The long-term aims of big brand owners at the Festival of Media Global

Pete Blackshaw
Global head of digital and social media, Nestlé

When it comes to long-term annuity from a well-managed consumer relationship, I think about the extent that relationship translates into ‘earned media’ [where your consumers are speaking positively about your brand without a paid-for media placement]. I typically set a very broad horizon to the brands I consult with on a daily basis and encourage them to take that long-term view.

Social media can be long-term brand-building

We need to think about different types of media measurement models to encourage people down that long-term path. Together with our agencies and media planners, we think through whether, if earned media is the big prize, to approach it from a short-term or long-term perspective and how to align incentives.

I don’t have all the answers yet but it is top of our agenda in terms of how we ultimately get success from both digital and social media.

Christoph Michalski
President of global hygiene, SCA

Short versus long-term objectives should not be a contradiction. Generally, they only occur when short-term profit targets put pressure on long-term investment needs. At SCA, we try to manage this by asking about priorities and timings.

We have started a major drive to make SCA [more] known. We’re in a similar position to the one that Unilever was in, in that people know our product brands [Velvet, Plenty and Bodyform, etc] but they don’t know our company.

Corporate branding will help us grow for the long-term

Size matters for investors, they clearly realise that if you have one big global brand, that becomes an efficient, sellable property and has a different value equation to a brand with a portfolio of fragmented businesses. In emerging markets such as China it is also important that people know that you come from a reputable multinational.

Salman Amin
Chief marketing officer, PepsiCo

Despite the many digital innovations, we are still so enamoured with TV. It is all about the content and it’s always been that way. Great content equals great storytelling, and
nowhere is that better reflected than in TV.

The future of TV in this age of digital transformation belongs to those brand marketers and creatives who can tell the most compelling, engaging and the most resonant stories in the market today.

TV is the focus for the long term

It is important when considering TV to think about what digital innovation has brought to the market that will entrench storytellings’ place for years and years to come.

The need for great storytelling will never go away. And because that is the mainstay of television, TV will continue to be a driver of success. Keep everything in perspective in
this age of media disruption.

Aaron Fetters
Associate director – global digital strategy and analytics, Kellogg

I was hired to lead Kellogg’s digital effectiveness measurement. When I started, digital was being measured but there were no aligned methods of measurement across divisions.

So I have been bringing in a single set of methods and suppliers so that over time we can continue to get smarter and longitudinally track [our digital activity].

We are looking at our longer-term data management plan

I am working with the head of digital marketing IT on a longer-term data management plan. We’re looking at what data we want to own and house internally and what we want our agencies to have. One of the big questions of the future is how brands use data.

I’m not looking at digital for the sake of having something flashy or new. I am looking at it as a key component in helping to build my brand.