Packaging redesign for Brazil's favorite tuna brand

Packaging innovation for Coqueiro - Brazil's most traditional tuna brand with over 75 years of history. Hitting stores all over Brazil this week, our new Coqueiro Tuna cans are moving from traditional paper labels (wrapped around the can) to easy-open full litographed cans more than doubling the area for product information and branding.

Consumer research showed that one of the main complaints from shoppers when buying tuna & sardines is the difficulty in identifying the right option among solid, grated, in olive oil, different flavors, light... which led us to create a very simple easy-to-read color-coded area where the product variant is written in bold font to stand out on shelf.

Morning newspaper and an oatmeal cookie

When it comes to new products there´s nothing like simple sampling. The more you get people to try, engage, experiment, the more chances are you´ll start forming a consumer base. Sounds simple but I have made a few mistakes in the past of not sampling enough.

For our Quaker On-the-Go line, we teamed up with São Paulo's Metro Newspaper and used their army of distributors at traffic lights to give morning commuters a sample of Quaker oatmeal cookies and mini squares.

Electric bike to the rescue.... to jump-start your car

Dealing with a dead car battery is not something people are happy about.  For those who have auto insurance with Porto Seguro - Brazil's most innovative insurance company - things are little different.  You call their 1-800 number, tell them where your car is located and you may end up being rescued by an electric bike (apparently service is restricted to certain metro areas).  What a fantastic way for the insurance company to reduce operating costs, get through chaotic traffic found in metro areas like São Paulo, jump-start the car using the bike's battery and help the environment.  Absolutely brilliant.

The interesting thing is that Porto Seguro is also marketing the electric bikes, which they co-developed in collaboration with engineer Felicio Sadalla (an engineer who designed Brazil's first electric bike a few decades ago) and Pro-X bike manufacturers.  This morning, I met Patricia Collese from Porto Seguro who showed me the bike and told me the story of how the project got started.

Click here for more info. 

I found this video on YouTube (in Portuguese) covering the story...

NatuChips - made from Brazilian roots

In a few days an exciting new snack concept we have been developing for the past year will hit the shelves all over Brazil: NatuChips.

There has been a growing interest among Brazilians consumers for products that celebrate local food staples. The growth of açai, coconut water or guaraná-enhanced energy drinks are examples of how Brazilian are re-discovering local tastes... from fruits to roots.

NatuChips is a great way for Brazilians to try something completely different in terms of snacking... different, but very close to their food culture. NatuChips comes in two great-tasting options: Inhame chips (known in English as taro) and Mandioquinha chips (known as arrancacha). We're very excited with this launch.

Try them out and drop me a line with your thoughts.

Care for some local sausage on your way up the slopes?

Flying back from a 2-week vacation in Europe (reason why I haven't been blogging as much as I'm used to), I read a great article in BusinessWeek about a surge in the 'buy local' movement. This is something my wife and I have always believed in.

Coincidently, my Family and I were skiing at a very quaint resort last week called Le Diablerets in Switzerland and it struck me how that particular community is so proud of their local products. You could feel it at the local supermarket, at the little laiterie across the street from our auberge, the week-end farmer's market and even at the ski lift. Yes, the ski lift. This is a photo I took at one of the main ski lifts where one of the local producers of sausages and cheese was showcasing his products. Pretty unusual way to get your message out. I loved it.

Toddy on Facebook

Toddy - one of Brazil's coolest brands among millennials - is now on Facebook where fans can see in real-time how three cutting-edge Brazilian graffitti artists (Cusco, Carla Barth, Estudio Alice) are collaborating on the cow that is part of the Sao Paulo Cow Parade exhibit.  

Check it out.

Is this the coolest club in Brazil?

Last night, my wife and I went clubbing... something we haven't been doing that often.  We went to what is considered by many as Brazil's coolest club: Green Valley located in Camboriu, a well-known beach in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Everything about this place is amazing.  Picture a massive tent with the main stage, open-air bars and a lounge-style pavillion with different DJs all in the middle of a lush tropical vegetation with world-class electronic music.   UK DJ Johnathan Ulysses was the main guy on the stage last night.

For anyone involved in marketing, it's essential to, whevever you can, go out to see and experience what people are doing, drinking, dancing.... whatever, especially away from your home turf.   It's easy to get cozy and end up doing pretty much the same things on weekends.  I loved the experience and will certainly try to do more of these things more often. 

Take a look at the venue's promo video below to get a little bit of the vibe of the place.  

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Cows, cows, cows invading Sao Paulo!

I just got back from the launch event of Cow Parade Sāo Paulo - one of the world's largest public art movements where local artists paint over fibeglass sculptures of cows.  These exhibits have happened all over the world from Zurich (where it all started back in 1998) to Tijuana, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Dublin, Taipei, Sydney just to name a few.  At the end of the 3-month event, the cows are auctioned off and the proceeds donated to charity.   Here are a few photos that I took that will give you a little flavor of this amazing display of work.

We are one of the event sponsors with our Toddy Brand, an obvious choice since this is a brand that has irreverent cows in its DNA.  Instead of just displaying a cow with a logo on its back (which unfortunately a few brands end up doing) we decided to get more experiential.  Our digital agency CuboCC came up with a very cool concept.  Three street artists were commissioned to collaboratively paint our cow allowing the public to see these guys actual work and interact with them.  The entire process can be followed on Facebook and will be made into a short documentary. 

Here are a few shots of the first local artist we're using called Cusco.

Toddy Organico - our first organic product

Later on today, after a 12-month development process, we will be launching a fantastic new product our marketing team is very proud of: Toddy Organic - PepsiCo Brazil's very first organic product.
























The launch will take place at a press event organized by WalMart Brazil where nine sustainable innovations from nine different manufacturers will be revealed.

This initiative is part of our corporate strategy of developing products that contribute to a better tomorrow but still provide a great-tasting product experience. We are very proud of Toddy Organic in a number of ways. Following the global trend towards clean labels, Toddy Organic is made with only five ingredients: organic cocoa, organic sugar, malt extract, sugar and soy lecithin. The organic cocoa and organic sugar are both cultivated with absolutely no pesticides, only natural fertilizers. Labels are made with recycled material partially made from paper collected from our own offices. Certification of the entire process, from seed to shelf, is carried out by IBD-Instituto Biodinâmico.

The organic cocoa comes from farms in the beautiful region of Ilhéus, in the State of Bahia - by Barry Callebaut. This project is particularly special when you take into consideration that cocoa, like sugarcane and coffee, are an integral part of the history and culture of this country.

Toddy is one of our fastest growing brands and has been a part of the Brazilian breakfast for the past 76 years. We're hoping Toddy Organic will appeal to moms and a generation of young consumers who are concerned with the world they live in.... but can't live without their daily Toddy.

Pepsi Refresh Project - start submitting ideas tomorrow

For those who haven't seen it, the Pepsi Refresh Project in the U.S. market is an amazing example of socially-responsible marketing. Pepsi is giving away millions in grants each month to fund great ideas.

Tomorrow, Jan. 13 is the day people can start submitting their projects of how to make the world a better place. Log on and participate. As a PepsiCo employee, I feel very proud of this type of initiative that pretty much reconceptualizes the role brands can have in the world we live in.

Spread the word.

A beautiful story of the power of nature

In parts of Brazil, some electric posts are still made of wood instead of the more commonly seen concrete ones. In Rondonia - one of the Brazilian states part of the Amazon region - a Yellow Ipê (also known as a Tabebuia Tree and is a considered a symbol of Brazil) was cut down a few years ago to become an electric post.  

To everyone's surprise, the tree didn't give up, started to grow roots and blossomed.  The power company installed a concrete post next to it removing all the electrical cables from the tree.  

A wonderful story that proves the power of nature.  Social media is now turning the story into a movement in favor preserving trees.

Read more about the Yellow Ipê in Wikipedia.

Havaianas... celebrating winter

I've always been a huge fan of Havaianas - one of Brazil's coolest brand icons. Our luggage is always full of Havaianas everytime we travel abroad. It's the perfect gift a Brazilian family can give to friends abroad. My Family and I just spent the two last weeks practically only using Havaianas during our summer vacation on the coast of Paraty.

Today, someone on my marketing team send me the link of this Havaianas video celebrating not summer.... but winter in the northern hemisphere. Totally awesome. I love it when a brand turns logic on its head. Absolutely brilliant.

Those beautiful new gadgets we probably don't need

Don't we all just love these lists of the sexiest gadgets of the year?

Beautifully-designed gadgets we probably don't need but some way end up in our dream list. 

Check this one out from THECOOLIST*

Celebrating the new year in magical Catimbau Island

My Family and I started 2010 having lunch at a magical place:  Catimbau Island, a 45-min boat ride from Paraty, one of Brazil's colonial gems on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Catimbau is so small it's almost not quite an island, it's more like a rock formation in the middle of the Paraty Bay with only a restaurant on top called Eh-Lahô.  

Everything about his place is amazing... the construction elaborately perched over the rocks, amazing grilled seafood and a wonderful feeling of being in the middle of nowhere having a great time with friends.   After lunch, we all jumped from the deck into the crystal-clear green waters.  You didn't even need a snorkel to see a variety of colorful fish.  

In case you plan to go to Paraty anytime soon, here are the coordinates for you to explore on Google Earth:

This is the photo I took approaching the island, which doesn't do justice to the place.  

You have to go there to feel the magic.

Starting 2010 designing our new house

It's always great to start a new year with a life-changing project.  In our case, 2010 will be the year we'll start building our dream urban house.  In the past months, I focused on selecting as many design references as possible, interviewed with a few architects (both some of the cool names here in São Paulo but also some of the up and coming young talents)  and discussed a lot about the brief with my wife Aline.  

In case you're also thinking of building a house one day, here are a few websites I've been reviewing that will probably get you inspired...

Dwell is one of my favorite magazines and their website has a nice section on houses with a slideshow feature.

The Cool Hunter is another great resource with projects from around the world...

Try also e-architect...

Tomorrow, we're going to our year-end retreat to an island close to Paraty, off the coast of Rio.  

All the best in 2010!

Inspiration from potato chips

My good friend Flavio Maria just sent me a link to a fun article from Fast Company on how Iraqi Architect Zaha Hadid's love for snacks may be inspiring her fantastic work.

As a fanatic potato chip marketer, I loved the article, which is also a great reminder how inspiration for great design can come from anywhere.

"The sandwich came with potato chips, and Hadid examined one, turning it in her fingers, which were long and tapered and ended in bright-red nails, before putting it into her mouth. The twisty geometry of an ordinary potato chip, to say nothing of the curves in modern cars and phones, is a reminder of how few buildings look as if they belonged in the digital world. Hadid is devoted to helping architecture catch up."

Making scents of aromas found in a glass of wine

Last Sunday, my wife and I were invited to a barbecue at a friend's apartment overlooking São Paulo.  After a succulent picanha (one of Brazil's classic prime cuts) and wonderful wine, our host brought out a mysterious box and said we were going to play a game.  The box, contained the key aromas found in the world of wines encapsulated in little bottles.  Each person had to smell the aroma and identify what it was.  

Cinnamon, smoked bacon, peppermint, caramel, lychee, lavender, musk....  the game went on.  It was a fabulous experience having to concentrate and access one's memory bank and what a good feeling when you got it right.  I was surprised that our 8 and almost 11-year-old daughters, got a few answers right.  I guess keeping my wife company in the kitchen and learning and experimenting with a few recipes is paying off.

For anyone involved in product innovation, making scents of the different aromas found in a glass of wine is a very fun and educational experience.

This is our host Carlos Campos during our wine game.

Learning new chords

Somewhere I read that you should try to learn something new every year. So, at the end of last year, I signed up for weekly golf lessons and every Wednesday night I've been taking electric guitar classes.  Both activities have been extremely rewarding.  Golf has helped me focus, strategize, learn how to read the field of play, recognize that little details make a huge difference and meet some interesting people along the way.  Guitar has been a wonderful way to engage with my daughters through the joy of music since they are also learning how to play.

I feel like trying something completely new helps rewire your mind in different ways. It challenges you to be open to new concepts, forces you to practice, experiment, fail and try again. In many ways, there's a direct correlation with the innovation process, from having the intellectual curiosity to explore new ideas that lead to the formulation of hypotheses, and the discipline of researching over and over again to find the right insight.  

As I start thinking of 2010, what new skills will I be adding to my life experience?

Learning from the Seda Co-Creation Project

Last week we invited Erik Galardi - Unilever Brazil's Marketing Director Haircare - to talk to our internal team on how he is carrying out a major brand transformation for Seda.  The presentation was absolutely awesome, one of the best marketing stories I heard recently.  Seda is Brazil`s leading shampoo but has been losing relevance to smaller high-end brands which led to the Seda Co-Creation Project.  They partnered with seven hair specialists from around the world to develop a new generation of products.  Another great case of collaboration, packaging design, content generation and experiential marketing.  

Ad agencies developing their own product concepts

Flying back from Buenos Aires this week I read an interesting article in Time Magazine (Nov.30, 2009) called "Marketing - Having It Both Ways" by Thomas K. Grose on how ad agencies are developing and testing their own product concepts. I wonder if this is a trend that will hit the Brazilian market anytime soon.

In a marketplace of constant change, it's clear to me that ad agencies have a huge opportunity to re-think and re-invent their business models. One thing is for sure, making inroads in the entrepreneurial world will certainly provide agencies with a better understanding of what clients go through on the operating side. New times require new thinking.

Click below to read article...

Move over coffee... it's Tea Time in São Paulo

Yesterday, I took my Family to have lunch at Ping Pong, the London-based restuarant group, which just opened its first international operation here in São Paulo. Wonderful dim sums, friendly staff, cub-perfect lounge music and an urban cool project by Swiss Architect David Marquardt from MACH Architektur.

One of the highlights is a great array of teas offered at Ping Pong. In fact, in a country where coffee has cult status, it's amazing to see how teas are becoming the thing. I guess it all started with Carla Sauressig's Loja do Chá carrying over 250 types of tea - a franchisee of Germany's Tee Gschwendner - with two stores in São Paulo and one in Brasília. Now, some of the food emporiums have sections dedicated to teas from around the world.

Ping Pong, which is also serving the famous flowering teas, will certainly cater to a growing tribe of tea-lovers in a city dominated by café culture.

Inflatable Seat Belts

It's fascinating to see how some new ideas are actually a combination of things that have been around for a while - in this case seat belts and airbag technology - and nobody had actually put them together. Ford's recent announcement of the first-ever back-seat inflatable seat belt is a great example of this.


This is a wonderful innovation that makes you wonder what other opportunties exist in our own categories of combining different ideas to create an entirely new consumer experience...

Radiolab's Moments by William Hoffman

I just received this beautiful video from my friend Alexandre Peralta. In case you haven't seen it yet....

Buffer it up and enjoy 4' 17" of powerful storytelling and a wonderful reminder that life is but a collection of moments.

How can we make these moments become more meaningful for ourselves and for those we love?

Turbocharging the home phone

The other day I was talking to Alessandro Germano, an innovation director at Telefonica Brazil, about how I thought the home phone needed some serious re-thinking incorporating a lot of the cool features found in the mobile world. That's when he told me about Orby.

Orby is a product that is being developed by Telefonica to become the ultimate home digital smartphone. The idea is to turbocharging the home phone with a hi-speed connection, the convenience of touch screen and cool design. The concept comes with unique features like the ability for the user to choose his phone number online. The phone screen can be used to access YouTube, online radios, use as a slideshow for family photos or to check your stock portfolio.

It seems like the type of innovation that has the potential of becoming the centerpiece of home automation (control lighting, turn on air conditioning, lock/unlock doors or activate security cameras). Telefonica is making Orby open source allowing anyone to develop aditional applications, similar to what happens today with IPhones or Android.

Launch is expected to happen later this month. Perfect time for me to update our old home phones.  Can't wait to try it out.

Folding bikes and the art of innovation

I love bikes and I would like to be able to take my two daughters biking beyond our Sao Paulo neighborhood.  Unfortunately, our three bikes don't fit in our family bike (let alone in my Mini Cooper).  

For the past week I've been doing some online research on folding bikes, from very simple concepts to high-end folding mountain bikes. Some really fascinating projects.  

One video I found on YouTube, part of the Open University series, is absolutely fantastic because it has UK Industrial Desginer Mark Sanders  explain step-by-step the entire process he went through in creating his revolutionary Strida folding bike.  The video shows how he started off with a very specific brief inspired by baby strollers.  It goes on to show his rigourous approach to developing hypotheses, creating as many designs as possible, validating, screening, prototyping and testing, testing, testing.  I particularly enjoyed how, after launching the first commercial version, he incorporated consumer feedback to evolve and refine each aspect of his project.  At the end, he mentions a few ideas he has to take his project to the next level, confirming how great design and product development should be a continuous process.  

For those who love design and the innovation process, this is a truly inspirational video.

Fiat's collaboration project

This time its Fiat launching a collaboration project called FiatMio.  I just went to their fiatmio.cc co-creation website and posted my idea (it's always fun to provide ideas to someone else's project).  Fiat is saying they want to select the best ideas, build a concept car and showcase it in Sao Paulo's 2010 auto show.  

Another very cool collaboration project.  

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Sunday Paper in Washington Park

There's something very special about reading the New York Times on a beautiful sunday morning in the Fall. That's was what I did yesterday morning in Washington Park in NY. I know a lot has been said about the future of newspapers.... but I`m one of those who enjoys flipping through the pages not knowing exactly what you're going to find. It's specially nice when you're traveling and reading a newspaper from another city.

There was a great interview with Tim Brown - president of IDEO - where he talks about the importance of asking the right questions. In a world where people expect us to have answers, I enjoyed readng about his view on questions.

Here's the interview.

More on PepsiCo's Institutional Campaign in Brazil

Here at PepsiCo we started off 2009 launching our first ever institutional print campaign. The first phase, which we covered on this blog, presented our entire brand portfolio (including snacks, beverages and food) and we introduced our institutional campaign theme:
PepsiCo - Creating a Tomorrow Better Than Today

We've now moved into phase two which celebrates the people who make PepsiCo great. In one print ad we talk about our people, in another ad we celebrate the farmers who cultivate the potatoes, corn and wheat used in our snacks, and in the third execution we celebrate the partnership PepsiCo Beverages has with AmBev.

The campaign can be see in Brazil's most top-selling magazines such as Veja, Exame, IstoÉ, Revista Caras and Claudia.

Let's make it fun!

I saw this video last night, which is part of the Fun Theory cultural movement in Europe - a VW initiative - and it made me think of how the power of fun could change the way schools educate kids or even how companies sell their products.

As marketers, how can we add a little more fun in the way we sell... engaging consumers in a whole new way?

For those of us who live recycling... this is a killer idea.
Absolutely Brilliant!!!

YouTube... a great substitute for the Food Network

This morning, I had a nice meeting at Google Brasil which is always a great opportunity to feel the pulse of what is going on in the digital world.  We ended up talking about one of the hottest search topics for women in Brazil: recipes.  

Both on Google and on YouTube, recipes are hot.  

This is obviously a subject that interests in me because one of the barriers we face in two of our categories (oats and canned fish) is that gatekeepers not always know how to use our products in differentiated ways.  They value the heart health properties of oats and they love the Omega-3 found in tuna & sardines but they want to learn more on how to add these products to their day-to-day lives. Unfortunately, we don't have the wonderful Food Network in Brazil which is a fantastic resource for those who want to learn more about cooking.  My wife and I miss the channel... but fortunately there's YouTube (whcih according to their blog has reached over 1 billion views per day).

I decided to go online to find out which Brazilian company is doing a good job in terms of recipes.  I enjoyed the work Sadia is doing.  A very clean graphic approach (different than the traditional in-kitchen production), clear instructions on what ingredients are needed upfront and simple instructions.  Bravo.

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