Brand Forum, Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board
The recent Brand Forum event was held in Google’s Foundry. Shenda Loughnane Group MD of Dentsu Aegis Network one of the world’s biggest media companies kicked off the proceedings with an overview of three of the main macro-trends that need to be taken into account when planning your marketing communications programmes. The first is the welcome reminder that long term brand planning should not be sacrificed for short term tactical gains. In the aftermath of the recession many companies felt they had no option but to concentrate on short term promotions to maintain sales but the weight of evidence from numerous studies around the world show that this tactical approach is damaging to the long term health of brands. Shenda recommends a 60:40 marketing communications budget split in favour of long-term brand investment.
The second trend will be the need to create more experience-led marketing communications as consumers demand more personalised and more intense ‘experiences’ to deepen their relationships with brands. Shenda’s third trend to watch out for this year is the pressure on companies to take a more active societal role in the communities in which they operate. All kinds of movements are being created by conversations on social media and brand managers need to be more aware of societal issues than in the past. It was interesting to note that the trends highlighted by Shenda also featured in the presentations of our other two speakers.
The next presentation was given by Ben Greensmith, UK and Ireland Country Manager for Dutch-based chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely; a brand with an extraordinary back-story. It was set up as a result of a documentary made by a Dutch TV crew in 2005 to investigate labour practices in the main cocoa producing countries; Ghana and the Ivory Coast. They found that about 2.3m children work on the farms, 90% of whom work in illegal and highly dangerous conditions and at least 30,000 of them are victims of human trafficking or forced labour. The new Tony’s Chocolonely brand was born with a mission to produce 100% slave free chocolate. The company wants every producer to take full responsibility for their own value chain. They now buy their beans from co-operatives in Ghana and the Ivory Coast and on top of a Fairtrade premium they also pay a Tony’s premium.
The brand was launched in the Dutch market in 2010 and is now the brand leader with a 19% market share in 2019. With a €70 million turnover the brand has now been launched in the other European countries, including Britain and Ireland; it also in the US. The business does not invest in paid advertising but does carry out extensive promotional and experiential marketing campaigns including pop-up outlets travelling branded buses and are intending to open a chocolate experience factory where people can learn about the industry. They also persuaded the Dutch government to pass a law that forbids child labour in supply chains. They reject the term ‘purpose marketing’ preferring instead to position themselves as ‘not a chocolate company that wants to make an impact but-an impact company that makes chocolate’.
The final speaker, April Redmond, is no stranger to Ireland having worked here for Coca Cola and Diageo before becoming Chief Marketing Officer for Kerry Foods. She is now a Global Brand Vice President in Unilever where she is responsible for one of the company’s biggest brand; Knorr. The title of April’s presentation set an ambitious tone; Reinventing Food for Humanity and it showed Unilever’s determination to the change the way food is grown and produced partly to enable healthier populations especially in the less developed world and partly to protect the planet from the damage being inflicted on it by the way we produce our food. She began by showing that because of expected population increases by 2050 we will need 69% more food calories than we do now. She then pointed to our dangerous dependence on an ever-smaller number of food sources; 75% of global food comes from only 12 plants and 5 animals, and that we have lost three-quarters of out plant diversity over the last century. But not alone are we reducing diversity in our food our industry is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. As a result Unilever, through the Knorr brand are committed to championing more dietary diversity, promoting more plant-based products and recipes and grow and produce food in ways that protect, restore and regenerate nature. In order to achieve these ambitious objectives Knorr are engaged in extensive education programmes around the world involving sustainable nutrition and providing meal inspiration and recipes. They have identified fifty future foods that are kinder to the planet and to our health whose benefits they are proselytising around the world. They range from Algae to Red Indonesian sweet potatoes by way of Spinach and Sprouted Chick Peas. Unilever are one of the world’s most admired ethical companies and April’s presentation showed how determined they are to pursue their goals.
Although the evening featured three very different speakers there was a common thread running through the presentations; the increased involvement of businesses in societal issues. The words ‘movement’, ‘manifesto’ and ‘values’ were frequently invoked by the speakers to make their points and one came away from the evening with the feeling that if the outcomes proposed by the three speakers were to come to pass the world would be a better place.
While some members of the audience were not in agreement with April’s emphasis on plant-based foods, which might be consumed partly at the expense of meat and dairy products; a healthy debate ensued on a balancing the need to feed an ever growing population, on a planet of finite resources. But we have to be clear that it is not the role of the Brand Forum to tell any of our members what to do or what not to do, or what to produce or what not to produce. We operate on the assumption that Irish food and drink companies who are equipped with a better and deeper understanding of what consumers around the world are thinking, and more importantly, are about to think, will be more successful in marketing their products. That’s why we try to identify speakers from Ireland and further afield who are at the cutting edge of the latest thinking and trends. Our objective is to point out the way the wind is blowing; it is up to our members to set their sails.
