The versatile food ingredient also needs a multifaceted marketing strategy. In conversation with the Marketing Head of Nutella, we dissect the brand's creative approach toward content marketing, media mix, and celebrity endorsement.
The original and popular hazelnut cocoa spread brand of Ferrero is one of the leading manufacturers of sweet-packaged products globally. The Ferrero Group closed FY2022 with a consolidated turnover of 14 Bn EUR, and Nutella achieved net sales growth through the consolidation of market shares in most of the regions. The content marketing strategy aims to build brand equity for Nutella, a brand that is popular and consumed globally.
The brand also enjoys brand loyalty on a global level, and food-themed pages and creators commonly put out content with Nutella as a key ingredient. For a brand that is profit-making and enjoys loyalty among consumers, the objective is not to be promotional but to build brand equity that lasts, and Zoher Kapuswala, Marketing Head, Nutella at Ferrero India explains how the brand does that.
The Collaboration With Ranveer Singh
Ranveer Singh, the most valued celebrity of 2022 with a brand value of USD 181.7 Mn, according to a Kroll report, has recently been roped in as the brand endorser for Nutella. His global presence coupled with household popularity in India was first blended this year with Nutella's brand communications for the campaign #FlipThePancake on World Nutella Day.
he brand has been collaborating with him on projects under Nutella for the last 2-3 years but wanted to take it further by becoming the brand endorser to represent Nutella in India. "His charismatic personality resonates seamlessly with the ethos of our brand and our target audience,” says Zoher.
Nutella India made the announcement in collaboration with Ranveer Singh’s social pages through a video, where the actor is seen engaging in a rapid-fire round on ‘what comes to my mind when….’. He was also the face of the #FlipThePancake campaign.
The brand also did an online limited-edition Nutella jar featuring Ranveer Singh on the label as a giveaway, in India. The jar was packaged in a box which when scanned under a curated Instagram AR lens, triggers the actor in an augmented reality avatar on top of the box and is seen delivering a special message on this collaboration.
He will be seen activating the brand across all key occasions such as the recent World Nutella Day 2023 campaign, and the ones that follow during Diwali and Christmas. The brand has an ongoing calendar planned for Ranveer as an endorser to bring a lot of campaigns to life during the year.
The Nutella Content
Nutella has a distinguished social media presence and visual communication language, that traverses the color palette of red, white, and black, and the wordplay on copies. This creative approach is also tangible in the brand's recent campaigns such as the collaborations with quick commerce apps, and the brand's social media strategy.
Sharing insights on this outlook, Zoher mentions as a spreads product, the primary focus is on reinforcing the taste credentials of Nutella and leveraging the approach wherein the aim is to educate consumers on the versatility of Nutella with carriers such as pancakes, roti, paratha, dosa, etc.
A recipe-led approach is also followed in most campaigns which forms the core of the messaging and driving engagement. "Our strategic focus is to establish the breakfast proposition of ‘Mornings Taste Better’ and is complemented with the seasonal approach during festivities leveraging dessert making, baking, etc. Hence, the creative focus also translates to forward this proposition of Nutella across various platforms," he adds.
Building the core proposition is the key focus, and so far, the brand has not launched any sales-driven promotional communication. "Our efforts are concentrated towards building a strong equity for the brand thereby generating pull."
The Media Mix
2023 has been the first year since normalcy has returned for a longer period, but the Indian Food Industry had a comparatively stable consumption flow, due to the categorization of this industry as essential. But with disrupted distribution, and more factors changing, the marketing strategy in this category also needed a novel path.
Explaining how Nutella is navigating its way through, Zoher mentions the year has been quite turbulent. Though normalcy returned for good, there have been extremely adverse pressures due to cost inflations and forex volatility which led the brand to recalibrate resources and optimize.
"We right-sized spends on digital and media targeting within that to deliver sharp and focused messaging. In addition, our investments have also been redirected to build a solid foundation on e-commerce platforms both existing and emerging ones. The approach overall is to make each dollar work harder for the brand and realize the goals."
The brand is currently taking the digital route for all promotions, as its target audience is more active on social media. Through social media campaigns, the aim is to establish a stronger connection with the audiences and build a deeper connection. E-commerce is another strategic lever of growth to strengthen the online presence to allow consumers an easy way to purchase instantly.
In order to drive last-mile conversions, Nutella is active on a variety of social media platforms marketplaces, and e-commerce sites. "Quick commerce is also something we are focusing on to expand our business digitally. In addition, to further drive salience for our brand, we recently launched a new TV communication in key markets that aims to build relevance through the system of carriers,” he adds.
The Current Marketing Trends In Food Industry
Zoher shared with us a few trends that are setting the tone of the food marketing industry in 2023, which are as follows:
People are gravitating towards having home-cooked meals more frequently
Consumers are increasingly interested in using versatile ingredients (like Nutella) that can be used in different dishes
Several brands are moving from TV to digital
Our target audience is more active on social media, spending nearly 3 hours per day as compared to other media platforms
Consumption of non-traditional food items has seen growing acceptance and is also experimentation
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