Rohan Oza: The playbook for building billion-dollar consumer brands

Rohan Oza, a veteran consumer brand marketer, details his strategy for building iconic products by leveraging influencer partnerships and equity-based incentives. His approach centers on "influencing the influencer," a method famously applied when he brought 50 Cent into Vitaminwater, fundamentally changing how celebrities engage with brands. Beyond his corporate experience at Coca-Cola and Mars, Oza co-founded Kavu Consumer Partners to provide hands-on guidance to emerging brands like Poppy. He emphasizes the necessity of "permissible guilt" in product development and the importance of digital-first strategies, especially when navigating market disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic. Oza advocates for a "student of the industry" mindset, maintaining that while he identifies potential through gut instinct and deep market observation, the most successful ventures rely on empowering founders to execute their vision with strategic support.