playbook has become obsolete.
Today, feature advantage has a shelf-life measured in weeks. Competitors can reverse-engineer product formulations, mimic user interfaces, and undercut established pricing structures almost instantaneously. Consequently, brands trapped in functional feature wars find themselves sliding down a slippery slope of margin erosion, price sensitivity, and brand commoditization.
During the Brandweek 2026 session, Dery and Lozano argued that the only sustainable antidote to this race to the bottom is meaningful differentiation. For AG1—a category-defining daily nutrition brand—this means treating foundational health not as a vitamin supplement purchase, but as a non-negotiable daily ritual. For Crayola—a century-old icon of childhood—this means evolving from a box of crayons into a holistic, lifelong catalyst for human creativity.
By shifting the competitive arena from product specs to lifestyle alignment, time ownership, and cultural belonging, both CMOs demonstrated how legacy institutions and high-growth disruptors alike can build impenetrable moats around their brand equity.
Detailed Chronology: Deconstructing the Brandweek 2026 Masterclass
The live discussion moved briskly through a series of foundational marketing dilemmas, offering deep insights into how top-tier organizations operate at the intersection of creativity and commerce.
Phase 1: Protecting Premium Positioning Against Commodity Pressures
The conversation opened with a rigorous examination of pricing power. In an inflationary environment where consumers are increasingly selective with discretionary spending, premium brands face intense pressure to justify their price tags.
Paulie Dery addressed how AG1 navigates this challenge by refusing to engage in discounting games or feature-matching with cheaper competitors. Instead, AG1 focuses relentlessly on the intangible, high-value outcomes of its ecosystem: peace of mind, optimized daily performance, and scientific rigor. By elevating the conversation from "what is in the scoop" to "how you feel and perform every single day," AG1 positions itself not as an expensive line item on a grocery bill, but as an indispensable investment in personal well-being.
Victoria Lozano echoed this sentiment from a legacy perspective. Crayola’s iconic yellow-and-green box could easily be viewed as a basic commodity item found in every classroom. However, Lozano explained that Crayola protects its margins by refusing to compete with cheap, imported art supplies on price. Instead, the brand leverages its unassailable heritage of trust and safety—attributes that parents and educators refuse to compromise on when children are involved.
Phase 2: Building Authentic Communities and Daily Habits
Products are easily discarded; habits are enduring. Both CMOs underscored the critical importance of embedding their products into the daily routines of their target audiences.
- The AG1 Playbook: Dery discussed how AG1’s challenger mindset relies on turning consumption into a ritual. By focusing on the first thing consumers do in the morning, AG1 anchors its product to the dawn of the consumer’s day. This behavioral integration transforms a supplement into a lifestyle anchor, drastically reducing churn and fostering fierce brand advocacy.
- The Crayola Framework: Lozano detailed how Crayola has expanded its footprint beyond the traditional back-to-school season. By fostering creativity as an everyday mindfulness and developmental habit—not just for toddlers, but increasingly for stressed adults seeking screen-free relaxation—Crayola secures year-round relevance.
Phase 3: Redefining the Competitive Landscape
One of the most profound strategic takeaways from the session was the redefinition of "competition." Dery and Lozano argued that modern brands do not merely compete with direct category rivals; they compete for share of life.
In AG1’s view, the brand is not just battling other vitamin powders; it is competing with sleep deprivation, poor nutritional choices, and the chaos of modern mornings. Similarly, Crayola is not merely fighting rival stationery manufacturers; it is competing with digital devices, video games, and the endless battle for children’s (and adults’) attention spans. By widening the aperture of competition, both CMOs empower their teams to develop broader, more culturally resonant marketing initiatives.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Architecture of Modern Growth
To fully appreciate the strategies outlined by Dery and Lozano, it is essential to examine the broader economic and consumer data framing modern brand management.
The Erosion of Traditional Loyalty
According to recent industry research, consumer brand loyalty has reached historic lows. Driven by economic uncertainties and the proliferation of direct-to-consumer (DTC) and private-label alternatives, over 70% of consumers are willing to switch brands for a lower price or minor convenience. This metric underscores why Dery’s focus on ritual-building and Lozano’s emphasis on trust-based emotional equity are not merely theoretical concepts, but urgent commercial necessities.
Balancing Short-Term Revenue and Long-Term Investment
A recurring friction point for CMOs is the eternal tug-of-war between quarterly performance metrics (performance marketing, direct conversion, customer acquisition cost) and long-term brand building (cultural relevance, equity, emotional resonance).
During the panel, both leaders addressed how they align growth targets with executive-suite priorities:
- Performance with Purpose: Performance marketing should not feel transactional; it must act as the upper funnel for brand values. Every acquisition channel should simultaneously reinforce what the brand stands for.
- The AI Imperative: The panel touched upon the integration of Artificial Intelligence in marketing. Both executives emphasized that AI must be deployed to augment human creativity, streamline operations, and deepen consumer trust—never to replace the authentic human storytelling that forms the bedrock of brand affinity.
Official Perspectives: Meet the Visionaries
The strategic depth of the Brandweek 2026 discussion is a direct reflection of the exceptional leadership pedigree of its participants.
Victoria Lozano: Evolving an Icon
With a tenure spanning over 16 years as Chief Marketing Officer at Crayola, Victoria Lozano has masterminded one of the most successful brand evolutions in consumer goods history. Under her leadership, Crayola transitioned from a traditional manufacturing company focused purely on physical art supplies into a diversified, multi-channel creative ecosystem.
Lozano’s career is defined by her ability to look beyond legacy products and identify new category expansions—ranging from immersive live experiences and digital content to adult creative wellness products. Her strategic philosophy asserts that a brand’s survival depends on its willingness to continuously redefine its cultural role without losing the core emotional trust built over generations.
Paulie Dery: Scaling Challenger Brands
As Chief Marketing Officer at AG1, Paulie Dery brings a reputation for steering disruptive, high-growth brands through critical scaling phases. With a stellar background that includes building iconic brand narratives at industry titans like Yeti and Uber, Dery specializes in breaking categories out of functional commoditization.
Dery’s marketing framework centers on community-driven ecosystems. He believes that true category-defining brands do not advertise features; they champion a worldview. By treating consumers as members of a community rather than transactional buyers, Dery has helped solidify AG1’s position as a premier health and lifestyle authority.
Future Outlook: The Next Frontier of Brand Equity
As we look toward the remainder of the decade and beyond, the insights shared by Paulie Dery and Victoria Lozano at Brandweek 2026 serve as a vital warning and an inspiring blueprint for marketing professionals.
The era of relying solely on functional superiority or performance-driven ad arbitrage is drawing to a close. Artificial intelligence will continue to commoditize standard content creation, making digital noise an even greater obstacle for brands to cut through. In this hyper-competitive environment, the winners will be those organizations that successfully transform their products into daily rituals, their customers into active communities, and their marketing into a distinct cultural worldview.
As AG1 continues to redefine foundational health and Crayola redefines human creativity across generations, the message to the broader marketing community is clear: Build deep, build authentically, and never race to the bottom.