Jie Cheng has a diverse background in digital commerce, having worked at various companies such as Mondelēz International, Danone, Hershey Company, and Campbell Soup Company.
She is passionate about education and now teaches MBA classes at Loyola University Chicago and Northwestern University.
At Mondelēz, she aimed to capture the digital commerce market shift during the pandemic and set ambitious revenue targets as part of their Digital Commerce Vision 2030.
Jie emphasized the importance of leadership alignment, cross-functional support, and setting clear roadmaps for expanding into new markets within digital commerce.
She implemented frameworks to ensure digital commerce was integrated into core business planning and emphasized the importance of launching new products through ecommerce channels.
Jie and her team tracked progress using financial and operational data, focusing on metrics like sales volume, market share, profitability, and digital shelf rankings.
She shared the importance of embracing growth opportunities, motivating teams to reach higher, and having a continuous improvement mindset, even celebrating areas that need improvement ('celebrate the red, question the green').
Jie highlighted the value of lifelong learning, taking stretch roles, and developing soft skills like emotional intelligence and storytelling in the evolving space of digital marketing and ecommerce.
Regarding future trends, she noted the increasing role of AI in productivity augmentation, personalized marketing, and creative production, as well as the growing importance of sustainability and purpose-driven brands for Gen Z consumers.