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MANILA – December 16, 2013 – As more channels emerge, brands keep up by making sure to be where the consumers are. Young companies know that this means being online, and not surprisingly, so do veteran brands such as Nestlé.
Patrice Bula, Nestlé S.A. Executive Vice President and Head of Strategic Business Units, Marketing, Sales & NESPRESSO, discussed Nestle’s evolution in the digital space at a media roundtable on November 28.
"My role is to look at what’s happening in the world, what are the key trends, what we should do, how these brands should evolve, what are the issues, and design the strategy," shared Bula, who was on his first visit to Nestlé Philippines.
According to Nestlé Philippines chairman and CEO John Miller, changing trends are the lifeblood of their business. "It’s about understanding where our consumers are going and trying to predict also where our consumers are going, and making sure we’re always ahead of the game and satisfying their emerging needs," he said.
Talking about the Google KitKat partnership, Bula said the deal resulted in 1.6 billion tweets – a new absolute record. "The conversation on confectionery in social media since the launch of Android is 60 percent about KitKat. I think it’s very interesting to see that such a simple product, a little wafer bar rolled with chocolate can create so much conversation," he said, adding that KitKat now has 20 million fans, four million in the last three weeks.
Bula continued, saying the partnership shows a new way through which brands can communicate and become part of people’s lives. He said that in the instant world of social media, brands must show that they understand people. "Increasingly we will need to be like that. This is what people feel, and they like brands to be part of their life," he said.
He described KitKat as a fun brand, without pretensions of nutrition. "But this is a brand that is part of the life of people, of entertainment. This is the light part. I think we want to do more and more the serious part of helping people with nutrition," he said.
Miller noted that the Philippines is one of the most digitally savvy countries in the world. "30 million Facebook members, and I suppose it’s no surprise when you think of the Filipino diaspora around the world, this is the ideal medium," he said, adding that digital media plays an important part in how Filipinos are said to be the most networked people in the world.
He continued to say that this is a very exciting time for marketers. "We now realise that the brands we are so proud of are owned by the consumers, they exist with the permission of our consumers," he said.
Agreeing with Bula’s earlier statement on brand conversation, Miller said, "We have to be where people are living and more and more people are living online. And they want to interact and indeed shape the brands that they love," he said.
Miller said they are spending more on digital in response to this. He explained that it is not about single media, rather, it is about where the consumer is consuming information, whether from newspapers, television, or digital. "It’s all of these component parts and digital will play an increasingly important role," he said.
On the other hand, this does not mean that traditional media is less significant. "TV is extremely important in the lives of consumers in the Philippines. Most people are wedded to a telenovela of one channel or the other. So television is going to continue to be extremely important. I think it’s more of the interrelationship," he said, adding that all media will come together on the third screen. "I think for us it’s a very exciting time. Different groups will be using different media," he said.
