Riccardo Brenna Insight Review. May-June 2019

This document must be disclosed only to authorized individuals. Any reproduction and/or disclosure must be subject to information Owner prior consent.
Insight Review
May-June 2019
Riccardo Brenna

Introduction
• This document includes all the data/insights/analytics/ideas/books/theories/thinking that I have
found, collected and shared through LinkedIn in May-June 2019
• I believe that people doing my job have the professional imperative to keep themselves informed
and updated on what is happening Out There, in the Real World. And beyond every day's
corporate duties…
• Everything you read here comes from documents that are free to access online. If you are willing
to use these charts/data/insights for your presentations etc., please make sure to mention the
original source (and myself, if you wish…)
• This is a personal initiative, therefore no connection with my current employer.
• All the opinions shared in this document are of my own. The charts are organised in chronological
order, as simple as that! I hope you will enjoy the reading
• And…please follow me @
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/riccardobrenna/
Riccardo
Brenna

Gen Z Mobile UK
• A recent survey by Ipsos shows that
Gen Z is the most mobile generation
ever – including a 100% penetration
of this device among them!
• No surprise of course, but I think that
Brands should reflect on the
implication in terms of, e.g., branding
and media strategy.
• Looking at their usage profile, we can
see that they are more active in social
media, heavy users of instant
messaging, addicted to mobile video
and streaming music.
• A bit of completely turning the brand
paradigm, where Mobile should
definitely Be First!
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: Ipsos MORI

Watching TV – UK June 2019
• What does it mean “Watching TV” these
days? This analysis by ThinkBox clearly
highlights it.
• The old top-down model in which
Broadcasters push content to Viewers is
broken.
• Now, viewers are in control and
broadcasters have to provide what they
desire.
• It is a fact that Netflix benefits from a
“segmentation” made of hundreds of
thousand profiles.
• Pushing Brands in people’s heads is not
on anymore, now brands must make the
efforts to becoming a meaningful part of
people’s lives. Good challenge for the
marketers, indeed!
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: ThinkBox

TMIC Alibaba June 2019
• TMIC Alibaba. This is the research arm of
Alibaba, providing instant insights to mass
brands in order to re-design NPDs if required
by shoppers.
• We swim in a sea of real-time data and
consumers want brands to use that data to
constantly improve their products.
• However, we all know that the concept-to-
launch timeframe is 18-24 months for FMCG
companies.
• The companies working with Alibaba have to
be able to change their products in less than 6
months to stay competitive in this massive e-
commerce platform. Is this going to be the
Way Forward, globally?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E56qtnlz
T-8
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: Alibaba

Adulting
• A couple of years ago, here in FerreroUK&Ireland,
we launched a very successful digital campaign for
Kinder Bueno, called “Adulting”.
• It was a fun and a bit provocative campaign based
on the insight that Millennials struggle with growing
up.
• Nevertheless, only just after reading this article (see
link below), I am realising how extensive is this
“challenge” for Millennials.
• As a result, it’s BIG BUSINESS, with companies like
“Adulting Collective” and “Society of Growing Up”
offering courses on how to manage your monthly
budget, how to give a gift and even how to open a
bottle of wine (without a corkscrew…)! Very
interesting reading, indeed!
• https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/10/millennials-
adulting-classes-life-skills-turning-30/574246/
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: CityLab

Morrison's and Food Waste
• Making a big impact on the environment is
sometimes matter of very tangible little actions.
Therefore, I really like this new initiative from
Morrison’s (a UK supermarket chain), “Weigh What
You Need”.
• In order to reduce Food Waste, Morrisons’
butchers, fishmongers and deli specialists will serve
customers the exact amounts of food they require
for a recipe. In addition, there will be plenty of
information on portions etc. on counters, including
free storage advice.
• Finally, In order to avoid plastic usage, customers
can also bring their own containers for the
ingredients!
• No rocket science, but I bet it will be a success!
• https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2019/05/mor
risons-launches-weigh-need-service-reduce-food-
waste/
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: Retail Gazette

Cadbury and Baby Boomers
• Baby-Boomers, the Forgotten Generation. We
marketers love to target GenZ and Millennials, even if
we now think the latter are a bit “yesterday”…
• Therefore, we are ending up completely forgetting the
Boomers (let’s say people born between 1950 and
1964). The stats clearly show that they live longer and
healthier, they have money, they are time-rich, love
premium and are brand-loyalists.
• Health is very important when buying food, but
nostalgia for the brands of their Youth is a strong
driver as well.
• In the industry I currently work, confectionery, this is
the first campaign dedicated to them I am aware of,
and I have been working for Ferrero for nearly 3 years!
• It is from Mondelez for the Cadbury brand in UK.
Popstar KimWilde (I am sure my Millennial friends
never heard about her…) gardening and talking about
remembering her old career. She makes references to
her hit song “Kids In America”, and talks about
growing up with this chocolate bar aimed at adults.
Love Brands and Nostalgia, powerful combination
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prf5vn6oVn4
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_GH6M7cUq4
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: Cadbury

Brexit and Food
• Brexit and Food. According to the British government,
30% of the current food consumed by the British people
comes from the EU.
• The rhetoric of Going Local is on, but luckily is not too
bad, given that the British are one of most “global”
people when it comes to food.
• Brands seem to follow this path, being more
internationalist than localist. The “local touch” – as
expected – tends to be very ironic in advertising.
• E.g. a few months Country Life launched an ad with the
Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten, in which he
wonders whether he buys the brand because it’s British.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mSE-Iy_tFY)
• Conclusion: NO. He buys it because it’s great butter, but
not before calling upon a battery of British symbols and
associations, not least himself. Yes, localism but, if it will
continue to follow this path, it will be fun!
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: UK Government

Sun Tzu and Market Research
“If you know the enemy and know
yourself, you need not fear the result of a
hundred battles. If you know yourself but
not the enemy, for every victory gained
you will also suffer a defeat. If you know
neither the enemy nor yourself, you will
succumb in every battle.”
Cannot find a better way to define my job.
The fascinating thing is… this sentence
was written 2,600 years ago by Sun Tzu in
the Art of War!
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: “The Art of War”

How Brands Grow
• I am a fan of Bryon Sharp’s
theories in “How Brands Grow”.
• In particular, it clearly
demonstrates that the fact that
20% of your customers represent
80% of your sales is not correct.
The ratio varies between 20%
and 50%.
• Therefore, the best for brands to
grow is attracting new
customers, as this is more
efficient and cost effective than
trying to increase purchase
frequency with existing
customers.
• This is valid for both leading and
incumbent/niche brands.
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: GfK

Sainsbury’s and Brand Purpose
• Brand Purpose and Heritage. Not
many brands have the privilege
to own both. I think one of those
is definitely Sainsbury’s and the
ad below clearly shows it.
• Another proof of the fact that -
in this World of Infinite Offer and
Unlimited Choice - what People
are still treasuring are Honest
and Meaningful Stories!
• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=9TO8i7W7dcI
Riccardo
BrennaMay 2019 Source: Sainsbury’s

“The Weekly Coaching Conversation” by Brian Souza
• Inspiring book, no doubts! Sort of reminder that
businesses are made of people and humans, and not
of processes and computers. As a manager, I often
tend to forget it as I end up to be trapped into tasks,
deadlines, presentations, managing (senior…) egos,
politics etc.
• However, if I stop for a minute, I know that the team
I belong (our #community) is the best thing ever. This
book reminded me that I should spend more time to
connect with my teammates and support them.
• “It is not about you, it is about them – your team
members. It is about their dreams, their goals and
their victories – not yours”.
• “When all is said and done and we have completed
this journey we call Life, what will matter most is not
what we have achieved, but rather what we have
become”. Warmly recommended
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: “The Weekly Coaching Conversation”

Mobile and entertainment
• Globally, the average individual consumes
media, across all channels, for over 7.5
hours each day.
• In 2019, 10 minutes of every hour spent
consuming media across TV and Internet
will come from streaming video on
mobile. Total time spent in video
streaming apps per device will grow by
110% from 2016 to 2019.
• Global consumer spend in Entertainment
apps will grow 460%, fuelled largely from
in-app subscriptions in video streaming
apps. Massive!
• How will Brands flourish in a media
landscape that, overall, is not necessarily
friendly with them? Intriguing question.
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: App Annie

NPD and DNA Tests
• We usually consider DNA tests as a distant and
esoteric practise that will discover something
about ourselves that probably we do not want
to know…
• It evokes something cold, distant, scary, sort of
Big Brother experience (I mean, the George
Orwell’s novel, not the TV show).
• Therefore, I found the example of 23andMe very
interesting. The test is simple, not intrusive,
affordable ($99) and providing many insights on
#health, #diet, #lifestyle etc
• Assuming that the access barriers to these tests
will decrease dramatically - I bet in a few years it
will be a free service by the Public Health
Service - it will influence more and more
people’s diet choices.
• I can foresee that NPD processes heavily
influenced by this, even in the minutia. Are we
ready for it?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3paFTNeM
1PM
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: 23andMe

Coffee and Emotions
• This is an advertising for a coffee
brand... Think about it!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3HbmtLu2Li4
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: Maxwell House

Old is Good in Marketing!
• On GenX and Baby Boomers vs.
Millennials again.
• Please view this short clip of the
Adcontrarian that makes a point I have
been making for a while, too.
• Marketeers tend to do their work
thinking about people of their age
(Millennials…), but massively missing to
address the “the most valuable
generation in the history of marketing”.
• Thank you to #WatchMeThink to share
this link.
• http://adcontrarian.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-stupidity-of-ignoring-older-
people.html?utm_campaign=The100&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=em
ail&utm_content=73431307&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_FW6G_Y5czEQ-
shfMUrPwES_FmTQtZWhVXMTJOcholUNcd_zNNT6JTw2RqDP8c1NYdruuVMOkZ5
45s0-k_pNf3YmLvAfOxnCVCz6761x-1P4g3bnA&_hsmi=73431307
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: AdContrarian Blog

No Food Waste in South Korea!
• 98% of the Food Waste in South
Korea is recycled! Something
unconceivable here in the West, at
least for now.
• A mix of education, planning and
tax duties seems to work
extremely well there.
• https://www.facebook.com/watch
/?v=2257341714585349
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: World Economic Forum

The Square and the Tower! Never-ending Power Struggle
• “The Square and the Tower” by Niall Ferguson. I love
history books and this a peculiar one, as it focuses on
the relationship between hierarchies and networks,
between ‘the vertical tower and the horizontal
square’.
• The tower symbolises the official power, while the
square is about exchanges between individuals. The
book’s main thesis is that networks flourish when
traditional power fail to maintain its control. That is…
Networks are stronger when traditional power is in
crisis….
• A bit what is happening today. With a caveat…
“Digital” and “Horizontal” networks are becoming
more and more “vertical” to support powerful
individuals.
• So, in a way, networks are becoming more like a
tower and less like a square! E.g., Trump’s network,
which was fundamental for his election victory in
2016!
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: “The Square and the Tower”

Internet Users? Really?
• Very interesting study by Pew on Internet
usage in key Developing Economies.
• It comes out that between 5% to 15% of the
smartphone users spend most of their time
on social media, IM and mobile search.
Nevertheless, they think they are NOT
Internet users! Crazy?
• My view. Internet is now a meaningless
concept for many people, as in their
perception it completely overlaps with
#Mobile #Connection. People pays for
mobile connections and services related to
it, and not for the Internet!
• I wonder if one day (not too long from
now…) the word “Internet” will lose
meaning or even be forgotten. Too Mean?
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: PEW Institute

Insights and Obituaries!
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: TED
• Love this brief TED speech by Lux Narayan. His breakfast’s
reading of preference is obituaries from #NYT! Therefore, he
decided to look at 2,000 editorial obituaries over 20
months. He works in my industry, therefore he started to
statistically analyse their words, then taking descriptors and
feeding them into a language-processing programme, which
took out all the filler words and left the significant ones.
• The results were hilarious but also insightful. And the
ultimate insight is the following: “Ask yourselves as you go
back to your daily lives: How am I using my talents to help
society?” This seems to be the secret recipe to be famous
and get an obituary on the NYT…
• Key learning for me was that you could get insights from
anywhere, even obituaries. For people doing my job, trying
to be very open-minded is not just “nice” and “cool”, it is
ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL!
• https://www.ted.com/talks/lux_narayan_what_i_learned_from_2_0
00_obituaries?rid=0xtNij2S2Lvv&utm_source=recommendation&ut
m_medium=email&utm_campaign=explore&utm_term=watchNow

Shopping Apps on the Rise
• Global time spent in Shopping Apps
grew to 18 billion hours in 2018, up 45%
from 2016. Massive. As one could
expect, this time correlates strongly with
E-Commerce sales.
• Globally, mobile is set to comprise
nearly 75% of total e-commerce
transactions by 2021. Therefore, E-
Commerce = M-Commerce.
• In our little FMCG World we must have it
very clear in mind, as it will be the only
way to succeed in digital. Time to treat
Mobile First not as an empty slogan, but
as a leading strategy!
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: App Annie

Data and Storytelling
• On Data and Storytelling in Business. In the book
“Narrative and Numbers”, Aswath Damodaran has an
interesting theory about Mankind. “As early as middle
school, the World divides People into Storytellers and
Number Crunchers. Once divided, they stay in their
preferred habitats”.
• The problem is… we live in a World dominated by
numbers, where Information is a Commodity and
access to Data is Unlimited. Therefore…”As numbers
come to dominate so many business discussions,
people are trusting them less, and failing back to
stories”.
• Not too far from reality. I have been in so many
business meeting in which you spend hours looking at
meaningless Excel spreadsheets then, suddenly, the
charts disappear from the screen, executives start
telling their “stories” and the decision is taken.
• To reconcile numbers and stories, Damodaran suggest
applying the 3P Model to the story. Is the story 1)
Possible 2) Plausible and 3) Probable? Maybe, it is as
easy as this…
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: “Narrative and Numbers”

The World as 100 People in the last 100 years
• Reality Check. The World as 100
People in the last 100 years,
according to Our World in Data.
• Nowadays, we all complaining
about how stressful Life is today,
too much stress, too much work,
not enough time, social media as
the new Big Brother, terrorism
etc. etc.
• Nevertheless, we are forgetting
how hugely better we are when it
comes to the Basics (education,
health, income etc.). We seem to
systematically forget it.
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: Our World in Data

Food Food Food!
• This is a webinar by IGD dedicated on the new
food trends in the UK and the importance of
reformulation.
• It gives you a clear sense of how complex and
advanced the food market is here in the UK.
• Key words: obesity, sugar reduction, healthy
eating, plant-based, vegan, flexitarian, 5-a-day,
packaging (=less plastic), companies’
responsibilities. government targets, microfibers
in food, nutrition info, salt reduction, eating too
much energy, portion size reduction, fibers, diet,
etc etc etc.
• This makes the UK a very interesting case for
future nutrition trends but, at the same time, a
little bit of a nightmare if you work in the food
industry!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZlyLjH5aH
U
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: IGD

Perennials and Food!
• It sometimes pays off to be very “direct” with
your #marketing. For example, take #Perennial,
a #plant-based milk aimed at the over 50s. It is
designed to contain the vitamins and nutrients
to support older consumers’ brain health, bone
strength and digestive function. The
“Perennials”, literally!
• Beyond the usual “trends”, three tangible points
to consider. 1) in 2015, 8% of the global
population was over 65, by 2050 it will be 18%.
2) Spending power: in developed markets,
Boomers continue to be the “richest
Generation” and 3) Food consumption: between
2015 and 2030, over half of the total urban
consumption growth in developed countries will
be driven by those aged over 60. Clear and
Straightforward…
• https://liveperennial.com/
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: Perennials

A New Masculinity?
• Masculinity and Millennial Men.
• I have been brought up in a World in which a man is told
he has to be strong, determined, not showing feelings
and being like a “Rock”. Right or wrong, this is what I
experienced. Therefore, this study by GlobalWebIndex on
behalf of “The Book of Man”, the men’s media brand for
“The New Masculinity Movement”, was quite revealing.
• 61% of 25-44 yo UK men felt lonely in the past year, 31%
experienced suicidal feelings at some point during that
time, while 18% do not have someone they know they
can talk to and be open with. Finally, 41% said they
would consider attending events aimed to help people
deal with loneliness and isolation. Charities like CALM
(Campaign Against Living Miserably), are addressing this
growing males’ mental health issues… by the way backed
by brands like Lynx, Topman, Harry’s, Estee Lauder,
#Wellman, Coty and Freedom Beer.
• This is a massive cultural change, and a positive one I
believe… assuming that it will help to define a New
Positive Masculinity rather than playing on negative
feelings.
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: https://thebookofman.com/

British Workers and Food and Packaging Waste
• The chart below clearly summarises the
challenge of Food and Packaging Waste.
• The majority of British workers say they
buy 'lunch on the go' more now than they
did five years ago. It is £13.6 Billion every
year. However, it also generates 10.7
billion items of packaging waste per year -
276 per person.
• Blatant example to the fact that – in the
fight to reduce waste – PEOPLE are the
Real key players! Companies can work on
optimising packaging, having more
efficient supply chains, use sustainable
material etc. but, at the end of the day,
what it really matters is People’s
behaviour.
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: Statista

Taking Pictures, Our Obsession!
• People around the
world now take
nearly 1.4 Trillion
photos a year
and…share most of
them.
• Little but powerful
number showing
how deeply the way
we connect to each
other has changed,
and how visual
language is taking
over.
Riccardo
BrennaJune 2019 Source: Internet Trends 2019

Riccardo Brenna Insight Review. May-June 2019

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Riccardo Brenna Insight Review. May-June 2019

Similar to Riccardo Brenna Insight Review. May-June 2019 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Riccardo Brenna Insight Review. May-June 2019