It opened with Bernard Fevry, director of operational marketing Europe for the Coca-Cola Group, saying how the company plans to double its size, achieving what took 125 years in 10.
“If you are in the beverage sector, you are in a good place,” he said. “FMCG is growing globally at 6% and we are the fastest growing sector with a billion new consumers being added through population growth, and a billion people from emerging markets entering the middle class.
“Our research tells us that out of every $100, $3 will be spent on beverages and this is expected to grow by 4% over the next decade. Spending on food, however, is forecast to drop, taking this $100 from $18 to $12.
“Retailers don’t want to hear about our latest product’s marketing plan, but how to grow the total category, so we’re working closely with retailers to ensure shoppers have more trips and have more occasions to put drinks in their basket.
“The solution is to grow the pie in a sustainable way – i.e. the general amount people are spending on drinks. As a company, we need to take more risks and not be afraid of failure. That’s how we learn. We need to tap into integrated and transverse ways of working and keep listening to our consumers.”
An interesting question from a Rabobank representative during the Q&A was, ‘Do the next generation want to drink the same drink as their parents?’. Bernard responded: “They are already listening to my music (Pink Floyd). So if it’s good, it will survive. They are looking for authenticity and quality and many drinks today, and those from yesterday, offer that.
“As the government stated in 1946, ‘Health is not just freedom from disease. It’s a state of complete physical and mental well-being’.
“You need to connect emotionally with your audience and we are aiming to do that through our anthems (such as waving the flag) for Fifa 2014 as we did for the World Cup in South Africa and our Facebook page. We have been working via social media to grow our fan base for four years. We now have 50 million fans on Facebook.”
That’s quite something.
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