Roos Bulder – Nestlé

Roos is the Marketing Communication Manager at Nestlé Retail Coffee. She is end responsible and budget responsible for all marketing communication for the three big coffee brands of Nestlé: Nescafé, Starbucks and Dolce Gusto. She is responsible for all brand activation – apart from packaging design – like media, creative, social, instore activation, etc.

Main KPI’s for growth

According to Roos, the main KPI’s are dependent on brand and campaign; “We always have sales- and communication objectives. When it comes to sales, we look at value market share for example. Communication goals are dependent on the campaign but are always brand values that contribute to our growth, which we have defined per brand. For Dolce Gusto we can be distinctive through the pleasure domain and one of the brand values contributing to that is ‘a brand that makes me happy’. This past year we have mainly focused on brand activations, so we are now looking for a more balanced approach. Communication is very important to us, building our brand, being more distinctive so that our consumers understand what we stand for. But growth is also reflected in having the right product portfolio. It’s about the combination. You can have great communication, but if you don’t have a great product, it’s not going to work in the long term.”

Roos: “We are a challenger in the category so therefore our competitors are having a lot more budget than we have. So, we have to do things in a different way and be more efficient and effective. Therefore, the strength of creation is even more important to us.”

Strength of creatives

“To me, creation is everything that is visible to the consumer”, Roos continues. “Everything a brand creates, whether it’s a TV commercial, point of sale material in the store, an online banner or a radio commercial, that’s creation. When it comes down to it, creatives need to stand out, be disruptive, but above all, be consistent with your brand. That’s also the strength of creation, being able to create that brand linkage. There are many ways of doing this, music is one of them. We still hear from consumers that they think of the ‘pan flute’ when they think of Nescafe although we have stopped using it for years.

The creative process

Roos explains that Nestlé’s creative process starts with a briefing: “However, we don’t just use the standard Word template you need to fill in. We also add relevant and detailed background information, so the agency knows what’s going on in the market and what other creatives are out there. Afterwards, they come back to us with a debrief and a concept, and the media plan is presented. We incorporate the media plan and the creatives together, so we always brief the creative agency and the media agency at the same time so they can align and adjust their plans together and brainstorm if needed. As the creative and media choices can reinforce each other, having both the creative- and media agency closely involved and partnering together ensures that we have a plan which can be implemented in media much more easily.”

When it comes to creative inspiration, Roos refers to a few different things. “Firstly, I’m a part of the SAN Jury, where we look at the best creatives and look at what makes them stand out. I also just watch TV to discover which commercials I remember, and why. As an example: to me, music always stands out. Next to that, I keep up with the market by reading blogs and articles. I mostly keep up to date online on what the standout creatives are, but I recognise that it will always be a challenge to come up with the greatest one.”

Emotional & single-minded

Roos explains that the creatives that stick, often have an emotional layer. “It doesn’t always have to be a tearjerker; it can also make you laugh. But there needs to be some sort of emotional underlayer. The functional product campaigns aren’t the ones you will remember. Rolo – one of our confectionery brands – for instance hasn’t made a campaign in a very long time, but every one of my generation still remembers the Rolo commercial very well! There are a few who really hit the mark. I think it’s also important to stick to the single-minded message. You have to have a clear message instead of cramming 5 different messages in a 20 second commercial. You need to be able to say ‘no’ and justify why you have made certain choices.”

Biggest challenges

According to Roos, the biggest challenge when it comes to creation is working with global brands: “Making sure a global campaign can be relevant locally. Sometimes we need to challenge the international team when something doesn’t fit the local market, and find the right balance. We test the material to see if it holds relevance in our market, and potentially challenge the international team if we have good arguments to create something locally. Now we are actually creating a local campaign, with the possibility to use it in the rest of Europe as well.”

Roos continues to say that creative development can also have its pitfalls: “With digital you get a tremendous amount of data, which brands then use to make a ton of different, targeted creatives. You put a lot of money and time into it, whilst the differences in results between these creatives are barely visible. So, how far do you go? In the end, your main goal is to make an impact. But when you reach a very limited amount of people with a specifically targeted creative, you won’t be able to make it. So, it’s important to keep multiple touchpoints.”

With these touchpoints, it can sometimes be difficult to stay consistent: “Because of the scope of competitors we have in this category, it’s very important we continue to be consistent. Everything we build is consistent throughout the channels and touchpoints. But because there are so many touchpoints these days, it can be difficult. I think this is one of the biggest challenges. Brand building fits into that, which is key for us for the long term.”