2024 Grocery Industry Icons & Innovators

Michael Craig is Vice President of Innovations Brands and Portfolio Partnerships at BlueTriton Brands, a North American beverage company with a portfolio of iconic national and regional water brands, including Poland Spring®, Deer Park®, Ozarka®, Ice Mountain®, Zephyrhills®, Arrowhead®, Saratoga® and Pure Life®. In this role, he oversees efforts to push these brands forward in culture through partnerships with a variety of sports and entertainment entities including MLB/Major League Baseball and emerging social media platforms.

A graduate of Florida A&M University and Goizueta Business School at Emory University, he began his career as an Electrical Engineer at Procter & Gamble and Unilever. In 2011, he joined PepsiCo, where he held various marketing roles, including Global Marketing Manager for Cheetos/Doritos and Marketing Communications Lead for Mountain Dew. He led the creative efforts for the launch of bubly® Sparkling Water, culminating in its first Super Bowl commercial in 2019.

In 2019, Michael joined Harman International as Global Director of Marketing Communications, later becoming Senior Director of Global Brand Marketing. He oversaw brand communications strategy and global creative development, including the JBL Quantum gaming platform.
Michael has received numerous awards, including selection to the Adweek Executive Mentoring Program, Black Executive CMO Alliance Future Leaders and being named one of Internationalist Next 50. In his spare time, he enjoys embellishing his LinkedIn profile, critiquing TED talks, and discussing the concept of "spare time" over bourbon-soaked ice cubes.