Cool backpacks made of waste

For the past 6 months, I have been personally involved in a very cool sustainability project that was finally launched. Here at PepsiCo Brazil, we are converting waste from potato chip bags into backpacks and messenger bags.

In association with TerraCycle, we're replicating in Brazil the upcycling model that has been working in the U.S. market for a years. The project serves both an environmental purpose removing tons of packaging waste from landfills, as well as, a social cause since revenues support 250 families in low-income communities who produce the items.

This is how it works...

TerraCycle is partnering with waste management cooperatives to collect our snack bags. Bags are fused into fabric which is then sent to Solidarium...

Solidarium coordinates the production of the backpacks which is carried out in low-income communities of Curitiba...

The items are then shippped to our first customer: Wal*Mart Brazil...

... and merchandised in an exclusive display that combines chip bags with the upcycled items.

One of the things I love about this project is that it is the result of true collaboration. Tom Szaky and Richard Perl from TerraCycle in New Jersey providing us with their amazing experience from the North-American market, Tiago Dalvi from Solidarium who brings their experience with social work, Wal*Mart who supported us since the beginning of the project, the Future Group who developed the in-store presence, Claudia Pires - the marketing manager who is working with me on the project and shares the same passion I have for sustainability - and Sergio Julio and Camila Feola from the R&D Team who are the packaging experts.

Another example of the power of collaboration. All of us working together with a dream of building a sustainable upcycling model for snack bags in Brazil.... with a nice social story behind it. 

Fun project.

Innovation Challenge Brazil

As you probably know by now through this blog, I truly believe marketers can benefit from a more collaborative approach to innovation. So, when Insper - one of Brazil's leading business schools - told us that they were bringing the Innovation Challenge to Brazil, we immediately decided to become one of the corporate sponsors.

Innovation Challenge is the world's largest competition involving MBA students who compete to present innovation ideas to sponsoring companies. Each company posts a specific challenge and students from around the country team up to generate innovative solutions that meet the brief. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to work on real case studies and companies have the opportunity of interacting with the next generation of leaders who will certainly bring a fresh perspective to their business models.

For two weeks, teams from different parts of Brazil will research, discuss and prepare their business plans. Submissions will be evaluated by a specialist panel leading to a final presentation on the Isper campus.

This initiative reinforces our commitment here at PepsiCo Brazil to support a more inclusive collaborative innovation process that started over a year ago with an online panel we have with 40 college students helping us with our brands targeting millenials.

Can't wait to see the results.

Selling apartments through Twitter

This week Tecnisa - a local construction company - sold its first apartment through Twitter.  

This is not an ordinary construction company, Tecnisa has built an amazing reputation as a business that gets digital like no one else in the marketplace.  They were the first Brazilian company to launch a corporate blog, they send podcasts to buyers using engineers explaining each phase of the construction and they have a solid track record of online sales.  Many people who are in the market to buy condos have been following Tecnisa on Twitter.   The news this week is that a man took advantage of a promotion announced through Twitter and purchased a R$500,000 / US$250,000 apartment, the one you see below.

The mastermind behind Tecnisa's digital strategy is Romeo Bussarello, a charismatic high-intensity marketing talent I have known for years.  

He's always a step ahead of the competition and you never quite know what he's up to next.  While so many of us marketers are figuring out how to better connect through social networks, this guy is making it happen.  

Great story.

More on Doritos' augmented reality

Cool site Contagiousmagazine.com featured a story today on our Doritos® Sweet Chili 

augmented reality story...

Ruffles at the Jonas Brothers Concert

Two of our brands, Ruffles® and Toddy®, sponsored the Jonas Brothers Concert here in São Paulo this past Sunday.  

In a jam-packed stadium with 60,000 fans, it was an awesome opportunity for us to launch our new limited edition Ruffles Do Seu Jeito ('Ruffles Your Way') - which comes in a flavor for girls and one for guys.  The guy version is a big wave potato chip with a masculine BBQ Ribs flavor and the girl version is a thin-sliced potato chip with a soft cream cheese flavor.  

The in-stadium brand activation was carried out by the Future Group.  The promoters were instructed to hand out samples according to the positioning.  Next to me, there was a girl asking to sample the guy BBQ flavor.  The answer she got was:  "Bring a male friend and you'll get your sample" which was a great way to promote interaction among the crowd.

Here are two pictures I took of consumers sampling the product.  I had fun playing photographer...

From T-Shirts to Tombstones

University of Sāo Paulo Professor Americo Pellegrini Filho just published a book about popular culture expressed through communication found in signs and street art. The book, entitled Comunicação Popular Escrita ('Written Popular Communication'), is a result of 20 years of research after traveling to 107 countries with over 10,000 messages filed which include written communication found on t-shirts, bumper stickers, public restrooms, grafitti and even tombstones. The publication comes with a CD-rom with photos and explanations of the cultural similarities and differences the author found.

For those who work with communication, this seems like a must-have. 

Observing street vendors

Every Sunday coming home back from golf, I drive  through a busy intersection where a street vendor 'owns' that specific corner.  I've been observing how we works and it's amazing how much you can learn from the guy.  I noticed that he has a primary product he sells:  car chargers and mobile phone accessories in general.  Today, as he approached my car, he saw I had a BlackBerry on the passenger seat. He immediately pulled a car charger and said it was for my phone.  This all happens in a split second.  He has to work fast during the 3 minutes while the traffic light is red.  You can't get faster customer service than that.

It's interesting to see that he also operates with a helper who sells occasional products according to the calendar and season. A few weeks ago, during the Sao Paulo soccer finals between Corinthians and Santos, his helper was selling flags for fans on their way to the stadium (when I asked him how many flags he had sold by 12 noon, he said 30).  Today, it was Mother's Day here in Brazil, so sure enough, they were selling red rose bouquets.  Similar to what we do back at the office with limited-editions or with our promotional calendar.  However, street vendors change product inventory at incredible speed.

These street-smart salesmen are the very best in their craft.  Thousand of hours in the heat and rain, interacting with millions of drivers has made them hyper-sensitvie to what sells and what doesn't, flexible to adapt and change their product offerings according to what's happening in pop culture. Whether it's carnival season or there's a Madonna concert coming up or the Brazil National Team is playing on Sunday, these guys don't miss a beat.  They know that having something different to sell and being relevant to what is going on, means a better chance to increase their daily income.  

I'm sure there's a lot we can learn from street vendors.  I'll continue my observations next Sunday... 

A snapshot of consumers the moment they are interacting with the new Doritos flavor

A few weeks ago, I posted the story of our Doritos Sweet Chili launch and how we are using augmented reality on-pack. One of the very cool things about this technology is that, as a marketer, you can go online and see hundreds of photos of consumers the moment they released their Doritos Lovers. It's a glimpse of that very moment they were impacted by the technology. You see their expressions and how they interact with the virtual character.

How many marketing initiatives we end up deploying and never get to see the consumer the moment he is being impacted?

Looking at all the pictures on doritos.com.br is fascinating and it shows how technology can play an awesome role in terms of experiential marketing.... with the advantage that, in this case, we can actually see how our consumers are having fun with our product.

Pretty cool stuff.

New world-class Science Museum in São Paulo

Yesterday, I took my daughters to São Paulo's new science museum called Fundação Catavento - a fascinating world-class learning experience.  We only covered the first floor dedicated to space, Brazilian geography & wildlife, the human body, as well as, a hall with fun games teaching kids the principles of physics.  The space is very well designed, providing children with all sorts of fun interactive ways to learn.  We will explore the second floor next time we go.

The museum is located in the beautiful Palácio das Indústrias, which used to be the town hall, in a deteriorated section of São Paulo.  I hope this museum will help revitalize the city's downtown area, similar to what has happened in many other urban areas like in St.Paul with the Science Museum of Minnesota or Birmingham with the McWane Science Center.  

I was thrilled to read that the mastermind behind this museum is a man named Sérgio Freitas, an electric engineer who became a well-known bank executive.  His vast intellectual curiosity led him to travel the world visiting museums and selecting interactive displays and exhibits that became the basis for the Catavento project.  

São Paulo is fortunate to have a man like Sérgio Freitas who leaves a wonderful legacy to all of us.

Where's my Mini?

Last February, I heard that BMW had finally decided to officially open Mini Cooper dealerships in Brazil.  So even before the official launch, I made a down payment to secure my name on the waiting list and went to the online configurator to build my dream model.  A friend of mine and I shared a 48-hour test drive of a beautiful horizon blue Mini Cooper S which was a lot of fun.  I was told that my car would arrive in March.  A few weeks ago, I went to the opening of Sao Paulo's first show room but I'm still waiting for my very own Mini.  Last time I called, they told me it is scheduled to arrive late May.

The waiting has made me think that there's a huge opportunity for an import auto brand to provide an online personalized service where a buyer could visually see the different phases of the process.  The Mini brand is all about customization, from different choices of alloy tires to roof designs, mirror caps and bonnet stripes.  To reinforce this positioning, wouldn't it be cool to see images of your Mini being prepared for shipment, being loaded on the cargo ship, views of the journey, the unloading at the Port of Santos?   

It would certainly be a powerful marketing concept. 

World Digital Library

The Unesco has launched its World Digital Library that allows free access to amazing content from institutions like the Library of Congress, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Qatar Foundation and Yale University Library.

Go to www.wdl.org to check it out.

Spreading the Doritos Lovers story....

We can't get over the amazing buzz being generated by our new Doritos Sweet Chili launch and the use of augmented reality on pack (which we covered in a previous post). We're still filling the distribution pipeline and it has been great to see the amount of traffic to the website with people uploading pictures of them in a front of their webcams 'unleashing' the Doritos Lover.

To explain the concept and help spread the Doritos Lovers story, this film was produced....

Cebiche could just be the new sushi

In the gourmet world, Peru is a rising star.  From the Peruvian influence of NOBU to the amazing work of celebrity chef Gaston Acurio, this is a cuisine that is making headwaves all over the globe.  The good news for me, is that Sao Paulo now has a newcomer to its vibrant restaurant scene and it's called: La Mar Cebicheria Peruana.    

My wife and I were invited to its soft opening and wow....  the cebiche is insane!

For those who still have doubts that cebiche is the new sushi, this place is definetely worth a visit.

Two new spots for Doritos

Two new 30" spots in our Doritos campaign in Brazil.

The strategic objective is to reinforce Doritos as Brazil's favorite snack to share among friends. The cohort we're targeting our millennials. The campaign shows situations where someone 'shares' a rather embarrassing situation among friends. In one case, a girl recognizes who she thinks is a celebrity in a mall or a guy who shows off his tuned up car in the parking lot of a conveniene store. The campaign theme is "Wanna share something with firends, share a Doritos."

Spicing up Doritos in Brazil

This weekend a fantastic spicy new Doritos flavor will be hitting stores all over Brazil:

Sweet Chili.

We're super excited with this new flavor for a number of reasons. First, because for many years we have been only selling the classic nacho cheese - our fastest-growing snack - and we took extra care to develop a second flavor that would deliver an awesome product experience to Doritos fans. We tested and re-tested dozens of flavors and sweet chili was the clear winner, a perfect combination of hot chili pepper with a gentle sweet secondary note.

Another reason for our excitement has to do with Doritos Sweet Chili's packaging. For this project we're working with one of Brazil's coolest creative shops, Cubo CC. We immediately fell in love with their graphic work using characters from the world of toy art, which are being called 'Doritos Lovers', over a pure silver background that will certainly stand out at the point of sale.

The great story is that these 'Doritos Lovers' come alive once consumers place the packaging in front of a web cam. The technology used is augmented reality. On the back of each package, there's a symbol on the upper right-hand corner that needs to be placed in front a web cam to release the Doritos Lovers. This is the first-time ever in Brazil that this technology is used on a the package of a consumer product.

Take a look at the video tutorial that shows how the release-your-doritos-lovers works....

The new online experience for both Doritos and the new flavor launch was also developed by Cubo CC and is, by far, the best online work in our portfolio. Click here to take a look.

Another interesting aspect of this initiative is that the entire process was co-developed and each step validated by a Millennial Online Collaboration Panel we have with 40 university students located in four different regions of the country. Through a social-network style application, we maintain a weekly interaction with these collaborators checking everything from brand activation concept ideas, choice of flavors, language that resonates with the target, to what is hot in the world of graphics. The result is a higher probability to make a strong emotional connection with Brazilian millennials (certainly the most difficult demographic to be relevant to).

To make all this happen we have, what I call, our Doritos marketing dream team: Roberto Angelino, Carla Araujo (who will now lead the kids snacking team), Alexandre Chiavegati and Carol Gormezano (who love everything digital). To add more spice to the team, we're bringing in Marta Oliveira, who has done a fantastic job with our other millennial brand Toddy. In R&D, we have Sergio Julio, who brings the product concepts to life. A true dream team.

Here in Brazil.... we're in love with Doritos!

Two cases on Cross-Marketing

For those interested in cross-marketing, a TV program was aired this week on TV Ideal - a cable channel targeting the Brazilian marketing and advertising community.  Two cases were featured on the show, Toyota Hilux which teamed up with the National Geographic Channel to develop cool editorial content on an expedition across the Amazon and a recent experience we are having at PepsiCo with Sensacoes Ao Forno with a touch of Gallo Olive Oil.

Click here to watch the TV program (in Portuguese).

Giving new reasons for health-conscious Brazilian consumers to add more oats to their day-to-day lives

When asked what brand comes to mind when consumers think oats, Brazilians all over the country will immediately say Quaker.  Over the years, through the commissioning of Brazil's first clinical study on the heart-health benefits of oats and the consistent work of professional marketing, we have been teaching consumers and opinion leaders about how oats can help fight heart clogging cholesterol contributing to a balanced lifestyle.

Last year, we started working with agency StrawberryFrog which created a new campaign that is helping to accelerate growth with a message that combines both the functional benefits of oats with a more emotional tone.  The campaign is called 

Quaker - The Grain of Goodness.  

More and more people recognize the power of this little super grain but one of the barriers of consumption is that people don't always find oats very convenient.  Little time in the morning to prepare an oatmeal porridge or forgetting to sprinkle oats over fruits or yogurts are a few of the reasons why people don't consume more.  To provide oats in a more convenient format, a few years ago a line of oat bars were launched - our fastest-growing SKUs.  Proof that there is an opportunity to provide more convenient ways for people to eat oats.  

We're very excited that this week, we started test-marketing in Campinas (an hour drive from Sao Paulo) an entire line of convenient on-the-go oat-based products that will certainly create new reasons and occasions for health-conscious Brazilian consumers to add more oats to their day-to-day lives.   We're calling this line Quaker De Bolso  (which translates as Quaker In-Your-Pocket).

The line is made up of three nutritious products: 

Quaker Oatmeal cookies in three flavors:  Apple & Cinnamon, Granola, Raisins

Quaker Granola Express, a fun on-the-go drinkable format which allows people to have granola while they are driving, biking or working out.  These new granolas come in two flavors:  raisins, banana & honey

Quaker Minis - a completely new concept - bite size oat-based multi-grain mini cookies. One, is a mix of oats and cocoa and the other, a unique mix of 4 super grains: oats, quinoa, flax seed and wheat germ with a delicious touch of honey.  We designed this product to offer the convenience of portion control which we believe will become a hit especially among busy women who want a nutritious break but don't always have the time. I particularly love this concept.  

Well, here's our entire Quaker De Bolso line.  

Now consumers can have the goodness of oats anytime, anywhere.  

This launch was developed under the leadership of Adriana Ribeiro, Erika Salgado and Rodrigo Viselli, three marketing stars, as well as, Jose Oliveira and Maria Eugenia Cavenaghi on the Innovation team, who put their hearts and souls in the project.  We also counted on the inspiring support from Jesus Velasquez from the Mexican team who brought a wonderful perspective from a successful Quaker operation. On the technical side, Sergio Julio and his team added the R&D magic to bring the concepts to life. A fantastic team!  

World's Largest Football Gaming Tournament

It's absolutely fascinating to see the powerful evolution of online gaming and its potential as a marketing platform. A great example of how gaming can be built into a global experience is the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009. 

Next week here in São Paulo, gamers will take part in a qualifying event at the Museu do Futebol trying to secure a place among at the FIWC09 Grand Final in Spain. Similar to the real FIFA World Cup, the FIWC 09 Online Qualification will be split as follows:

UEFA - The top 5 ranked players
CONCACAF - The top 2 ranked players
CONMEBOL - The top 2 ranked players
AFC - The top 2 ranked players
CAF - The top 1 ranked player
OCEANIA - The top 1 ranked player

Only one lucky gammer will be awarded the title of FIFA Interactive World Player 2009, earning a host of prizes from EA and PlayStation. Adding to the magic, he will attend the FIFA World Player Gala 2009 receiving a trophy from some of the World's greatest players. Pretty cool!

Music as a beautiful metaphor

Last night at a business offsite in Argentina, I participated in an amazing experience.  After an extensive day, we were led to a large room where members of a symphony orchestra were already seated.  We were asked to sit in chairs placed right next to the musicians.  I chose to sit next a cello since that is the instrument my elder daughter is learning at school.  At this point, a maestro introduced himself as Roger Nieremberg and took us through a beautiful musical journey.  However, this was not a regular concert.  

Throughout the evening, Mr. Nieremberg explained how everything we are hearing and observing was actually a great metaphor for a business organization.  The conductor led the musicians through a series of carefully crafted exercises that helped illustrate how each group of instruments harmoniously functioned within the orchestra and how the role of the maestro was to provide his personal vision of how the music should sound. He talked about how the same can happen in organizations, where functional teams also have to work together and how leaders must create a vision and inspire. 

I was struck by how much non-verbal communication goes on between the maestro and the musicians.  That any orchestra can perform without a conductor but how it takes an inspiring maestro who is passionate and engaging to transform ordinary classic music into a truly magical symphonic experience like I've never had before.  

Yes, leadership can be demonstrated in an innovative way.  An evening that only proves how, many times, it takes a beautiful metaphor to make an emotional connection on a theme that is so part of my day-to-day.

Click here to learn more about Roger Nieremberg and his Music Paradigm concept.

VISA scores with Ronaldo

A few minutes ago, Ronaldo - Brazil's most famous soccer player - socred his first goal playing for Corinthians. For those who follow the beautiful game, there was a huge expectation all over Brazil about Ronaldo's comeback after over a year away from the pitch. Corinthians, is more than a team, it's practically a religion for millions of fans, so signing a guy like Ronaldo was the big story this season.

The marketing question behind today's match - the classic Corinthians X Palmeiras - was what company would appear on Corinthians' jersey? Until a few days before the match, there were all sorts of speculations about who would be the main team sponsor. Well... it's VISA, and the images of Ronaldo's will be in all papers and websites tomorrow morning. Great timing.

Developing a social occasion for snacks

Tomorrow, we're launching a new Doritos® advertising campaign in Brazil:

"Wanna share something with friends, share Doritos."  

Consumer studies with Brazilian millenials show that getting together with friends is one of their favorite things in life. Special moments after school hanging out with their best friends or on the week-ends before partying, those are the moments they cherish the most.  However, when it comes to snacking habits, the main consumption occasion is alone in front of a TV set.  There's a huge opportunity to develop a social snacking occasion among friends.  Doritos, being such a cool brand among millenials, has all the credentials to be the brand that Brazilians grab when they're snacking among friends.

The TV campaign, created by AlmapBBDO and produced by Rodolfo Vanni from Cia.de Cinema, uses funny situations that remind us that not everything should be shared with friends... if you wanna share something, share a Doritos.  We're also using two magazines that connect well with our target group:  Rolling Stones and Trip.  

The campaign has a very strong online component with a hot site created by cool digital agency CuboCC, a destination where teens are invited to upload pictures or videos of embarrassing situations they wouldn't want to share with their friends (or would they?). The five most voted situations will receive a year's supply of the world's most famous tortilla chip and a box with a special edition of Doritos with their picture on the bag (perfect for bragging rights). Take a look at www.doritos.com.br.

In the following weeks, more great news on Doritos...