Nestlé's new flavour of strategy
Peter Brabeck'soffice in Nestlé's headquarters in Vevey, a small town in French-speaking Switzerland, overlooks the glassy waters of Lake Geneva and the snow-topped peaks of the Haute-Savoie Alps.
It is a fitting setting for the chief executive and chairman-designate of the world's largest food company. But it also seems a world away from the outcry that erupted in the UK last week over Nestlé's decision to alter the packaging of its popular Smarties confectionery.
After 67 years of being packaged in iconic cardboard tubes, the chocolate sweets are to be sold in a hexagon-shaped box. It is part of revamp that, if successful, could be extended across the globe.
A similar outcry was prompted in 1999 when Nestlé decided to re-invent Kit Kat, one of the UK's best-selling chocolate bars, by giving it a chunkier shape.
Consumer attachment to the packaging of its products underlines the significance of brand identity and marketing to Nestlé.
Indeed, Mr Brabeck, 61, is standing in for Ed Marra, the company's most senior marketer, who is on long-term leave fighting severe illness. The fact that the task is delegated upwards is an indication of how central marketing and brands are to Nestlé, which boasts about 8,000 products with up to 20,000 variants and an annual marketing budget of $2.5bn (￡1.32bn).
"We are a branded consumer-goods company," says Mr Brabeck. "Marketing is important because it is the engine of growth and brands play a key role in this."
The marketing operation is part of an empire so vast that, were it a country, its turnover last year of $65.5bn would make it the 67th largest economy in the world - about the size of Syria. Its workforce numbers 250,000 and it has production facilities in 80 countries.
While Nestlé's brands give its products extra leverage with consumers, it is their effect on the balance of power with the increasingly concentrated and international retailers that Mr Brabeck prizes. "Ten years ago we were in a cockfight with the retailers. But we must not forget that they invested in very, very expensive distribution systems that brought prices down and contributed to our volume growth. So now we want to be a partner, not a supplier."
Spurred by this month's $57bn purchase of US toiletries group Gillette by Procter & Gamble, the household products giant, there is a widespread view in the markets that branded goods groups, such as Nestlé or its US rivals, will lose in confrontations with large retailers, whether Wal-Mart or European discounters such Germany's Aldi.
Mr Brabeck argues that the shift among some food and confectionery producers towards becoming suppliers for big retailers by manufacturing more own-label and private label items is an admission of failure. "Private label is for me the expression of the industry's failure to create value."
He accepts concentration in retailing is a fact but argues that relationships with suppliers will not suffer as retailers become bigger. For Mr Brabeck, the growth of groups such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour or Tesco has helped both sides - as well as consumers - by cutting the complexity of distribution, one of the biggest cost factors in the business.
The company's most senior marketer is deemed central to making such relationships work. That position has three main areas of responsibility, the most basic of which is to be in charge of what he calls "the demand-generating function" - consumer insight, communications, promotions, sales and channel management and retailer relationships.
Then there is brand guardianship. With such an enormous product portfolio, Nestlé achieves focus through six umbrella brands that it uses to cover most of its activities. They are Nestlé, which accounts for 40 per cent of the business, Purina pet foods, Maggi, Nescafé, Nestea and Buitoni.
Mr Brabeck, himself a former marketer, confesses that in the past he was frustrated by the peripheral role played by marketing and the lack of accountability that arises in "matrix organisations" where managers with responsibilities for specific functions overlap with local market management. "We had marketing to one side. It was responsible for some innovation but it wasn't responsible for country [performance]. They would talk about returns on investment on advertising instead of returns on business investment. For too long marketing was just one part of the business."
He addressed this problem by making his head of marketing responsible for the company's seven strategic business units - dairy, confectionery, beverages, ice cream, food, pet care and food services.
These units establish global business strategy and are also responsible for research and development, production expertise and systems control. Out of this comes the regional business strategy, which is in turn the starting point for local market business strategies.
He argues this structure means that, not only does marketing thinking permeate the business, but business thinking permeates marketing.
"The marketer has a much broader range of responsibilities. For instance, he has to sign off every new factory opened because he has to assure me of global capacity utilisation and return on investment," he says.
But for all Nestlé's global reach, Mr Brabeck is dismissive of the idea of global brands. "There is a trade-off between efficiency and effectiveness in global brands," he says. "Operational efficiency comes from our strategic umbrella brands. But we believe there is no such thing as a global consumer, especially in a sector as psychologically and culturally loaded as food."
As a result, Nestlé retains its brand strength by using what he calls very strong local brands, such as Rolo in the UK or the Rossyia confectionery range in Russia.
Moreover, product formulations also vary from market to market to reflect local tastes. "Every single day billions of customers have to make the choice to pick our [products]," he says. "I can only get them to do this when I respect them. This means having a local character." For this reason, he dismisses the notion of global advertising campaigns almost out of hand. "Yes, we tried once to make a global Nescafé campaign. On paper it was efficient, but it was a flop. Either they are not relevant or they are offensive."
Probably the key measure of marketing success in Nestlé is whether it can deliver the company's stated ambition of achieving organic growth of between 5 per cent and 6 per cent over the next five to 10 years. It is a target that Mr Brabeck sees as realistic, even in a mature market. "There are no mature markets, only mature managers," he says.
The basic driver of volume growth will be demographic, he argues. "Today we have 800m who are dying of hunger and 1.2bn people who, for the first time in the past 10 years, could afford to buy a manufactured product. They will grow substantially. As they grow, we will grow with them."
The question is: what is the next driver of value growth going to be? "It is my conviction that the next value creation, and it will be huge, is going to be nutritional aspects. That is what allows you to ask 40 per cent more for a product."
Foods with medical benefits, otherwise known as "functional foods" or "nutraceuticals", are expected to be the big source of growth for the next 15 to 20 years. After that, the company is looking to the area of "wellbeing" and has already established a joint venture with L'Oréal (itself 26 per cent owned by Nestlé) to develop nutritional products with a cosmetic effect.
A stream of sophisticated new products is all very well, but is Mr Brabeck concerned that his company has acquired a reputation among many - not just activists - as the very model of an insensitive global corporation? He bats aside the suggestion that the company has been damaged by concern over mis-selling of baby milk in the developing world and the episode in which it asked for compensation from drought-striken Ethiopia for a company nationalised by a military government 27 years previously. Criticism is limited to the chattering classes in the UK, he says. "We have to recognise that Nestlé has had a problem in the UK. But around the world you get a completely different picture. If I don't have the trust and confidence of billions of consumers I couldn't have the business I have."
雀巢战略新口味
在说法语的瑞士有一个小镇，叫沃韦（Vevey），这里是雀巢公司总部所在地。彼得?包必达（Peter Brabeck）的办公室就设在这里，从上面可以俯视澄彻如镜的日内瓦湖，眺望白雪皑皑的阿尔卑斯顶峰。
对全球最大食品企业的首席执行官兼董事长来说，这样的环境是再合适不过的了。这里似乎也远离尘嚣，听不见英国上周的一场风波。风波的起因，就是雀巢决定更改著名聪明豆（Smarties）糖果的包装。
过去67年来，这种巧克力糖果一直是正方形的纸包装，这种包装已经成了该糖果的形象传统，现在雀巢却改用六边型的盒子。如果换包装如果成功，有可能会向全球推广。
在1999年雀巢打算改变奇巧(Kit Kat) 巧克力造型时，也引发过此类争论，当时想把巧克力变成厚重的造型。现在，奇巧是在英国最畅销的巧克力棒。
消费者对其产品品牌的执着，说明了品牌定位和营销对雀巢是多么重要。
事实上，现年61岁的包必达还亲自出马，顶替雀巢公司营销总管埃德?马拉（Ed Marra）的工作。埃德?马拉因重病在身，正在长期休假。这种上级顶替下属工作的情况，正说明营销和品牌对雀巢公司起到了核心作用。该公司现生产约8000个产品，2万余品种，年营销预算达25亿美元（合13.2亿英镑）。
“我们是品牌消费品企业，”包必达先生说，“营销带动增长，营销十分重要，品牌的作用也很关键。”
雀巢营销面对的是一个庞大的商业帝国。雀巢公司去年销售额达655亿美元。倘若将雀巢比作一个国家，其经济实力排全球第67位，相当于叙利亚。雀巢有25万雇员，在80个国家有生产设施。
雀巢品牌本身给雀巢产品带来了额外的优势，但是包必达先生引以为豪的，是雀巢公司能够平衡内外部的力量：一方面发挥自身实力，一方面利用日趋集中、日趋国际化的零售商的力量。“十年前，我们还在和零售商搏斗。但是不要忘了，他们投资建立了非常、非常昂贵的分销体系，由此降低了价格，帮助我们实现了销售量的增长。现在我们希望能够成为伙伴，而不是供应商。”
在家用消费品巨头宝洁（Procter Gamble）斥资570亿美元，收购卫生产品集团吉列（Gillette）之后，人们普遍认为，雀巢公司及其美国竞争对手等品牌企业迟早会在大型零售公司面前败下阵来，比如沃尔玛（Wal Mart）和欧洲折扣店，如德国的阿迪(Aldi).
包必达先生争辩说，现在一些食品和糖果点心生产企业有一种走向，是成为大零售企业的供应商，为它们生产更多自有品牌或者私家品牌产品。他认为这是一种失败。“私家品牌的做法说明了本行业不能够创造价值，这是一种失败。”
他承认，集中零售是个事实，但是他争辩说，零售企业规模大了，它们和供应商的关系不应该受损。沃尔玛(Wal-Mart)、家乐福（Carrefour）、特易购（Tesco）等集团的发展对双方，对消费者，都是有好处的，它们壮大了，会简化分销，这目前仍是业内最大的成本因素。
这样的关系能否成功，公司营销负责人是个关键。营销负责人有三方面职责，最基本的就是负责“产生需求的职能”，也就是消费者认知、沟通、促销、销售、渠道管理和零售关系。
然后还有品牌监管的问题。雀巢的产品线很长，雀巢名下有6大类品牌，这6类产品基本上覆盖了雀巢大部分活动。这6大品牌是雀巢（占业务总量的40%）、普瑞纳(Purina)宠物食品、美极调味品(Maggi), 雀巢咖啡(Nescafé)、雀巢柠檬茶(Nestea)、堡康利(Buitoni).
包必达先生本人原来就从事营销工作。他承认，过去营销的地位比较边缘化，在“矩阵式组织”中，职能管理部门和当地营销管理部门职责重复，责任归属不明，这都让他非常苦恼。“我们的营销是片面的。营销负责的是一些创新产品，而不负责在一个国家（的业绩）。大家总是谈论广告的回报率，而不谈商业投资的回报率。很长时期以来，营销都只是商业的一个普通组成部分。”
为了解决这一问题，他让公司营销负责人管理公司七大战略业务：其中包括奶制品、糖果点心、饮料、冰淇淋、食品、宠物护理和食品服务。
这些业务单位确定雀巢全球业务战略，并对研发、生产知识和系统控制负责。在此基础上，雀巢产生出区域性业务战略，区域性战略相应又是本地市场业务战略的起点。
他争辩说，这种结构意味着营销思维能够贯彻在商业运作之中，商业思维又会反过来贯彻于营销当中。
“营销者的责任范围拓展了很多。例如，每家新厂是否开张都由他来拍板，因为他要向我确保全球能力得到充分利用，确保投资的回报率，”他说。
但是在雀巢全球化的问题上，包必达先生对全球性品牌的说法不以为然。“全球品牌的效率和效益此消彼涨，”他说。“运营效率来自我们的战略品牌大类。但是我们相信，不存在所谓的全球消费者，特别是食品这种领域，食品总是有很强的心理和文化个性的。”
因此，雀巢保持品牌优势的方法，是利用他所说的强势地方品牌，比如在英国就有Rolo品牌，在俄罗斯就有Rossyia糖果系列产品。
另外，产品的构成也因市场而异，反映各地不同口味。“每一天，都有几十亿顾客在作是否购买我们产品的决定，”他说。“我只有尊重他们，才会让他们来做出这样的决定。这意味着我们必须有地方特色。”因此，他完全不考虑全球广告推广活动。“不错，过去我们曾试图举办过一次全球雀巢促销。这活动的设想写在纸上看起来很有效，但最后失败了。这有可能是活动的内容不适合，也有可能会冒犯有些消费者。”
或许，衡量雀巢营销成败的一个关键标准，就是它能否达成公司的目标。这个目标就是，在未来5到10年内，实现5%至6%幅度的有机增长。包必达先生认为这是个现实的目标，尽管现在的市场都已经成熟了。“不存在成熟市场的问题，只存在管理者成熟不成熟的问题。”他说。
他争辩说，人口是销量增长的基本驱动因素。“如今，世界上仍然有8亿人面临饥饿；过去十年来，有12亿人第一次有能力购买工业产品。这群人会大幅度增长。我们会随着他们一起增长。”
问题是：接下来驱动价值增长的因素是什么呢？“我坚信，接下来创造价值的因素是营养，这会是巨大的价值创造因素。具有营养这一特征，你就能够提高产品售价，可以提高40%之多。”
在未来15到20年内，具有医疗功用的 “功能食品”或“药疗食品”预计会成为最大的增长源泉。此外，雀巢还希望开拓“保健”领域。雀巢已经和欧莱雅（L’Oréal，雀巢控制着该公司26%股份）合资兴建了一家公司 ，开发具有美容效果的营养食品。
开发出一些高级的新产品出来自然不错，但是包必达先生是否担心雀巢会被很多人（不仅仅是社会活动人士）当成冷漠的全球化公司，在声誉上受损呢？最近有人对雀巢的一些做法表示担忧，比如雀巢在发展中国家销售奶粉有不当行为。雀巢还翻旧账，追究27年前它的一家下属公司被埃塞俄比亚当时的军政府国有化一事，要求遭受旱灾的埃塞俄比亚赔偿损失。包必达先生排斥了这些事件会影响公司声誉的说法。
只有英国那些喜欢多嘴的阶层才会提出这些批评，他说。“我们必须意识到，雀巢在英国是有问题的。但是在全球，却又是另一个完全不同的局面。如果我不信任亿万个消费者，对他们缺乏信心，我就不会把生意做到今天这个地步。”
海格?西蒙尼恩会提供后续报道。
