A Seagull in Scotland Helps Prove the Power of Viral

For those who haven't seen it on YouTube or received it virally... a seagull in Scotland has developed the habit of stealing a bag a chips from a neighborhood convenience store. The seagull waits until the shopkeeper isn't looking, and then walks into the store and grabs a bag of Doritos® - Nacho Cheese. Once outside, the bag gets ripped open and shared by other birds. My team at PepsiCo Brazil immediately saw an opportunity to use this fun incident for a viral campaign and commissioned Edelman to spread the word. I was thrilled to see how much buzz it generated on blogs and websites throughout the country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLeHgabGqHY&eurl=http://vickiporter.wordpress.com/

Innocentive® - First Open Innovation Marketplace

One of the most exciting online business ideas out there today is called Innocentive®... the World's first open innovation marketplace. A wonderful website that connects companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations, all seeking breakthrough innovation. Every company has a list of research and development challenges that they are struggling to resolve and somewhere in the world there might be a creative mind that has a solution. What a fantastic concept!

Sabores da Terra®... Finally a Snack with the Authentic Taste of Brazilian Roots

One of the innovations that we're launching this year that I'm most proud of is Elma Chips Sabores da Terra® . For those who haven't seen it in the market yet, Sabores da Terra® is a line of snacks made from natural authentic Brazilian roots: mandioca (yucca) and inhame (taro). These roots are an integral part of Brazilian food culture. People around the country serve yucca and taro as an appetizer or as a side dish. The problem is that preparation is very time consuming. For the first time ever, Brazilian consumers can experience these popular roots in a convenient snack format.

We consider Sabores da Terra® to be a Blue Ocean-type innovation. For over thirty years we have been selling potato chips (an American classic) and for the past 12 years corn tortillas (a Tex-Mex classic) and we simply overlooked typically Brazilian roots as a way to increase the emotional connection to the Brazilian snacker. The macrosnack market in this country is overcrowded with extruded snacks, peanuts, popcorn, crackers, potato chips and tortillas. There was a clear untapped opportunity to bring some Brazilian DNA to the snacking experience. Adding to that, our research was showing that, more than ever, consumers value convenient foods and snacks with natural properties: unadulterated flavors, irregular formats, imperfections and low processing... that's what Sabores da Terra® delivers... the authentic taste of Brazilian roots. We were careful to label the packaging considering Brazil's regional differences. 'Mandioca' is the most common word in Portuguese for yucca, but we also used the word 'aipim' (used in Rio) and 'macaxeira' (the term used in the Northeast).

This innovation was led by an amazing professional, our Marketing Mgr. Adults Snacking Renata Figueiredo, a talent with a tremendous amount of passion and commitment, and her team Carol Oliveira, Carol Gormezano and Tiago Alencar.

AlmapBBDO did a wonderful job in creating a 30" TV campaign that captures the 'gostinho do campo' (the feeling you get when you're in the countryside). Film produced by Zeppelin Filmes.

Eating The Big Fish (by Adam Morgan)

Last summer I had the opportunity of listening to Adam Morgan speak about his concepts of challenger brands and lighthouse identity. He is an amazing thought-provoking presenter and his book "Eating The Big Fish - How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders" is a wonderful read, especially for those who manage businesses in hyper-competitive environments. I ended up buying additional copies to members of our marketing team. Highly recommended.

ANUGA 2007

I just got back from ANUGA 2007 - the world's largest food & beverage trade show which is held in Cologne, Germany every two years. I was blown away by the sheer size of the event (11 pavillions, more than 6600 exhibitors from 95 countries) and by the amazing amount of innovations that were showcased in categories ranging from bakery, frozen foods, meat, organic to beverages. For those who love innovation... Anuga is a must-see.

New TV Campaign for Sensações®

This week we're airing our the new campaign for Elma Chips Sensações® - a gourmet-style potato chip. Earlier this year, Sensações® was relaunched with new flavors and an entirely new packaging look created by Narita Deisgn Studio. This is one more effort we're taking to develop the snacking category expanding it to reach a broader demographic since salty snack consumption is heavily skewed towards kids and teens. Sales results and past 4-week consumption among adults have been extremely encouraging.

The campaign was created by AlmapBBDO and uses the insight that men do not always pay full attention to their wives, especially when they are engaged in something they crave for... in this case the great taste of Sensações®.

The H2OH! Case Study at the HSM Global Strategy & Marketing Forum - São Paulo

Last August, I was invited to speak at the HSM Global Marketing & Strategy Forum in São Paulo. The theme was H2OH!® by 7UP - "Putting the OH! Into The Boring World of Water" - a case study that I led while working on the PepsiCo International Marketing Team in Purchase, NY. The presentation shows how, through insights and disruptive strategic thinking, it was possible to develop an innovative product concept in the hyper-competitive world of beverages. H2OH!® is being marketed in several International markets like Malaysia, Vietnam, Portugal, Ireland, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and it has become a marketing phenomenon in Brazil.

I had the privilege of speaking right after marketing guru W. Chan Kim co-author (with Renee Maugborgne) of best-seller The Blue Ocean Strategy. Meeting Prof. Kim after the event was a very special moment for me since H2Oh!® is an innovation that was inspired by Blue Ocean thinking.

Click here for coverage of the event.
It's interesting to see how people have become fascinated by the H2OH!® story. The case study and the presentation generated a lot of buzz within the business community. There were many follow-up invitations to retell the case at a number of different events. I was surprised to see an interest not only from consumer marketing companies but also from tech companies. I also had the opportunity to present the case at the IBM Forum Brasil.

Exame Magazine - Brazil's premier business publication - published a two-page article following the HSM Forum. Click here to read the article.  Now that I'm working on the snacks/food side of the business, it's great to see the wonderful work on H2OH!® that the PepsiCo Brazil Beverage team is carrying out under the leadership of Gustavo Siemsen, Nora Mirazon and Ana Krainer.