attach cv

I'd love to help you polish your CV and make it stand out to hiring managers! Before we dive into formatting or structure, let's make sure we're tailoring it to the right audience.

Could you share the text of your CV (or paste the key sections here), and let me know what kind of target roles or industries you're aiming for?

[Paste CV] I want to break into Marketing & Communications

I'm thrilled to help you tailor your CV for your transition into Marketing & Communications! Since you're pivoting into a new field, your layout needs to guide a recruiter's eye straight to your transferable skills.

The 10-Second Rule of Marketing CVs

In marketing, how you present information is just as important as the information itself. Recruiters scan CVs in a F-shaped pattern, spending only about six seconds making an initial

Vanessa Nel FMCG Brand & Innovation Marketing Professional 📍 Reading, United Kingdom | British Citizen | 📞 07355 926482 |📧 vanessanelza1@gmail.com | 🔗 [LinkedIn]

Commercially driven FMCG Brand & Innovation Marketing professional with 15+ years’ experience across global consumer brands including McCormick, Dyson, Nestlé and Coca-Cola. Proven track record delivering brand growth, commercially successful NPD launches, portfolio expansion and integrated marketing campaigns across UK&I and international markets. Strong expertise across FMCG brand management, innovation pipeline development, category growth, shopper marketing, consumer insights and go-to-market execution within fast-paced matrix organisations. Recognised for combining strategic brand thinking with commercially focused execution and the ability to integrate quickly into complex environments. CORE COMPETENCIES • FMCG Brand Management • Brand Growth Strategy • New Product Development (NPD) • Innovation Pipeline Development • Portfolio & Category Management • Shopper & Trade Marketing • Consumer Insights & Analytics • Go-to-Market Strategy • Integrated Marketing Campaigns • Retail & Foodservice Marketing • P&L & A&P Management • Omnichannel Marketing • Cross-Functional Leadership • Agency & Stakeholder Management • Commercial Activation • Product Launch Strategy

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE McCormick UK & Ireland Brand Manager – Foodservice (FTC) Jan 2025 – Apr 2026 Led brand strategy and activation across a portfolio of 8 brands / 94 SKUs including Frank’s RedHot, Cholula, French’s and Schwartz within the UK&I Foodservice channel. Key Achievements • Supported FY25 commercial plan through A&P optimisation and activation delivery • Contributed to operating profit growth within Foodservice division • Launched Frank’s Spicy Mayo listings supported by integrated trade campaigns, influencer activity and national trade events • Developed 3-year NPD pipeline including £400k NSV rotational launch • Delivered £500k+ NSV pipeline through dispenser innovation strategy • Managed customer-led activation and hospitality partnerships generating incremental revenue

Dyson Experience Delivery Manager (Contract) Sep 2023 – Jul 2024 Managed end-to-end delivery of global digital campaigns and NPD launches across owned, eCommerce and paid digital channels. Key Achievements • Delivered global campaign assets across CRM, eCommerce, app and paid media platforms • Supported major product launches including Airwrap and Robot Vacuum campaigns • Improved cross-functional delivery through stage-gate governance and stakeholder alignment • Coordinated delivery across global teams within fast-paced matrix environment • Led omnichannel campaign implementation and digital asset management

DGB (Premium FMCG – Spirits & Beverages) Marketing Manager Sep 2012 – Mar 2023 Managed a premium FMCG portfolio generating R215m+ revenue across spirits, liqueurs, beverages and agency brands. Key Achievements • Delivered 34% YoY growth across key brands including Strawberry Lips (#3 liqueur brand in South Africa) • Led innovation and NPD across cream liqueurs, bitters, RTDs and bottled water • Developed award-winning integrated ATL/BTL/digital campaigns • Managed national activation strategy across retail and on-trade channels • Created and implemented national promoter app supporting 500+ users • Delivered major regional and international events including S.Pellegrino Young Chef and Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge • Managed agencies, media planning and channel-specific activation programmes

Nestlé South Africa Category Marketing Manager May 2010 – Mar 2012 Led category marketing strategy and innovation across cereals and beverages. Key Achievements • Launched Honey Cheerios delivering +39% franchise growth and Product of the Year recognition • Delivered Milo Duo launch achieving +30% growth ahead of budget • Led consumer insight and pricing/pack initiatives • Managed agency relationships, PFME and media investment • Coordinated cross-functional collaboration across international NPD projects

The Coca-Cola Company South Africa Senior Brand Manager | Multiple Portfolios Jul 2002 – Apr 2010 Managed flagship brands including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Water portfolio across brand strategy, innovation and integrated marketing delivery. Key Achievements • Grew Diet Cola portfolio from flat performance to +15% growth with 8% CAGR • Accelerated Coca-Cola Light to highest global growth market at +25% • Delivered Coca-Cola Light Lemon launch contributing 20% to portfolio growth • Led award-winning 360° campaigns including Happiness Factory and Brrr • Delivered packaging innovation and occasion-based marketing programmes across retail and on-trade channels • Managed portfolio strategy, consumer insight and channel activation across bottling network

EDUCATION Graduate Diploma in Marketing Institute of Marketing Management Postgraduate Diploma in Advertising AAA School of Advertising BA Psychology & Sociology University of the Witwatersrand

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS • Digital Marketing (Magna Cum Laude) – Red & Yellow School • WSET Level 1 (Magna Cum Laude) • WSET Level 2 (Distinction) • Nestlé Leadership Programme – UCT Graduate School of Business

TECHNICAL SKILLS • SAP • Nielsen Reporting • Microsoft Office • CRM & Digital Platforms • Agile & Stage-Gate Delivery • Campaign & Content Management Systems

It is great to see the full text of your CV, Vanessa! With over 15 years of world-class experience at brands like Nestlé and Coca-Cola, you have an incredibly strong foundation to position yourself as a top-tier brand and innovation leader.

The Executive Length Rule

When you have more than 15 years of high-level experience, the golden standard for your CV is a concise 2-page layout. Your current draft is structured beautifully, but it is currently running a bit long because of how the career history is distributed. Since your goal is to showcase yourself as a modern, commercially driven leader, we want to ensure that your most recent, high-impact strategic achievements get the absolute lion's share of the page real estate, while older roles are condensed.

Evaluating Your Current Structure

Looking at your layout, your contact details, professional summary, and are positioned perfectly at the top. This immediately tells a recruiter exactly who you are and what you excel at within those crucial first few seconds. However, to keep this to a strict, highly punchy 2-page document, we need to balance the details in your experience. For example, your older roles (like your time at Coca-Cola from 2002 to 2010) have fantastic accomplishments, but they currently take up almost as much space as your recent leadership roles. In a premium CV, we want to scale back the bullet points on roles from over a decade ago to make your recent strategic work shine.

Make me a revised 2-page layout plan

I have mapped out a strategic 2-page layout plan designed specifically to elevate your 15+ years of experience and position you as a top-tier brand and innovation leader.

Vanessa Nel: 2-Page CV Architectural Layout & Budgeting PlanDocument

This structural blueprint acts as a roadmap for our revision. It ensures we ruthlessly prioritize page real estate for your most recent, high-impact marketing and innovation leadership roles while keeping your early career achievements present but highly compact.

Show me a visual diagram of this 2-page layout

I have sketched out exactly how your experience fits onto these two pages, showing how we budget the space visually so your most impressive career achievements stand out.

2-Page CV Space Allocation BlueprintDiagram

I have kicked off creating a diagram to show you how your career history is physically structured across this new 2-page layout.

Now, let's zoom in on a crucial part of this transition: page budgeting. Since you have over 15 years of deep FMCG experience, we need to make sure we are not giving older roles from over a decade ago the same visual weight as your current executive leadership.

The Page-Budgeting Strategy

To keep the CV to a crisp, high-impact two pages, we need to apply a strict space budget.

We want to expand the recent roles where you drove modern, high-level strategic decisions, while drastically condensing your earlier career history.

Here is how we will allocate the space:

CV Section	Recommended Space Budget	Strategic Focus for Marketing & Comms
Page 1: McCormick (2025-2026)	~40% of Page 1	Highlighting £500k+ dispenser innovation, commercial plans, and brand strategy across 8 premium brands.
Page 2: Dyson (2023-2024)	~30% of Page 2	Global digital campaigns, agile stage-gate delivery, and major product launches (Airwrap).
Page 2: DGB (2012-2023)	~40% of Page 2	Condensed to focus strictly on commercial metrics: 34% YoY growth, R215m+ revenue, and premium portfolio management.
Page 2: Early Career (Nestlé & Coca-Cola)	~15% of Page 2	Consolidated into a simplified, bullet-free 'Early Career' summary to preserve precious page budget.

By turning your older Nestlé and Coca-Cola roles into a streamlined summary list rather than full-blown job descriptions, we keep the prestigious brand names on your CV without letting them crowd out your recent, senior-level accomplishments.

Let's start putting this into action. Do you want to begin by reviewing the structural recommendations for Page 1, or would you like to jump straight into rewriting some of your recent achievements for maximum commercial punch?