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Case Study

Nestlé: Branded active benefits

By Kamran Kashani and Bryony Jansen van Tuyll

8 pages

October 2008

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Reference: IMD-5-0721

Part of a case series on marketing innovation, the Nestle Branded Active Ingredients describes how Nestle developed its strategy of marketing key functional ingredients for some of its leading food brands across different markets. The underlying concept behind this idea was to build brand sustainability and translate complex scientific arguments into simple messages that consumers could understand. This approach was similar to the ingredient marketing strategy of non-food brands such as Gore-Tex or Intel. After overcoming internal doubts and resistance, the project team went on to develop one of the most innovative marketing strategies for the food business and helped some of Nestlé’s existing brands become unrivalled market leaders in their categories.

Learning Objective

This case can be used to 1) show how innovative ideas can be “borrowed” from totally different product categories; 2) highlight how scientific arguments when translated into benefits that consumers understand can become a powerful reason to buy; 3) show why marketing teams need to develop effective internal communication to win support for their ideas 4) demonstrate how an innovative idea can change and mature in its many iterations before reaching the market. The case can be used alone or in with one or more of the other cases in the series on marketing innovation.

Keywords

Marketing Innovation, Ingredient Marketing, Ingredient Branding, Global Marketing, Marketing Implementation

Settings

World/global, Switzerland
Nestlé
2001-2007

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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