Melanie Brinbaum, chief marketing officer of Nestlé Zone Europe, sees her role as “the voice of the consumer” and “the voice of consumer culture.”
She sees her job as a translator and storyteller between the language of consumers in culture and the data at hand.
“Sometimes, when you work in a big agency, you get so trapped in your project that you’re a bit far from the consumer,” says Brinbaum. “What’s so cool is that in my role I can help people internally connect with real people’s lives. This is what really unites us at Nestlé.”
Nestlé aims to better serve families. From when she wakes up in the morning, she is tuned into the family experience through lifestyle and culture. “Everything is about consumer culture,” says Brinbaum. “Our job is really anchored into the daily life of people. And every day you get some better ideas on how to connect to consumers with the data, digital transformation, you understand.”
Brinbaum loves diving into the data, which helps her better understand their wants and needs. “We are all living longer. We want healthy longevity. Our 10 year olds today will probably live until 120 years old. How do you age in a healthy way? This is something that’s top of mind of our consumers today and even more so in the next generation.”
Brand Innovators caught up with Brinbaum from her office in Vevey, Switzerland to discuss brands in culture, sustainability and TikTok. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you talk about how you’re taking this consumer demand and turning it into the stories that you’re telling to consumers?
We know more or less what are the demand moments and consumer occasions of people. What is important for us and what we are obsessed with, because this is really what Nestlé excels at, is understanding what are the jobs to be done.
For instance, one pain point we have observed is that people don’t have time to prepare a wholesome meal. So then we will think of ways to help consumers to prepare the meal. We know 80 percent of people in Europe have a fiber gap. Even if we eat vegetables, fruits, because today the fiber that we eat is not exactly the same density as our parent’s generation. How can we solve the pain point that consumers know which is “I don’t have time”. But also solve the one that they don’t know and uncover that. You probably don’t know that most of the time you don’t eat enough fiber and fiber protects your immune system.
This is a bit the way we turn what we know about consumers, what their pain points are into stories, because we would then ideate some products and ranges that go beyond just solving the pain points they know, but serving them better in their lives.
Can you talk about how consumer demand is driving you to make more sustainable choices for your brands?
Regenerative agriculture is at the center. It is so important to protect agricultural practices and the health of the soil, because if there is health in the soil, then farmers are more likely to increase their productivity. Sometimes, it’s very far away from consumers. Cocoa and coffee are grown in faraway countries. It’s important to make sure that we don’t only practice regenerative agriculture awareness and training but that we work closely with partner farmers to tell their stories.
These practices are key for the climate and for the social welfare of those farmers. We started to create stories to explain why it’s important to build resilience in our supply chains and at the same time increase farmers’ livelihoods.
At Nestlé, 20- 25 percent of everything we buy as raw ingredients comes from regenerative agriculture. We have been working for decades with farmers because it takes some time to regenerate the soil and convince farmers of the benefits of the new practices.
For Nespresso, we have been partnering with more than 150,000 families of farmers and 90 percent of the families started with us 20 years ago. After a few years, they see consistently that there are better crops.
Can you talk about your approach to product innovation, such as KitKat tablets and Nescafé Concentrate? How do these innovations help you reach younger consumers?
The habits of consumers are really evolving. On the indulgence side, we see that small treats are an important part of the daily life of consumers. KitKat is social. Many people share KitKat. They will keep two fingers for themselves and give two fingers to someone else. We saw this usage but we thought at home it would be better to have more. That’s where the KitKat tablet idea came from. There is a limitation if you’re with friends or family after work or watching a Netflix series. We thought the tablet could be a moment of indulgence when you are socializing around the same moment. It’s about sharing the pleasure.
On the coffee concentrate front, we discovered that people in Europe are now drinking cold all year long. It’s not just something for the summertime and it’s especially the new generation. They start drinking coffee without foam with brands like Starbucks that educated them to drink coffee this way. With Nescafé Espresso Concentrate, there is a pain point that we are trying to address – to have a delicious iced coffee in a super convenient way, without needing to put the ice on each time and no need for special equipment.
With this format, you can really at any time for yourself, or if you’re socializing, from the morning to the evening, leverage it. We have a lot of recipes here, we tried it as mocktails, with lemonade, we tried it with fruits. There is this huge trend on TikTok, that was about espresso orange juice mix. Initially I was skeptical, but it’s delicious. The beauty with this product is that it’s also something you can mix with vegan milk. We also provide recipes in order to suggest versatility for our consumers. We try to adapt and serve consumers better in their new ways of consuming. They want more flexibility, more personalization, more sharing and more socializing.
Are you tapping into these social moments when you’re bringing new products to market?
Our goal from now to 2030 is really to turn our biggest, iconic brands into culture brands. This is the motto we have internally in Zone Europe. I hope you’re going to see that when we launch Nescafé Espresso Concentrate. We will partner with someone that actually is really core to the culture of the social network and social media and that’s just the start. TikTok is the place where most of the food conversations happen, and we’re not present enough. There is a role that we need to play, because there is also lots of nutrition advice given by people that don’t have the expertise we have, that can be misleading and cause confusion.
We hear from our consumers that it’s really confusing. There is a bigger role for us to play in this education.
How are you telling the stories of innovation and sustainability through your marketing?
For example, for cocoa, we have the Cocoa Plan that is based on the work we do with farmers to help sustain the cocoa sourcing for the future. With climate change, it has become extremely challenging and most of the children in farming families doubt if they should take the farm. With storms and climate events, they are really uncertain of whether it’s the right thing to do.
This is why we work with farmers and suppliers and also partner with some NGOs, such as the Rainforest Alliance, to make sure we have the right people and practices on the ground, helping us understand how we can have a better impact. Most of the Nestlé products have an explanation on pack on our sustainability programs. Internally, we call this good packaging practices, so you can understand what’s behind a specific Nestlé product or brand. Beyond that, we have campaigns that go further to build connections with the consumers.
How are you using AI in marketing at Nestlé?
We use AI in the supply chain to help us manage the warehouses and the lines. This is the AI consumers don’t see. The more efficient we are through AI, the better it is. It’s better also to avoid waste. Through AI, we know better how to replenish and reorder raw materials and avoid bad goods, which is true in our practices and especially for the planet.
When it comes to consumers, AI tools help us ideate and innovate better. We make sure that we learn from all the product comments we generate from consumers to improve future experiences.. When we innovate for a product, we have to get so much information manually or external partners to make sure that we learn from the past, and we innovate better in the future. [CA1]
We hope that through AI, we’ll have a much more seamless way of integrating consumer feedback into delivering even better products and experiences in the future. What we don’t consider at the moment is to use generative AI in advertisements. We see AI as a tool to deliver even a better product, better services, in a better way for the planet.
How have your past experiences at brands like Coty, P&G and L’Oreal helped shape your perspective in your current role?
I’ve spent 20 years in marketing and have learned that the boss is always the consumer, whether it’s in fashion, whether it’s in beauty. When Gucci changed the positioning from chic to radical inclusivity with the arrival of Alessandro Michele it was really anchored into consumer culture. People were asking for more diversity, inclusion, but also daring. This goes back to the core of what Gucci stands for, which is this opulent and daring side.
At Pampers, the proposal at the time, was about helping a baby to have a healthier life and development. As parents you want to give the best, but you don’t really know where to start with so much advice you’re bombarded with. You want to have brands you can trust.
How do you make sure that you’re anchored to help consumers with their deepest vulnerability? And how do you make sure that you’re consistent? You really need to be very humble because you serve the consumers. You’re not a superstar superhero. You’re just trying to give the best legacy to your successor. I’m the most proud when I see programs or campaigns that are still in place years after I left the brand, because it means the brand was well served.
