Blog dedicated to the passion for creative strategic thinking, consumer insights, collaboration, and product innovation...
how great marketing can become a significant contributor to growth
Here at PepsiCo do Brasil Snacks we started off 2007 with a plan to execute a major portfolio transformation. From creating healthier snacking options, adding more Brazilian food values, expanding our demographic footprint... and hopefully break some packaging rules along the way.
This week we're adding another chapter to our journey with the launch of Brazil's first baked potato chip: Sensações® Ao Forno. This launch, which will be test-marketed in Rio, meets a growing consumer trend. Brazilian adults are looking for convenient ways to help them improve their eating habits through healhtier more natural products, as well as, reducing consumption of sugar, sodium and fried. However, consumers are becoming more demanding... they want healthier options but are not willing to sacrifice on value, convenience and great taste. In the world of snacks, baked has a higher perception but so far options in the market have not delivered great taste. Until now. After over a year of hard work, our R&D Team, led by Ramiro Cordova in Mexico City and Sergio Julio in São Paulo, did an amazing job developing a potato chip that delivers high consumer scores on taste, crunchiness, texture, color and overall product experience. Seems simple, but believe me, for those who manage a product innovation process know that it's not always an easy task.
Sensações® Ao Forno comes in two great flavors: cheese & herbs and roast beef. The product also comes in a stand-up pouch versus the pillow bag found in traditional salty snacks.
A few days ago I read a very interesting report on a recent study conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton on the impact of Web 2.0 initiatives on the world of business. The study, called “Web 2.0 – The Consumer In Control” was the result of interviews with 4,600 consumers in the U.S., Germany, UK, Middle East and Brazil. The results confirm that consumers are relying more than ever on online communities and blogs to gather product information, make recommendations, compare prices, complain about service... information that is impacting purchasing behavior. As I’ve posted before, this is a subject that I’m very passionate about since I believe consumer collaboration is becoming a powerful new marketing approach that will transform the way we manage brands and businesses.
For the past 30 years Ruffles® in Brazil stood for 'a batata da onda' (the ridged potato chip). In time for the summer season, we're shaking things up on the snack brand Brazilian teens love. Two cool product innovations will be hitting the shelves this week. The first, is called Ruffles® Palito - a french-fries-style snack that brings the fast-food experience in a convenient format. The second, is called Ruffles® Toast - the market's first potato & wheat-based cracker with the famous ridges so dear to the brand. Extending a brand into a new category is not easy. However, he feel confident we have a right to succeed. First, consumer studies show that Ruffles® is a brand with a good emotional connection with local teens. Teen consumers told us they would like to experience their brand in other ways. In fact, this particular concept had the highest scores in terms of overall liking and purchase intention. Beacause the Ruffles® brand is so intrinsically associated to potato chips, we knew we needed to differentiate the product from traditional potato chips. We also want Ruffles® Toast to be dispalyed in the cracker aisle so it's being offered in a carton box instead of a pillow bag. We were also careful to develop flavor profiles with a teen angle: cheese and 'pão-na-chapa' (a Brazilian classic... bread-on-the-grill a common morning choice consumed in bakeries).
Both innovations were led by Carla Araujo, our Marketing Mgr. Teen Snacking, Alexandre Chiavegatti and Victoria Gabrielli... three young marketing talents we'll be hearing more about in the future.
Send an e-mail with your thoughts after you try it. Would love to hear your comments.
I was invited to a breakfast last week by IBM Brazil with guest speaker Nicholas Donofrio - IBM's EVP Innovation & Technology. I had already been to the IBM Forum Brazil a few months ago and it's fascinating to see how Big Blue is positioning themselves so well as an innovation partner. Mr. Donofrio is a gifted speaker with thought-provoking ideas and examples on how IBM has helped companies look for disruptive innovation as a way to transform business and accelerate growth.
Another great collaboration idea: Redesignme.org. I'm fascinated by the potential of collective thinking and the power it can have on the way companies operate in the future. Our insights manager, Fabio Paiva, told me about this very cool site called Redesignme.org that intends to "...improve the products around us by collectively rethinking bad products into better products and good ideas into great ideas". It's still in beta testing but you can already see some interesting redesign suggestions. I hope the idea blossoms.
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/
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!
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.
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.
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.
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®.
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.
Here at PepsiCo do Brasil Snacks we started off 2007 with a plan to execute a major portfolio transformation. From creating healthier snacking options, adding more Brazilian food values, expanding our demographic footprint... and hopefully break some packaging rules along the way.
