Coca-Cola hits marketing mark while Kraft stumbles

Start-ups can learn from the successes and failures of various FMCG brands last year, according to a new report.

New findings by market research agency Datamonitor reveals which brands of consumer-packaged goods were successful in 2010 and which ones were failures.

Among the successes were Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid, meal replacement Primo Extremo, and Axe deodorant, while Kraft’s iSnack 2.0 campaign was labelled a failure.

Coca Cola developed a dairy beverage for Chinese consumers titled Minute Maid Pulpy Super Milky, comprising of fruit juice, milk powder, whey and coconut.

Positioned as a lifestyle brand, the product aimed to appeal to the increasingly high level of health awareness among Chinese consumers.

Primo Extremo was named as such in an attempt to trivialise the exaggerated nature of breakfast marketing, which resonated with its target audience of young men.

Meanwhile, Axe recently launched its “Axe Wakeup Service” whereby a young attractive woman makes a wakeup call via phone or video, reminding the consumer to spray some Axe deodorant in order to smell good.

According to Datamonitor consumer analyst Mark Whalley, Kraft’s iSnack 2.0 campaign, whereby consumers were invited to rename the product, did not succeed as a result of its inability to engage with customers.

“While the campaign generated short-term sales and brand awareness, consumers became suspicious that the name change was in fact a marketing ploy,” Whalley says.

“The campaign reflects the dangers of relying purely on immediate gains without consideration for the long-term impact on brand equity.”

According to Whalley, 2011 will be a difficult year for brand innovators as consumers continue to put products under greater scrutiny prior to purchasing them.

“[Start-ups] can’t afford to make errors, and will need to identify exactly what it was which made some brands a success last year,” he says.

However, Whalley says start-ups cannot rely on the success stories of other brands as inspiration for their own.

“It is not as simple as looking at a strategy which has worked for other brands and adopting it,” he says.

“Trends change over time and brands must retain their own identity and values. The biggest successes in 2011 will be the products which innovate effectively and genuinely engage with their consumers.”