Hernán Tantardini

Hernán Tantardini is the chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Foods North America, overseeing a portfolio of more than 40 brands including Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, and Fritos. Originally from Argentina, Tantardini has spent over two decades at PepsiCo, holding leadership positions across Latin America, including in Mexico, before leading the U.S. food business. He holds a degree in industrial engineering from Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires, a Master of Business Administration from Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Argentina, and completed a program in digital business transformation at MIT Sloan Executive Education.

Tantardini began his career at Unilever, where he advanced to global hair marketing manager. After nearly nine years at Unilever, he joined PepsiCo as head of marketing for functional beverages and flavored water in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Peru. He later joined Grupo Cepas in Argentina as executive director before returning to PepsiCo at its Mexico headquarters, where he served as senior vice president and general manager of Sabritas. In that role, he expanded the business, developed internal talent, strengthened consumer offerings, and contributed to transforming PepsiCo Mexico into a regional and global hub. His achievements in Mexico led to his appointment as chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Foods North America, where he has continued to evolve the marketing strategies for some of the world's most recognized snack brands.

As the leader of PepsiCo Foods' marketing strategy, Tantardini has driven cultural and creative transformation within the snack food industry. Speaking at the ANA Masters of Marketing in Orlando, Florida, he highlighted the challenge of growing a portfolio with 99 percent household penetration. His approach has been to embed brands within food culture, focusing on building large categories and rethinking PepsiCo's presence in consumers' lives, from celebrating farmers and food rituals to embracing street food and regional culinary influences. Tantardini has also emphasized PepsiCo's role as both a food and agricultural company, shaping partnerships with U.S. potato farmers and collaborations with National Geographic. This strategy led to campaigns such as featuring farmers in a Super Bowl commercial to highlight that Lay's chips are made from real potatoes.

Tantardini's work on Super Bowl campaigns has become a hallmark of his tenure. For Lay's, he oversaw the brand's first airing of two different spots in the same broadcast, including the 60-second ad "The Last Harvest," directed by Academy Award winner Taika Waititi, which focused on the generational story of a family farm. He has also driven innovation across the portfolio, launching products such as "Doritos Protein" and the "Simply NKD" line for Doritos and Cheetos, and overseeing a redesign of Tostitos packaging based on consumer research.

Beyond his corporate responsibilities, Tantardini is active in the global marketing community. He is a founding member of the Marketers Society of Argentina and has served as jury president of the Effie Awards in Argentina. He also presided over the jury for El Ojo Eficacia & Transformación Creativa del Negocio, a leading creative summit in Latin America. Tantardini has articulated his approach to growth through three imperatives for marketers: broaden the perspective from micro insights to macro movements, transform insights into universal truths rooted in human behavior, and use creativity to connect them. His career, spanning Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and North America, demonstrates a consistent ability to leverage cultural insights for commercial success in the food and beverage industry.