Nestle - Positively Coffee

Nescafé Positively Coffee, demonstrated our efforts to educate people of the intrinsic benefits in coffee; coffee naturally contain antioxidants. We managed to create a more positive image for Nescafé, and this ultimately led to a significant increase in sales.

What was our strategic communications challenge? 

Coffee has become the new whipping boy of the medical fraternity. The ill effects of coffee range from migraines to heart palpitations.  For the lay person on the street, there is such a thing as too much coffee. So much so that we are seeing growth plateau. And the only way we are likely to see growth is to take this problem head on. And that was our strategic challenge for Nescafé; to create public awareness of the intrinsic benefits of coffee and allay some of the fears that people have started associating with coffee.

What were our campaign objectives?

Campaign objective #1: To create a positive image for coffee, and ultimately Nescafé

Campaign objective #2: Increase consumption of Nescafé.

What was our big idea? 

Anti-oxidants are good you. Coffee naturally contains anti-oxidants. 

How did we arrive at the big idea? 

In order to let people enjoy coffee, we have to take the away the guilt they feel every time they pour themselves a cup.

We ran a few studies and we discovered there was low awareness of benefits of antioxidant. Plus, antioxidants were more commonly associated with other products such as tea, fruits and vegetables. But there was a positive reaction from people when told that coffee naturally contains antioxidants.

How did we bring the idea to life? 

We planned and set a clear path to success:-

Create Awareness Through Education

The general public had almost zero knowledge of antioxidants in coffee, and it was only appropriate that we start the campaign with education and comprehension on antioxidants in general.

It first started at an unbranded level, where P.R. activities were extensively engaged; press releases/articles, professional speakers for media briefings.

We collaborated with the Nutrition Society of Malaysia for one of these events, where our intentions at this point were to educate people on coffee, and to give them a wider view to quash their negative perceptions.

Our next step was to bring Nescafé into the picture, where we ran a series of advertisements (on TV, print, radio) featuring renowned celebrity Maya Karin. Her popularity and wide appeal was instrumental in reaching out to the wider Malaysian community.

Promote

In order to reinforce the message of healthy coffee, we held on ground activities where our in store promoter gets to chat with patrons on the benefits of coffee while serving up samples.

Prompt

While all of the above was happening, our packaging took an additional antioxidant logo, again to reinforce the message of healthy coffee.

How do we know it worked? 

All our KPIs were exceeded!

(Source: Millward Brown brand health tracker)

Most importantly, our sales in modern trade actually increased by 13% in 2009!  

(Source: Client internal data)

Nestle Koko Krunch - School Fuel

What was our strategic communications challenge? 

The Big Fish in a Small Pond

For over 10 years, Nestle Breakfast Cereals has had a history of strong, consistent growth in Malaysia. They are the leader in the breakfast cereal category with 85.1% (Source:Cold Cereals NDO8, Nielsen) of market share, yet category penetration for kids cereals remain at 33.4% (Source: Worldpanel™ Malaysia, TNS FY2008) while Nestle Breakfasts Cereals penetration is 27.1% (Source: Worldpanel™ Malaysia, TNS FY2008)

Consumer loyalty is also low, where even the average household in the category purchase cereals on an average of 2.9 times a year (Source: Worldpanel™ Malaysia, TNS FY2008)

The Nestle Koko Krunch franchise forms 61% (Source: Cold Cereals NDO8, Nielsen) of the entire kids cereal category – which is the lead brand in the Nestle Breakfast Cereal portfolio. 

To grow, Nestle needed to develop the category by bring in new users and encourage more consumption. 

Sweet, Cold and Crunchy vs. Savoury, Warm and Soft

Kids naturally love the taste and fun associated with breakfast cereals, the greatest barrier towards the growth of breakfast cereals in Malaysia is the niggling doubts that mothers have on its “nutritional credentials”. Mothers are not convinced that breakfast cereals are somehow better than the breakfast  they are currently serving (Source: Agency Research, 2008)

The ideal breakfast for moms in Malaysia is something savory, warm and soft. In fact, these attributes  is often synonymous with being nutritious. Typical examples would include sandwiches, “nasi lemak”, fried noodles and if the morning is rushed, a warm chocolate beverage with bread or biscuits. (Source: Agency Research, 2008)

“ If my child likes it, it can’t be good for them”.

One reason could be mothers reluctance in believing a product that comes in a colourful box which is dominated by a cartoon character,  the product comes in shapes that looks like “crisps”,  it is predominantly chocolate flavoured and there are multiple “toy” promotions throughout the year (Source: Agency Research, 2008) could be nutritious and good for her children.

What is wholegrain?

In 2008, Nestlé Breakfast Cereals launched a nutritionally improved product, reformulated with whole grain. Leveraging whole grain as a growth driver however was a challenge, as most Malaysian mothers  were unfamiliar with the concept of whole grain. (Source: Agency Research, 2008)

Double Trouble

The strategic communications challenge was not only to establish Nestle Breakfast Cereals as a credible kids breakfast option amidst mothers considerable resistance. The challenge was also to explain the benefits of wholegrain cereal and what it can do for her child.

What were our campaign objectives? 

Business Objectives

• Drive double-digit volume  growth of Nestle Koko Krunch
• Strengthen health and nutrition credentials of Nestle Breakfast Cereals with the introduction of wholegrain.

Communication Objectives

Educate To Persuade Convince  And Change Behavior 

• Create the awareness that wholegrain is important 
• Create awareness that Nestle Breakfast Cereals are made with wholegrain which is a nutritious and modern breakfast option for her child.

What was our big idea? 

“Fuel for School”

How did we arrive at the big idea? 

“ I do my best everyday to ensure that my children are equipped to succeed in life.”

Mothers believe that they prepare her kids for success in life through her everyday efforts including doing all she can in the morning. She considers breakfast as the most important meal of the day.  It helps her children perform better in school, which to her is an assurance of success in life. 

Global studies also support that people who eat breakfast do better in memory tests, problem solving and in school. Memory function appears to be linked to blood glucose levels and, whilst

failure to eat breakfast does not affect intelligence test performance, it positively boosts memory tasks such as word recall. 

Armed with this knowledge and the understanding that mothers are always looking for ways to help her children perform in school at their peak levels, the big idea was derived.

How did we bring the idea to life? 

For the big idea to work it needed to be presented at two levels; the educational and the persuasive. There had to be an element of education that appealed to a mother’s more logical mind while the idea also needed to persuade her that she was doing the right thing; after all we didn’t want her to feel that she was being any less of a mother by serving her kids something out of a box.

The Education Phase

This part of our campaign focused on the qualities of whole grain.  A new icon was designed to educate and identify the addition of this new ingredient to mothers. The icon is the main component that bridged all communication material from the packaging to TV commercial for the entire campaign.

To ensure the success of the educational phase, on-ground events and sampling was conducted to involve mothers to create deeper understanding, of the importance of wholegrain, what are its benefits were and why it was important for their school age children.

Print advertisements, outdoor billboards and on-ground events and sampling  were also used to announce and educate mothers on the new product ingredient and its benefits.

This created a force multiplier effect amongst moms.

The Persuasion Phase

While education was making mothers come around to the idea of wholegrain, we introduced our TV commercial, which played a pivotal part in demonstrating the benefits of Nestle Breakfast Cereals with wholegrain in a school scenario. 

How do we know it worked? 

Business Objectives

• The entire Nestle Breakfast Cereal business brand achieved an increase of 18.2%
• The flagship brand franchise, Nestle Koko Krunch saw growth of 23.9%

(Source : Advertiser Data)

Communication Objectives

• Create the awareness that wholegrain is important 

 - Change in perception on the importance of wholegrain from 0 to 74% of mothers agree on the importance of wholegrain

 - 52% of mothers now agree that wholegrain is very important as a part of their child’s diet.

• Create awareness that Nestle Breakfast Cereals are made with wholegrain

 - From 0 to 85% awareness of Nestle wholegrain symbol 

(Source: Wholegrain Tracker December 2008, Millward Brown)

Anything else going on that might have helped drive results? 

Every year Nestle Breakfast Cereals has global communication activities to drive their core brands under the Kids Cereal umbrella. This consists of running a thematic TVC for each brand and also promotional tag-on’s, which is in-line with the global promotions calendar.

Core brands

• Nestle Koko Krunch: Rollercoaster TVC (March)
• Nestle Koko Krunch Duo: Mirror (April)

Promotional Campaigns

• Batman Promotion: July
• Madagascar Promotion: November

Nestle Coffee Mate - 5 Days 5 Cups

With the creamers category struggling to overcome years of habit among Malaysians who used sweetened beverage creamers in their coffee, the category leader CoffeeMate needed a new approach to convert consumers. Interestingly, a milk deprivation study done overseas showed that repeated usage of CoffeeMate over 5 days acclimatized consumers to its taste resulting in conversions and repeat purchases. The idea was the “5 Day, 5 Cup Challenge” where Malaysians were encouraged to use CoffeeMate over a continuous 5 day period. The response was overwhelming with runaway sales.

What was our strategic communications challenge? 

The Creamer category in Malaysia is fighting years of habit with Sweetened Beverage Creamers (SBC). SBCs over time have become a subconscious purchase for Malaysians. The challenge for COFFEE-MATE in Malaysia is to disrupt this habit, stimulate trial and ultimately convert coffee drinkers to use COFFEE-MATE instead. This task is further complicated by the fact that the battle is not just between brands but between the two categories of SBC and Creamers.  Today SBCs command a 3/4 market share versus COFFEE-MATE at only 1/5 of total coffee cups creamed. (Source: Nestlé National Account Management average scan data sales – Oct 2007)

With a dominant share in the powdered Creamers category of 85% , the onus is on COFFEE-MATE to champion the Creamers category and break the stranglehold of SBCs. As can be inferred, this is unlikely to be an easy task. (Source: Beverage ATP tracking & AC Nielsen ND06 Retail Audit)

The barriers for COFFEE-MATE:

Acquired taste 

SBCs have a distinctively sweet taste that appeals to the taste buds of our main Malay consumers. This taste has been acquired over generations, making it difficult for them to switch to any beverage creamer less sweet. Despite the rise of health consciousness, giving up taste for most consumers is still very difficult if not impossible.

Variety of usages

SBC traditionally also possessed multiple usages such as making cakes and cookies, spread for breads, and added into other beverages such as Milo/ Vico (cocoa-based drinks) and tea. Consumption is not limited to in-home; it is widely served at F&B outlets. One of our challenges is to convince consumers they do not have to replace their SBCs with COFFEE-MATE but add it into their purchase basket specifically for coffee.

Price 

There is also an underlying perception that COFFEE-MATE is expensive; SBCs are sold in tin containers that hold a smaller quantity, hence carry a lower price for each tin compared to each pack of COFFEE-MATE. The habit of SBCs is so ingrained that most consumers are unable to see that in terms of price-to-quantity ratio, COFFEE-MATE is actually cheaper. 

What were our campaign objectives? 

Quantifiable (Business Objectives):-

• To increase volume sales for 2008 by 5% 

Perceptual/ Attidudinal (Communication Objectives):-

• To increase brand awareness for COFFEE-MATE and reinforce the brand role as ‘the taste optimizer’ – coffee tastes better with COFFEE-MATE. The idea was to focus on coffee drinkers and convince them that if they loved their coffee, they should be using COFFEE-MATE and not SBCs.
• Highlight that COFFEE-MATE is “value for money”.

What was our big idea? 

“COFFEE-MATE 5 days-5-cups Taste Challenge”

How did we arrive at the big idea? 

In 2006, a milk study conducted lead to a few enlightening ‘acclimatization’ insights:- 

• Most milk users would acclimatize and appreciate the benefits of COFFEE-MATE after consuming coffee made with it.
• Research and studies also showed that after one week of using COFFEE-MATE, 53% of non-users and 49% of lapsed users commented that they would use COFFEE-MATE to replace milk as their choice of creamer. In addition, some 95% of non-users and lapsed users were still using COFFEE-MATE eight weeks after the study. (Source: Nestlé Project White Plains, 2006)

This meant one simple thing; the more people used COFFEE-MATE the more likely they were to switch away from SBCs. This gave rise to the “5 days-5 cups Taste Challenge”. 

Our campaign proposition was “Coffee tastes better with COFFEE-MATE even when there are other milks around, and it makes more cups.” It communicates to our consumers that coffee whitened with COFFEE-MATE tastes smoother, richer and creamier. At the same time, it makes more cups of coffee. 

How did we bring the idea to life? 

The campaign idea was brought to life with the following in mind:-

• Increase awareness and consideration: We engaged alternative path-to purchase touch points to reach target consumers. This was no doubt supported through relevant ATL and BTL channels.
• Increase the brand’s appeal: To gain instant appeal and affinity, we used a celebrity. It was clear that we had to employ a myriad of execution strategies since the task was so daunting. 
• Convert non-users: 5 days-5 cups product trial/ sampling.

The following communication mediums were strategically used to communicate the primary (Taste) and secondary (Value) messages to our core audience of Malay consumers:

• Taste: 5 days-5 cups Sampling, TVC
• Value: Radio, POPs, POSMs

5 days-5 cups Sampling Programme:

• Sampling booths were strategically erected near offices nationwide to offer NESCAFE with COFFEE-MATE
• Each consumer was encouraged to return everyday for 5 days with the promise of a mystery gift
• Survey forms were also distributed for database collection and gauge consumer sentiments at the end of 5 days 

TVC:

• Much needed support for the nationwide sampling program especially with high TV consumption amongst Malays. Further layered with endorsement of local celebrity, Ally Iskandar for familiarity and affinity

Radio: 

• 6-episode romantic ‘drama’ to educate and entertain on COFFEE-MATE being ‘value for money’ 
• Involvement and interaction between brand and consumers was created when they get to decide the ending for the drama

How do we know it worked? 

Achievements vs. Objectives:

• Business

         - Exceeded expectations and achieved sales growth of 5.7%  

           (Source: Nestlé internal sales data browser)

• 5 days-5 cups Sampling Programme

         - A successful redemption rate of 41%  of the total redemption cards given. 

           Total office covered 37 offices

           Total cups sampled 71,949 Cups

           Total redemption card  12,678 Cards

           Total redemption 5,228 Cards

                         % consumers 41% redemption

                   (Source: Nestlé internal sales data)

•  Brand health

        - The ads had succeeded in increasing Conversion to Trial  amongst non-COFFEE-MATE users and further strengthened their repurchase intention of the brand: 

PRE TVC CAMPAIGN POST TVC CAMPAIGN

17% trial – repurchase 93% trial – repurchase

(Source:TNS Malaysia, 5016, Oct 2008 – ‘Project Almonds 2 ‘COFFEE-MATE brand & communication check’ Oct 08)

•  Radio Contest

         - The contest attracted a total of 551 entries within 1 week  (267% more compared to an industry average of 100-150 entries). (Source: Media Prima Radio Network Hot FM, Aug 2008)

Anything else going on that might have helped drive results? 

Within the campaign period, in-store product sales promotion has contributed towards the success of the campaign. There were 3 product sales promotional offers: 

• Promotional Pack: Get an extra 50g with every purchase of 450g COFFEE-MATE pack
• Promotional Pack: Save 50 cents with every purchase of 200g Pack 
• Premium Giveaways: Free MAGGI Hot Cup Tom Yam and NESVITA Oats with every purchase of 450g COFFEE-MATE pack
• Link Save: NESCAFE & COFFEE-MATE product bundle at a promotional price
• Rocketman sampling: In-store roving promoters with coffee dispensers on their backs giving out free samples