What You Need to Know About Coke's Surprising New CMO

via AdAge

Hours after being named Coca-Cola's chief marketing officer, Marcos de Quinto was on a Madrid stage collecting the top prize at Spain's leading advertising awards. Mr. De Quinto, president of Coca-Cola's Iberia business unit, was there with his team to accept El Gran Premio, as well as awards for innovation, best strategy and commercial communication, for its spot, "Benditos Bares" or "Blessed Bars," from the Spanish Advertisers Association. The campaign, which has been lauded across Spain in the last year, is an ode to the many cozy, inviting bars that are integral to both the Spanish culture and economy.

"The idea was to give support not directly to a Coke product, but to a channel, paying homage to the bars that are having such a difficult moment with the economic crisis, but are the place we go to see our friends and fix the world," said Miguel Garcia Vizcaino, chief creative officer of Sra Rushmore, the WPP-owned local creative shop that worked on the effort with Carat. "It's an emotional campaign that touches everyone's heart a bit."

Experience confronting a grim economic reality with persuasive marketing will serve Mr. De Quinto well as he relocates to Atlanta to tackle the company's challenges. The beverage giant is facing declining soda sales (Coca-Cola's Iberia business unit, which includes Spain and Portugal, reported a 2% volume decline in the most recent quarter) and obesity concerns in many markets. It's also contending with criticisms that its marketing, particularly in North America, isn't driving sales.

The day prior to the announcement of Mr. De Quinto's appointment, Coca-ColaChairman-CEO Muhtar Kent told analysts third-quarter results were below expectations. "We continue to face
a challenging macroeconomic environment, more challenging than we anticipated early in the year," he said.

"There's no question that we need to improve our execution in many markets, especially our consumer marketing and commercial strategies."

Mr. De Quinto will be markedly different from his predecessor, Joe Tripodi, who was regarded as a buttoned-up, nuts-and-bolts marketer. Those who have worked with Mr. De Quinto, as well as various Spanish-language media reports, paint a picture of a straight-talking, inventive marketer who doesn't shy away from controversy. He often speaks publicly, espousing his ideas on digital marketing and the need for transparency.

On Twitter, he's amassed nearly 24,000 followers who tune in for his keen observations on culture and current affairs, as well as to observe various spats.

He's engaged with critics, including an ultra-conservative family-values group, as well as a group that works with the Spanish legal system to fight terrorism. In the Twitter dust-up with the family-values group, which was upset about Coca-Cola advertising on a show it didn't approve of, Mr. De Quinto ended the discussion with a tweet that said, "If the price to pay for you to not stop drinking Coca-Cola is that I have to think like you, I prefer you don't drink it. Seriously."

In his Twitter profile, Mr. De Quinto, who tweets only in Spanish, describes himself as, "Pirate. I sail without a flag. I'm not trying to convince you of anything, just perhaps make you question what you believe in."

He is relatively unknown in adland outside of his native Spain and his appointment came as a surprise to many. Mr. De Quinto also holds the distinction of being the company's first CMO -- a role that dates to the early 1980s -- plucked from outside North America.

Coca-Cola reported $3.3 billion in global advertising expenses in 2013, and its agency relationships are vast, including Ogilvy, Droga5, McCann Worldgroup, Wieden & Kennedy, Y&R and Publicis Worldwide, to name a few. Mr. De Quinto has close relationships with the advertising community in Spain, particularlyMcCann Erickson, Sra Rushmore and Publicis.

"Marcos is one of the most brilliant people I know," said Miguel Angel Furones, president of Publicis Iberia, noting Mr. De Quinto is known as an innovator and force for change. "He's an exceptional leader who inspires everyone he works with."

"He's considered one of the pioneers and best marketing and communications professionals in the last 20 years [in Spain]," Mr. Vizcaino added. "He's a straight-talking visionary, and does things no one else does. He's always about five years ahead of the competition. And he has Coca-Cola in his veins."

Mr. De Quinto, who has been president of the Iberia business unit since 2000, joined the company in 1982 in Coca-Cola Espana's marketing department. He has been marketing director of Coca-Cola Espana and Coca-Cola's German division, as well as division marketing manager of Coca-Cola Southeast and West Asia. Mr. De Quinto also had a brief stint as regional manager of Southern Publicity Agencies ALAS BATES/BSB Advertising.

SODASTREAM IS GOING BANANAS

via BusinessInsider

SodaStream

Sodastream shares are spiking in morning trade on Friday after a report in trade publication Beverage Digest said that Sodastream will test some Pepsi-branded products for its at-home soda brewing system.

In late morning trade, Sodastream shares were up as much as 20%. 

Following the news, which was first reported by Bloomberg, Pepsi shares were up about 0.8%.

In its report, Beverage Digest, citing a source, said the Sodastream test using Pepsi products will involve "major SodaStream customers Wal-Mart and Bed Bath & Beyond" in some Florida markets.

The test, which will be a 10-week test selling some Pepsi-branded products, will involve "naturally sweetened" brands not sold at retail: "Pepsi Homemade" and "Sierra Mist Homemade," Beverage Digest said. 

Beverage Digest reports that the actual flavors will be: Pepsi Homemade, Pepsi Homemade Vanilla, Pepsi Homemade Wild Cherry, Sierra Mist Homemade, Sierra Mist Homemade Peach, and Sierra Mist Homemade Cranberry.

Beverage Digest's report also said that Pepsi is looking at "various in-home dispenser opportunities and has partnered with another manufacturer of in-home dispensers, Bevyz, in Europe." 

Bevyz is set to launch machines in the US under a partnership with Cuisinart.

In an emailed statement to Business Insider, a Pepsi spokesman said:

"At-home, make-your-own beverages represent an emerging category that has generated interest among some consumers. As we’ve said previously, PepsiCo is exploring multiple technologies in this space. SodaStream is one of several companies we’re talking to about potential ideas for the future. Our discussions with SodaStream are specifically focused on a small-scale, limited time test scheduled for later this year. We don’t have any additional information to share at this time."

And in a regulatory filing, Sodastream said: 

Further to press reports that were published today, SodaStream International Ltd. (the “Company”) confirms that as the leader of the at-home, make-your-own beverages, category it has entered into an agreement with PepsiCo, Inc. (“PepsiCo”) specifically focused on a small-scale, limited time test to make certain of PepsiCo’s brands available for use on the Company’s system. The limited test is scheduled for later this year. Consistent with the Company's practice to date, the Company is also exploring multiple relationships with other leading beverage brands.

Exceptionally, the Company would like to stress that this is a limited test and that there are currently no discussions between the Company and PepsiCo concerning any other form of broader business collaboration. Following this report and consistent with past practice, the Company undertakes no obligation to provide any updates and will not comment on rumors or speculation.

Sodastream and Pepsi have long been the subject of market and industry rumors, including speculation that Pepsi might one day want to buy Sodastream, but to date nothing has come of that speculation.

Here's the intraday chart showing the huge spike in Sodastream shares after the news broke. 

IDB and PepsiCo Foundation Launch Innovative Program to Prevent Undernutrition and Obesity in Latin American Infants

via MarketWatch

On the eve of World Food Day, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the PepsiCo Foundation launched Sustained Program to Improve Nutrition (Spoon), a five-year program designed to simultaneously prevent undernutrition and reduce the risk of obesity in babies living in poor areas of Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru.  Paradoxically undernutrition and obesity are interrelated conditions.  Spoon is the first regional project of its kind that will address both challenges in tandem.  Studies have demonstrated that weight and height in the first two years of life play a critical role in a child's future growth and in the prevention of lifelong obesity.

IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi unveiled the new program this morning at an event in Washington, D.C., and the leaders spoke about the importance of working together on strategies to alleviate the undernutrition and obesity that affects millions of poor households across Latin America. Moreno and Nooyi were joined by health authorities from participating countries and partner organizations, including Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Nutriset, at the signing of the collaboration agreement for the future work.

"Undernutrition and obesity-related health problems are rising sharply in Latin America, and they place a growing burden on our healthcare systems and budgets," said IDB President Moreno. "Ensuring that infants get proper nutrition to grow and become healthy and productive adults is our shared responsibility. By participating in the Spoon Project, PepsiCo Foundation is making a great contribution towards our efforts to become a healthier region."

"At PepsiCo, we believe we have a key role to play in forming public-private partnerships designed to improve the health and nutrition of communities. Spoon is an important step toward addressing critical nutrition challenges facing many in Latin America," said Nooyi.  "PepsiCo, our Foundation and the IDB have a history of successful partnership, and when we come together, bringing our collective expertise, capabilities and resources to bear, we can have a significant impact on major societal issues."

Studies show that optimal development in the early years is a direct result of adequate infant feeding practices, which include the quality and quantity of the diet. Despite progress in improving its health indicators in recent years, Latin America still experiences a high prevalence of chronic malnutrition, which affects nearly seven million infants under the age of five1.  Undernutrition hinders a child's ability to learn and reach his or her full potential as an adult.  At the same time, rising incomes across the region have correlated to an increase in childhood obesity. Almost four million Latin Americans under five years old are either overweight or obese2, increasing their risk of suffering chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease in adulthood.

Spoon will focus on improving infant feeding practices, including breastfeeding, and promoting the use of a nutritional supplement that contains vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids children need during their first 6 to 24 months of life. The project will develop a behavioral change strategy to encourage parents and caregivers to adopt healthy feeding habits. Spoon will also integrate its nutrition efforts into existing health services for pregnant women and babies.

The project will be implemented in rural and urban areas of participating countries in collaboration with local partners including the health ministries of Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, as well as non-profit organizations such as the Saldarriaga Concha Foundation, Fundazucar and the Federico Gomez Children's Hospital of Mexico.

In addition to a $5 million USD grant from the PepsiCo Foundation, a $750,000 contribution from the government of Colombia will be used to evaluate the program in that country.

Over the past six years, the IDB, PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation have partnered to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean, supporting projects in recycling, supply chain sustainability, sports for development, Chagas disease, support for Haiti and access to water and sanitation. In this last area, the PepsiCo Foundation was the first private sector donor to the AquaFund, an IDB-administered trust fund. Partnership projects have benefited communities in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.

Scooter Braun and Tiesto Invest in Splice, a Cloud-Based Music Creation Platform

via Billboard

Tiesto Performs On SiriusXM's 'Electric Aquarium' Series On Tiesto's Club Life Radio on June 16, 2014 in New York City.

Ilya S. Savenok

Splice, a cloud-based music creation and collaboration platform, announced yesterday that it has raised $4.5 million in a Series A round of funding led by True Ventures with participation from Scooter Braun, Tiësto, Steve Angello (ex-Swedish House Mafia), AM Only, WME, Plus Eight Equity Fund LP, as well as existing investors such as Union Square Ventures.

The fundraising adds to the $2.75 million in seed funding from Union Square Ventures and other investors raised back in October 2013, bringing the company's total to $7.25 million. The announcement also marks another move made by Braun's $120 million music venture fund, that was also first reported back in late 2013. Splice also announced it has moved from private to open beta.

As the barriers to access professional grade sound engineering equipment and software continue to decrease and more and more people experience music through uploading remixes and covers to Soundcloud, the necessity and potential value of a service like Splice increases. The only current competitor in the marketplace is Blend.io, but according to a report by Wired, there was a huge boom in demand for such services as far back as seven years ago.

Having DJs (Tiësto, Angello) as investors is important in ensuring Splice's alignment and importance to the community of artists who are already finding a lot of utility in the product.

"It represents a belief in the vision and it's a belief in the future we're trying to create," says Splice co-Founder Steve Martocci in an interview with Billboard. "[It represents] a true belief that the problems and struggles we're trying to address for artists on the creation side, on the collaboration side, on the distribution side, are valid."

Splice, founded by Martocci and Matt Aimonetti, offers DJs and music producers a much-desired system of version control for creating music. As is stands right now, working on a track with multiple people across long distances is very difficult. The sizes of project files are too big to be simply emailed, and even cloud-based storage solutions (like Dropbox) don't offer ways to track changes, leave notes, and revert to previous saved states.

Splice offers all of this and more in a lightweight downloadable client that acts as a bridge to a user's digital audio workstation (or DAW) and an expansive, interactive web interface that doubles as a social network. In yesterday's announcement, the interface receives a facelift with the introduction of a DNA player, which helps artists and collaborators visualize a song's structure and leave annotations on specific voices or instruments.

Features like the DNA player, or the way Splice works with artists like Alesia to release tracks through that platform, allows for creators and consumers alike to experience music in a truly unprecedented way because it places the actual project files into the hands of the consumer. Fans could have the potential to open their favorite artist's song and examine exactly how they created it, which plugins and techniques they used, and then incorporate those ideas directly into their own production (or better yet, use the file themselves). This idea of freeing one's music has placed Splice in the center of a constructive debate about the future of modern music consumption. 

Splice's DNA player is live today. Check out the track "Scream" by Henry Fongand J-Trick, two rising stars from Tiësto's label Musical Freedom, in the embed below.

When It Comes to Tea, Promoting the Power of the Plant

via NewYorkTimes 

Decades ago, “flower power” was shorthand for a philosophy of peace and love. Today, a marketer in the growing field of wellness products is inviting tea drinkers to love the benefits of “plant power.”

The marketer is Traditional Medicinals,which sells more than 50 varieties of herbal tea with groovy names like Easy Now, Echinacea Plus, Mother’s Milk, Nighty Night, Roasted Dandelion Root, Smooth Move and Throat Coat. The campaign, now underway, carries the theme “Plant power for a better you.”

The campaign is being created by an agency in Minneapolis, Haberman, thatTraditional Medicinals hired in August for tasks like advertising, public relations, media buying and social media. Before that, the company worked with agencies that included Egg in Seattle.

Haberman styles itself as providing “modern storytelling for pioneers” and, in this instance, the story being told is how Traditional Medicinals, a pioneer in the herbal-tea category for four decades, offers products that are “created by herbalists” with ingredients good enough to be called “pharmacopoeial grade” — that is, adhering to high standards.

Photo

A print ad for Traditional Medicinals, a maker of herbal teas, created by a Minneapolis agency, Haberman.

Or, as text on the home page of the Traditional Medicinals website puts it, “We’re plant-loving, dirt-digging herb nerds with an almost uptight obsession for high quality.”

The campaign includes print, digital and mobile ads; public relations; a presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter; and so-called brand publishing, sponsored content in realms like the Traditional Medicinals website where visitors will be able to read entries in a “Plant Power Journal.”

The budget for the campaign is estimated at $2 million. Ad spending by Traditional Medicinals totaled $1.1 million last year, according to the Kantar Media unit of WPP, and $3 million in 2012.

The campaign is indicative of the increasing interest among shoppers in wellness products, an amorphous term that can refer to beverages like the Traditional Medicinals teas as well as foods, exercise and diet regimens, yoga clothing, how-to books and even spa vacations. An article in the November issue of Real Simple magazine calls wellness a $3.4 trillion industry.

In the tea market, Traditional Medicinals faces direct competition from wellness and natural brands like Yogi, which promotes how its teas “support” benefits like “energy, clarity, awareness and general feel-goodness.”

(Words like “support” and “supports” often appear in marketing for dietary supplements along with a disclaimer that the statements made in marketing the product “have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration” and the product “is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.” That disclaimer appears in ads and on packages of Traditional Medicinals products.)

Mainstream teas are also eyeing the wellness tea drinker. For instance, ads for Twinings herbal teas promise to “satisfy all your senses.”

That does not surprise Carl Henrickson, senior brand manager of Traditional Medicinals in Sebastopol, Calif. “Herbalism has become more and more mainstream,” he says, and “we’ve seen such an increase in interest” in the company’s philosophy along with its teas.

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“We’re building a tribe of plant people,” Mr. Henrickson says. “The campaign educates and encourages people to embrace plant power, building on the idea that plants possess great power, something we’ve known for centuries.”

Traditional Medicinals is not alone in invoking that concept. Ads for Silk soymilk carry the headline “Power up with the goodness of plant protein.”

And ads for a beverage more potent than soymilk or tea, Abelour single malt Scotch whisky, describe how the story of the brand’s distillery goes back “to the ancient druids who revered the pure water from the surrounding area for centuries.”

The Traditional Medicinals campaign represents “an evolution of what we’ve been doing the last few years,” Mr. Henrickson says, dating to a rebranding that included new package designs.

The company is concentrating on elements like its use of “high-quality plants,” the creation of its teas “by herbalists” and its commitment “to socially and environmentally responsible practices,” he adds.

Among those practices is a pledge that “100 percent of our teas are Non-GMO Project verified,” Mr. Henrickson says, referring to a seal from anonprofit organization that monitors the use of genetically modified organisms. And most of the Traditional Medicinals products also carry theU.S.D.A. Organic seal from the United States Department of Agriculture.

One print ad in the campaign, for the organic Throat Coat tea, reads: “If, like us, you’re vocal about sustainability, you’ll like that we partner with rural Appalachian families who harvest limited amounts of slippery elm to help, well, make you even more vocal. Literally.”

Another print ad, for the organic Echinacea Plus tea, begins, “A sure sign of premium echinacea, used by a number of Native American tribes for hundreds of years, is a tingly tongue at first sip.

Photo

The new campaign will include a redesigned Facebook page for Traditional Medicinals.

“In addition to the tingling,” the ad concludes, “after a while you’ll also feel something else: Like yourself again.”

Both ads depict women drinking cups of Traditional Medicinals tea, reflecting that women are the primary target audiences for the campaign.

“We’re looking at primarily two audience segments,” says Renee Rice, an account director at Haberman: “the ‘active adopters,’ who are younger, 25 to 35, and the ‘healthy believers,’ roughly between 45 and 55.

“The commonalities are that they understand what’s in the products they purchase, they have a deeper connection to nature and they have a desire for knowledge,” she adds. “And they have an appreciation for plants and the benefits plants can bring.”

“We’ve tapped into that with this campaign, telling deeper stories behind the plants,” Ms. Rice says. “A lot of consumers are becoming more in touch with what’s in their food and where it comes from, and there’s more interest in natural options for wellness.”

Ms. Rice’s husband, Nathan Rice, who is director for connection and engagement at Haberman, says that to better connect with those consumers, “we’re using a brand-publishing model to tell authentic stories about the tea.”

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An inspiration for the campaign, Mr. Rice says, has been “looking at Instagram at what people are shooting.” The agency found numerous photographs that people took as they drank tea, he adds, citing as an example photos of them “wrapped up in a cozy blanket” as it rained.

“We’re asking for photos” like those from fans of Traditional Medicinals tea, Mr. Rice says, and they will be added to the Plant Power Journal online.

Content will also be shared with consumers in social media, he adds, particularly on Twitter, which he calls “a very powerful tool” for the brand because the target audiences “are heavy Twitter users.”

Ms. Rice says that some younger potential customers favor Instagram, while “some in their 40s and 50s might be on Facebook, reading magazines or online.”

The magazines carrying the print ads include Cooking Light, Dr. Oz The Good Life, Eating Well, Organic Gardening, Real Simple, Women’s Health and Yoga Journal. The digital elements of the campaign are appearing on websites like AOL, Huffington Post and the Weather Channel (weather.com).

Brian Wachtler, president and partner at Haberman, says that the people at the agency working on the Traditional Medicinals account have been “spending a lot of time in” California visiting the company and learning about its “authentic story” so “we can start to help communicate the benefit of plant power.”

Those learnings also include an appreciation for the finer points of herbal tea.

“Of course, we’ve been sipping a lot of tea,” Ms. Rice says, advising tea drinkers to “make sure to let the tea steep for 10 to 15 minutes” for maximum flavor — even if “it seems like a long time.”

Her husband confesses he is not that patient.

Although “the herbalists will tell you the benefits are in the steeping,” Mr. Rice says, “I admittedly cheat on that time a lot.”

His waiting period is “more in the three- to five-minute range,” he adds, laughing.

Three Lessons from Mountain Dew on Leveraging Events to Create an Authentic Brand Experience

via Forbes

According to Beverage Digest, Mountain Dew is the third biggest liquid refreshment brand behind Coca Cola and Pepsi. The soft drink has a unique heritage. The term Mountain Dew was slang for moonshine whiskey. The brand was born out of the Barney and Ally Hartman’s desire in 1940 to create a mixer they liked.

Purchased by Pepsi 50 years ago for $6 million in stock, Mountain Dew now represents a $9 billion dollar a year business. It has become a staple within the Pepsico business. Early marketing efforts for the brand focused on advertising with a campaign entitled, “YaHoo! Mountain Dew. It’ll tickle yore innards.” Here’s the first TV spot featuring Willy the Hillbilly courtesy of Vintage TV Commercials:

Over the years the marketing for Mountain Dew has evolved beyond advertising into experience. Events have become a central focus. Here are three lessons from the brand on leveraging events to create an authentic brand experience:

Photo Credit: Jimmy Curtin, Graphic: Stan Phelps

1. Be an Owner, Not a Renter 

Mountain Dew has made a concerted effort to create their own assets.  This is a smart move. According to Joseph Jaffe, author of Life After the 30 Second Spot, brands need to, “truly make the shift from being media dependent to media discerning. Freeing themselves of the shackles of being renter and move to where they have the potential of being a landlord.” A former XGames sponsor, 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the Dew Tour. Over the next five days, NBC will air six hours of coverage from tour stops in Portland, OR and Brooklyn, NY. The Dew Tour has evolved over the years and now includes events under the themes of City, Beach, and Mountain. Ownership allows complete control and the ability to create an authentic experience.

2. Co-create and Support Your Community

In 2o13, the brand created Green-Label.com. In partnership with Complex Media, the digital platform is another owned asset. The site is a hub for youth culture covering action sports, music, art and style. The site brought together legacy programs for the brand including Green Label Sound, Green Label Art and Green Label Exclusives. The site has increased its traffic every month since its launch and now currently gets more than five times the traffic thanMountainDew.com.

At the heart of Green Label is the idea of co-creation and supporting young artists. An example of this is Open Call. Launched at SXSW the contest it challenges up an coming film makers to create their own perspective of “doing the dew.” Nathan Balli won the challenge with his film, “Authentic is Everything.” In addition to a hefty cash prize, Balli will be mentored by the legendary film maker Robert Rodriguez.

During the Dew Tour Stop in Brooklyn, Green Label was brought to life at the event through the Green Label Gallery. Brooklyn-based designer, illustrator and typographer Kevin Lyons curated Instagram submissions and featured emerging artists. The brand is empowering younger artists and giving them a chance to showcase their work to a larger audience. Here is skateboarder Sean Malto providing a tour of the event which highlights the Gallery:

3. Engage Your Employees

Mountain Dew leverages events to engage the brand team. During each of the Tour stops, members of the team attend and work the event. It allows employees to engage with core consumers and the brands biggest fans. Experiencing the brand up close helps bring meaning to the work. It helps build the team and drive engagement.

Ready to own, co-create and build your team? How are you leveraging events to engage customers and create an authentic brand experience?

Lagniappe (a little something extra thrown in for good measure) - Mountain Dew partners with Devin Graham to create branded content. Devin boasts over 2.5 million subscribers on his devinsupertramp YouTube channel. In order to further immerse the brand team, VP of Marketing for Mountain Dew Greg Lyons brought everyone out to be part of the filming of Insane Human Skeeball: