CMO One-to-One: Campbell Soup Targets with 'Natural' Digital Connections

CMO One-to-One: Campbell SoupTargets with Natural DigitalConnectionsAN INTERVIEW WITH:Adam KmiecDirector, Digital Marketing and Social Media, TheCampbell Soup CompanyJuly 11, 2012 CMO DOSSIER RESUME: The Campbell Soup Company: Director, Digital Marketing and Social Media, since since May 2012 Walgreens: Director, Social Media MARC USA: Senior Vice President of Interactive Marketing Innovation ConAgra Foods: Manager of Interactive Marketing COMPANY DATA: Annual sales 2011: $7.719 billion (Source: The Campbell Soup Co.) LAST THING WATCHED ON YOUTUBE: “The Google Parisian Love ad from a few years ago during the Super Bowl. It reminds me that insights are critical to making advertising more efficient and more naturally connected to consumers. The story behind Parisian Love is they actually launched several of these types of ads well ahead of the Super Bowl. They put them on YouTube. And they actually gauged sentiment, the number of views, how it was being shared, how people were talking about them, and they ultimately ended up picking the Parisian Love ad based on all those dynamics.”eMarketer: As a global brand, what would you like Campbell Soup tomean to consumers and how does that play out digitally?Adam Kmiec: The key thing with being a global brand is you’re able

to take insights from one market and then quickly apply them toanother market. As an example, [Asia-Pacific] has always been aheadof the curve when it comes to mobile. There are some greatdatapoints I’ve seen about the average person having two to threedifferent cell phones. That is very different from the US—and learningand understanding markets beyond the US actually allows us toadvance the ball really quickly here in North America, as well as inemerging markets.What’s critical with digital is to continuously put the consumer right atthe center and then customize those digital experiences that naturallyconnect with them. That’s the key. It’s real easy to force things, butwe really want to be consistent with being naturally connected.eMarketer: How are you incorporating mobile into brand marketing toreach millennials?Kmiec: I don’t think mobile is just for millennials, although I knowthat a lot of focus has been on the usage of mobile by millennials.Mobile, for us, is broader than just millennials, but we have a goodunderstanding of how millennials are entering the space and they’restaying very connected with mobile devices.It really is about understanding the segmentation and understandingthe natural connection points for [each] audience. A really goodexample of that is the recent data that came out the other day aboutmillennials shifting from Facebook to Twitter. That’s an importantsignal to pay attention to—and it’s not just that they’re using mobile,it’s how they’re using mobile. Are they browsing? Are they shopping?Are they talking, chatting, texting? Are they downloading apps? “As a dad who happens to blog, I’ve loved how digital has evolved to a space where we can say, ‘You know what? Dads do have some amount of influence out there.’”There is some secret sauce stuff that I definitely can’t give you rightnow, but I can tell you that behind some major product launches in2013, our go-to-market strategies to connect with millennials aregoing to involve a lot of cutting-edge areas in mobile.The toughest thing with mobile is it changes every single day and oneof the things I’m hoping to bring to the organization is an ability toincrease our tempo to match that pace of change.eMarketer: Do you think every consumer brand needs to have apresence on social media?Kmiec: The natural inclination, given the hype and attentionsurrounding social, is for every company and every brand to have apresence. But our philosophy is to trust the insights [we gather] andbe prepared for where the market’s going, not where it is. That meansfor many of our brands that social is a natural way for us to connect,to learn and to drive the business.The harder part is choosing which social networks are right for [which]brand—and the largest ones aren’t always the best choice. One of thenice things about working at a CPG food company is it opens up doors

to social networks like Foodspotting, something that I really couldn’ttake advantage of in my previous role at Walgreens. Foodspotting isone that we’re certainly looking at, but I would say that in fiscal year2013, which [for us] starts in August, what you’re going to see is arapid acceleration of experimentation beyond the well-known socialnetworks.eMarketer: How are you using digital to target moms and also dads?Kmiec: As a dad who happens to blog, I’ve loved how digital hasevolved to a space where we can say, “You know what? Dads do havesome amount of influence out there.” They are creating content. Theyare very connected. They are trading ideas. They’re taking a moreactive role in parenting. I love that. “When someone’s looking for that right recipe at that right moment, we’re going to make sure that we’re relevant and that we’re seen as the right choice, not just an option.”There are several blogs that are written from a dad’s perspective thatI follow because I am a dad. I also happen to follow several blogs thatare written by moms. I think if you’re being a pretty active parent,you’re consuming as much information as you possibly can. That’sjust something that I personally love to see and, frankly, I’m thrilledwith the idea of how we connect with people in general. It’s not aboutmillennials. It’s not about boomers. It’s not about moms, youngmoms, old moms, moms in between old and young. It’s not aboutteens. It’s more about thinking about an audience and the type ofcontent that audience is looking for, and specifically, when you thinkabout parents, there is no shortage of information out there and it isdefinitely something that we are all on the hunt for.eMarketer: But you can’t have one message fit all.Kmiec: No, you can’t. The people creating content and the peopleconsuming content consume it differently and they create itdifferently. For example, dads write about parenting from a verydifferent perspective from moms and millennials think about thingsand consume things differently from boomers. That’s natural.I don’t think we walk into it with pre-segmentation [in mind]. We thinkabout [our messaging as,] we have a brand, the brand has anemotional connection, that connection ladders back to the consumerwe’re trying to reach, and then we start building off the naturalconnection points to engage that consumer. Sometimes that meansworking with moms who happen to blog. Sometimes it’s dads whohappen to blog. Sometimes it’s working through paid channels. Thereis not a one-size-fits-all approach and, certainly, when we have such aunique composition of brands that people love, you can’t just applyone strategy from one brand to another.eMarketer: Can you give me an example of a campaign that reflectsthis segmentation approach?Kmiec: Campbell’s Kitchen has very specific paid initiatives, everythingfrom how we treat display advertising, to video advertising that is

focused on recipes, to how we’re connecting with bloggers. There arealso channels that are hard-working, like search. When someone islooking for that right recipe at that right moment, we’re going to makesure that we’re relevant and that we’re seen as the right choice, notjust an option. “There is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and certainly, when we have such a unique composition of brands that people love, you can’t just apply one strategy from one brand to another.”Merging all those things and thinking about how someone is goingfrom thinking, “Oh, my gosh. I need to cook something,” to “Whatshould I cook?” to “How do I cook it?” to “Where do I buy it?” Theseare different steps in an event chain, if you will, and that’s why youcan’t just think about it as paid stuff and earned stuff and ownedstuff. You literally have to think about all the different ways aconsumer may end up engaging with you.eMarketer: You’ve talked about making Campbell’s “digitally fit.” Whatdoes that mean to you?Kmiec: Digital fitness, as I define it, is about an everydaycommitment, but it’s also a lifestyle change. I see it every day—in ourhiring process, in the leadership, in the tools and partners we choose.It’s a long-term commitment that is grounded in everydaycommitment.eMarketer: Would part of that be ensuring every employee has asocial media presence?Kmiec: That’s not a specific tactic, but I can tell you that we’reprobably one of the few organizations that has a social media policyand guidelines. These provide good rules of the road by basicallysaying, “Be smart.” The way that we think about social across theentire employee base is we want you to be passionate advocates, andthere is a reason that people absolutely, genuinely love that red-and-white can. It’s a brand that has equity. It has heritage, and we’d beremiss if we didn’t want our employees to feel that sense of ownershipand passion for the brand.Interview conducted by Lauren Barack on July 11, 2012.©2012 eMarketer Inc. All rights reserved. www.emarketer.com

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CMO One-to-One: Campbell Soup Targets with 'Natural' Digital Connections

by Adam Kmiec on Aug 20, 2012

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CMO One-to-One: Campbell Soup Targets with ’Natural’ Digital Connections Document Transcript