Ad:tech 2016: Why Nescafe moved from POE to OEP

Michael Chrisment, global head of integrated marketing, Nescafe, Nestle, opened the first day of Ad:tech 2016 in Gurgaon with his keynote on 'starting real connections in a digital world'.

 

Outlining Nescafe’s online journey and setting the tone of the two-day conference, he said, “We realised in the past couple of years that we have to bring digital at the centre of our brand DNA.” 

 

He noted that Nescafe could attain this by investing in people and infrastructure both internally and with consumers; bringing in listening and data; and creation of a global content factory, which the brand shares across 60 markets.

 

Based on digital insights, Nescafe moved all its websites on Tumblr, he informed. Citing cases including that of Nescafe Labs in India, the speaker emphasised the importance of storytelling.

 

He added, “Nescafe is moving from TV-first to mobile-first and moving towards OEP (owned, earned, paid) model from POE model." The brand's budgets are divided 70:20:10, he explained. While the bulk of it goes into media that is known to work, 20 per cent is invested in innovation and new launches, and 10 for pilot new tests. 

 

Chrisment underlined that innovation was the third dimension of Nescafe’s journey, and goes beyond product development. A case in point being the Nescafe WakeUp app, a service that wakes people up to videos rather than the ringtones on the phone.

 

The speaker also touched upon the work that Nescafe has been doing with start-ups. The brand, he noted, has also pushed envelope on eComm, which also affects offline results. He claimed that these measures have helped Nescafe double its engagement rate.

 

”In ranking of topmost valued brands, globally, on Interbrand we brought Nescafe back in last two years. Last year it stood at 800 million dollars in brand value. And in ranking, it was at 36th place,” he surmised.

 

Data across media

 

Sundar Muthuraman, CSO, Worldwide Gain Theory (WPP); Alok Agarwal, head marketing, excellence, GSK Consumer Healthcare; Naveen Kukreja, group CMO and director, non-insurance business, PolicyBazar.com; Madan Mohapatra, head customer strategy at Future Group; LV Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research; Prashant Singh, MD, Nielsen; and Vikram Chandra, CEO, NDTV Group discussed if the industry was ready to reconsider the way media is measured in the digital era.

 

Krishnan of TAM said, “When we look at data, we need to define its base to understand the behavioural pattern. There are two sets of data that exists – panel-based measurement and digital universe. We need to combine the two to get rich set of data, which we did last year and found strong correlation of TV and digital aiding each other,” he said.

 

The panel discussed the need to provide metrics that enable easy comparison of audiences across media, in order to develop more effective media and content strategies.

 

Kukreja made the point that besides measuring reach and impression, brands need to measure engagement, without which data is of little use.