176 - Heineken’s Mary Beth Jowers on Driving Insights-Led Change

Mary Beth Jowers, VP of Americas Consumer and Market Insights at Heineken, joins Karen Lynch to explore how insights professionals can become more effective drivers of organizational change. Drawing on her leadership experience across global, regional, and developing markets, Mary Beth explains why insights teams should operate like internal businesses—prioritizing work that delivers measurable value and supports better decisions. She shares how empathy, stakeholder understanding, and behavioral insight can help teams overcome resistance and influence how organizations operate.

The conversation also examines practical ways to increase research ROI, from repurposing existing studies to creating snackable content, interactive training, and action-oriented deliverables. For insights leaders seeking greater influence, Mary Beth offers a compelling framework built around partnership, persistence, persuasion, and meeting colleagues where they are.

Key Discussion Points

• How Mary Beth’s unconventional career path shaped her approach to insights leadership
• Why insights and analytics teams should operate like internal businesses
• Applying consumer empathy and behavioral understanding to coworkers and stakeholders
• Turning research into action through training, snackable insights, and engaging content
• Increasing ROI by repurposing existing research and embracing “good enough” information

Resources and Links

• ⁠The Heineken Company
• IIEX Conferences

You can reach out to Mary Beth Jowers on LinkedIn.

Many thanks to Mary Beth Jowers for being our guest. Thanks also to our production team and our editor at Big Bad Audio.