Journalist turned nonprofit marketer

I first met Lyda Durango when she connected with me on LinkedIn. Right away I learned we shared the same passion: using marketing to grow companies, but Lyda specializes in Spanish-speaking businesses in Colombia and Latin America. Now, she’s the Marketing & Communications Director at Fundación Veg, formerly Vegetarianos Hoy. Let’s learn all about Lyda!

When and how did you go vegan?

I went vegan five years ago (2018). I was vegetarian for more than 10 years when I started dropping cow milk, then eggs and honey, and then all the ingredients in my everyday life. I was aware that I had to take the step in that direction when I watched Earthlings 16 years ago and I dropped meat but I was not completely ready to go vegan. Fortunately, in the last years there has been a lot of information about veganism and thanks to that I felt ready to go vegan for good.

How did you get into marketing, and what kind of marketing you do now?

I studied journalism, and I began my activism with journalism when I created the first digital magazine in Colombia focused on animal protection and programs. But my career was moving ahead, and I started working in Digital Marketing over 10 years ago. I loved marketing, and I started my career as a Marketing Manager in B2B working in the technology industry. After 12 years of being in the B2B industry, I realized I wanted my knowledge and expertise to be at the service of animals and I started my search for a job in the movement.

I’ve been working at Fundacion Veg since 2022 and in 2023 I took on this new role in Marketing and Communications. Also, I’ve been helping entrepreneurs in Latin America and companies to go to the vegan market.

What kind of work fires you up right now?

I love helping companies and journalists understand the importance of veganism, the importance of animals in our society, and that our movement is something very big and important. I love to make them take our movement seriously and professionally.

Share your best marketing win, and one marketing horror story.

My biggest marketing win in the movement is our recent re-branding. It was something big because it was the first time in my professional life I had to lead this kind of project. It was beautiful, and we launched the new brand just in time for World Vegan Day, which helps us amplify our message.

My horror story also in the movement (and I think is the worst in my professional life) was hiring an agency to help us get through our Google grants and make the most of it. It was an agency I had known before and they were great (I had worked with them on 2 different projects), but they definitely did not know anything about our movement and it was a terrible experience. We paid a considerable amount of money for their services, and they showed no results.

Who or what vegan company do you think is crushing in marketing right now?

Veganuary, of course. Their marketing is awesome (actually, they are the biggest marketing campaign in our movement). I love also the marketing of NotCo. (I love NotCo too!)

How is vegan marketing in Latin America?

I think consumers and companies are more connected, but there is still a lot of work to do. One of my upcoming projects for this year is helping companies and entrepreneurs go to the vegan market properly and timely, and consumers to connect with those brands, companies, services and products.

Find Lyda on LinkedIn and at LivegAgency.com.