Nestlé appoints strategy manager to boost youth profile of Nescafé

Nestlé has appointed Unilever global marketer Simon Thong as brand strategy marketing manager for Nescafé, concentrating on the youth market.

Thong was Unilever’s global category marketing manager for laundry brands including Comfort, although he was not the most senior marketer in the division.

Thong will join the company later this year and will report to Magdalena Teare, Nescafé category and marketing director for the in-home sector. He will be responsible for aiming Nescafé at 16to 24-year-olds and will oversee the £3m sponsorship deal with US TV sitcom Friends.

Thong will also have a say in future marketing and advertising opportunities for the brand.

Nestlé says its “brand vision” for Nescafé is to see 16to 24-yearolds drinking one cup of the coffee every day.

At the moment, according to research by Nestl̩, people in the 16to 24-year-old age group drink an average of eight cups of liquid a day. They consume 0.75 cups of Nescaf̩ Рthree times more than Coca-Cola and Pepsi, of which they drink an average of 0.25 cups a day.

Teare says: “Thong will continue to build the Nescafé brand and to exploit growth opportunities in this category, such as our new self-heating, ‘Hot When You Want’ product.”