On the latest episode of The Big Impression podcast, Nestlé Global Head of Media and Partnerships Antonia Farquhar talks about KitKat’s potential to reach new audiences through live cultural moments like F1 races.
On the latest episode of The Big Impression, Nestlé’s Antonia Farquhar talks about striking unexpected partnerships, like KitKat with Formula One, to keep the 90-year-old chocolate brand fresh. It’s part of a larger strategy to connect with new audiences through live cultural moments.
Episode Transcript
Please note, this transcript may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.
Damian Fowler (00:00):
I'm Damian Fowler.
Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):
And I'm Ilyse Liffreing.
Damian Fowler (00:02):
And welcome to this edition of The Big Impression.
Ilyse Liffreing (00:09):
Today we're spotlighting one of the most ambitious shifts happening in brand marketing, Nestle's global push to redefine performance in a world where reach, relevance and streaming. Now go hand in hand.
Damian Fowler (00:21):
Our guest is Antonia Farquhar, global head of Media and partnerships at Nestle. Antonia has been at the forefront of Nestle's pivot towards connected TV and long-term brand building across categories, continents, and campaigns.
Ilyse Liffreing (00:35):
From Formula One to Gen Z coffee drinkers, she's helping Nestle rethink what media performance really means in a CTV first world and how brands can use new tools and data to close the loop between awareness and action.
Damian Fowler (00:50):
Let's get into it.
Ilyse Liffreing (00:52):
Antonia. So I understand that you guys are sponsoring Kit Kat's Formula One. I'm very curious to learn more about that.
Antonia Farquhar (01:03):
Yeah, one of the reasons that the Kit Kat team put that sponsorship together was to really, they've got an existing brand strategy, have a break, have a Kit Kat, right?
Damian Fowler (01:14):
Everybody loves that.
Antonia Farquhar (01:14):
Which is decades and decades old. I think it's way over 75 years old, that consistency of brand message is there and it's really part of the foundations of that brand. But the break is more important than ever in a busy world that we all live in today. And so it was really putting the brand at the heart of also everybody needs a break. How can we capitalize on that? And F1 has gone from being very much, I think known as a petrol head sports, to really bringing in different audiences, so younger, more diverse across the genders and it's global and Kit Kat is a major global brand of ours. So it was an excellent opportunity to really bring together the brand and I guess wouldn't have been an expected place. And then to capitalize on that, on giving people a better break as well.
Ilyse Liffreing (02:08):
Can you give me a little bit of background about why sports and why Formula One?
Antonia Farquhar (02:15):
I think for me, sports is one of the last truly appointment of view. Live viewing. You do not want to miss the race. You do not want to miss the final, you do not. There's so many of those moments now where it is also, people are talking about it, who won, how's the lineup, where is it? Et cetera. So it's part of cultural conversations and really the opportunity for our brands is to connect into what's happening, making sure we are injecting our brands with freshness and bringing in that new conversations. And I think sponsorship like the F1, and we also did Coffee Mate and the Super Bowl early this year, again, to really capitalize on where's the real excitement happening and how do we inject our brands in a distinct way. Obviously being true to their brand codes to new and different audiences,
Damian Fowler (03:13):
A thought a 30,000 foot view, you look across the landscaping like, well, these are the moments where we need to show up
Antonia Farquhar (03:20):
For sure. I mean, one of the role within the team is to really inspire and provoke and drive that distinctiveness for our brands. We are privileged to have a lot of huge global brands, but we're also over 150 years old as a company. So it's how do you inject that freshness? How do you stand out in a increasingly fragmented media landscape? So I think this is where we want brands to really lean in and as I said, it is holding on what is your brand territory? Where is that strategic foundations that hold true and need to be consistent, but how do you punch and become a little bit more maybe unexpected? Unexpected places is clearly one of the themes that I'm seeing in the industry lately that it drives that attention.
Damian Fowler (04:20):
When you talk about unexpected places. Could you say a bit more about that?
Antonia Farquhar (04:26):
I mean, we all know we are living in a very attention. Yeah, the second you wake up the phones, the amount of apps on your phones, it's increasingly hard and I think it'll continue to get harder to really drive connectivity to brands with people. And so I think doing something a little bit different and perhaps wouldn't, it's not predictable for that brand to be in that particular place or speaking in a different environment. I think that's an opportunity going forward. And I think when you look at a lot of the award-winning work globally this year, that's one theme that I really see coming through and I kind of love it. It's bringing a bit of fresh, it's bringing an edge, and I think it's pushing people and brand experiences to a different level to where they were before. So
Ilyse Liffreing (05:18):
Yeah,
Antonia Farquhar (05:19):
I'm enjoying
Ilyse Liffreing (05:19):
It and it's fun.
Antonia Farquhar (05:20):
Exactly. It's fun. And I feel like it's almost, there's different areas where different brands have different tone of voice, and so it's working out really what is that? And then perhaps tapping into a community really engaged in a particular community and how can you link your brand and derive some insights from that behavior to speak in that way.
Ilyse Liffreing (05:45):
Certainly. Now, I know you were talking about using sports to tap into that audience around appointment tv. Are there other channels that you guys are particularly leaned into at this time? Are there ones that you're experimenting with? How is that going?
Antonia Farquhar (06:03):
Yeah, so I think the more you know about marketing science, and I'm quite a nerd when it comes to marketing science, but the more channels you are in, the higher your effectiveness of course. So again, it's about how do we do fewer, bigger, better campaigns.
(06:21):
And media activations to really get that consistent cut through. But in terms of channels, when you look at where the growth is at the moment, retail, digital media is growing at an increasingly fast rate year on year. But connected TV is another one that I am really excited to discover the future of that particular medium. I mean, even in the last few years, the amount of ads that we serve on connected TV devices is more than doubled. The adoption rate is huge and it's from where you'd expect the more advanced markets where most of the streaming services for the US and the uk, but also in markets like India, the Philippines, Australia, the viewing habits are really shifting. I think COVID drove that acceleration and we all spent a lot more time at home and people probably spent money on better TVs because there wasn't as much to do outside. And so yeah, that's one I'm excited about.
Ilyse Liffreing (07:29):
And I would imagine for a brand like Nestle that the intersection of CTV and retail media and e-commerce is really exciting now that you can practically shop through your TV too.
Antonia Farquhar (07:43):
Yes. Yeah, it is. I think it's a great opportunity. I love the fact that that medium is back in the living room but advanced and it's now how do you make sure you are able to do a brand building experience and build an emotional connection, but also give people the prompt to buy perhaps through a QR code or through the retailer websites. And obviously the audiences piece is super attractive as well when you're really trying to nudge people to close the sale. So yeah, I think it's very exciting. It's amazing.
Damian Fowler (08:23):
I was interested in what you said just then about fewer, bigger, better, which is easy to say, but perhaps not easy to execute. What kind of mindset shifts were needed to get your teams to rally behind that concept and how does it kind of show up?
Antonia Farquhar (08:41):
Yeah, fewer, bigger, better is a phrase I feel like I say every single day in the office. We started on a journey a few years ago and it's all about the focus. So focusing on the brands, ensuring they're well fed with the right amount of investment because we know that's one of the key factors of marketing effectiveness. But so from where do we invest, how many briefs, et cetera, but actually also through to our agency partners as well. So we've done a big transformation across lots of parts of the globe to really consolidate our agency model, which has been a mindset shift to your point around if we scale and standardize, then we free up more time and brainpower to really create outstanding media activations and planning. And so we are in the transformation area of that at the moment. But yeah, it's bringing a lot of great benefits, good talent, better work, and a more we can scale faster. We are a huge organization. We operate in 188 markets, and so therefore scaling information and driving that best practice is going to go so much faster through the consolidation.
Ilyse Liffreing (10:13):
When it comes to CTV, are there specific brands that Nestle owns that kind of fit that target audience a little better?
Antonia Farquhar (10:24):
I think it's a great question. I think it fits a lot of our brands, but to your point, it depends on where that behavior is happening. Often it can be younger audiences, but we are seeing it growing to really, really broad audiences as well. And especially the move we've had in the industry from really subscription to the ad model piece allows that larger access as well. What I also am interested in this space is the type of content as well. So there's obviously a huge diversity in terms of super high production and Netflix style content all the way through to the UGC or that type of content as well. So again, going back to the point earlier about different audiences and their interests, to me that brings a really thoughtful opportunity about are there different types of content that makes sense for different brands, to your point, versus doing a one size fits all. So I think that's super interesting as we see the, well, the more and more content that comes out and the consumption increase as well.
Damian Fowler (11:37):
And what's also interesting I guess, is the global differences. I mean, I know the APAC market is very mobile first and different markets, more mature markets like the US CTV is strong. I wonder from your perspective, where do you see the big growth opportunities around the world from a media perspective?
Antonia Farquhar (12:02):
Like you say in Asia, we see huge growth of shopping online. It's seamless and you can really go from discovering a product to buying it within 10 seconds. And so that is challenging some of the norms about the amount of time but that people need. So yeah, again, it depends on the category and the purchase cycle there, but I think that's a great opportunity. Things like WhatsApp I think will be increasingly utilized by brands as a way, a more seamless way of connecting with shoppers as well. But I think social retail media and connected TV are the three areas that we really focus on, but then the important ask within that is how do we do it in a way that is quality, culturally relevant with the right context, so we are able to cut through in an effective way.
Damian Fowler (13:07):
So you're working closely with different agencies in each of those distinct markets.
Antonia Farquhar (13:12):
Yeah, exactly. To find the right opportunity and what are the local opportunities there too. Are
Damian Fowler (13:20):
There any surprises from your point of view? And I just want to say I grew up in York and it was the home of Roundtree Macintosh, which where Kit Kat started. And then over the years we've seen Kit Kat show up in different places, like in Japan, I think there's a version with green tea or green. So that's an interesting kind of way
Ilyse Liffreing (13:41):
A lot to collect them from around the world.
Damian Fowler (13:43):
And I think it is remarkable how the brand sort of KitKat brand has scaled across the world, but it's still kind true to that chocolate bar that I knew in York when I used to wake up. You could smell the cocoa. So are you kind of thinking about things like that?
Antonia Farquhar (14:02):
I think for me and with the brand team, it's about staying true to those foundations. Have a break, have a kick at, and that core bar that you grew up smelling,
(14:16):
But how can you flex into those local regions and opportunities, flavors tastes? And I think that's exciting opportunity. And obviously Japan, in fact, yesterday someone was saying about how they flew to Japan to buy the different types of KitKats. Clearly a lot of people get excited about that, but we also have factories all over the world. So it allows us to diversify and able to deliver to some of the nature, some of the local taste preferences. But for me it's about staying core to that brand really, because the foundation behind the piece. But yeah, you can also have fun with it with different flavor rotations too. Yeah.
Ilyse Liffreing (15:04):
Is there any advice that you would give marketers looking to make the same shift as you guys are doing from short term return on investment to long-term brand building?
Damian Fowler (15:16):
Fewer, bigger, better, right? Fewer, bigger better. Is that what you say?
Antonia Farquhar (15:19):
A rally cry. I'm going to have it on a T-shirt. Exactly. But no, you should sell those too. Exactly. So I think it's about focus, right? And it's about really focusing on where are the areas of the greatest opportunity. I'm also a big believer in having data points at hand. So whenever we are challenged around some of the decisions that we are aiming to drive across the business, having that the audience has actually grown by 50, 60, 70 or whatever percent, and it's no longer just teams, it's a very broad audience and our products are super broad and it allows us to connect with people daily, weekly. Again, it's that consistent piece that I think is really attractive there.
Damian Fowler (16:12):
What are you obsessed with figuring out right now?
Antonia Farquhar (16:16):
So many, many things at the moment. I just thinking about the conversation that we were having about quality of media and connected tv, I would love more understanding on the impact of ad loads. As I said, it does vary hugely across the different providers from six minutes an hour to, I dunno, probably 35 minutes an hour. And again, I'm a big believer and you get what you pay for. So if it is a higher cost, then the effectiveness is hopefully and likely higher. But again, proving the house I think would be really interesting as well and what effect, what it has on the effectiveness of that.
Ilyse Liffreing (16:59):
Yeah. So what would you say is missing from the CTV marketplace as it stands today?
Antonia Farquhar (17:04):
I would love more unification to manage, this is a very technical media answer, but to manage reach and frequency more consistently. I think that's been a bit of a downfall of the growth of things like BVO and CTV was that ability to effectively manage and not feel like you're wasting or annoying people with too many ads. So the unification of that across many devices would be my dream to be able to do. And it was never possible to unlock on linear TV for very obvious reasons, but as we are in a much more digitized world, it does feel possible. I'm not sure we'll get there. But yeah, any unification that a lot of the DSPs offer to me, they're incredibly valuable to ensure we're being more efficient and effective with our investment.
Ilyse Liffreing (17:59):
Very cool. Now I actually do have a follow up to what you said before about effective reach and cost. Do you feel like there, do you feel like most marketers still have the mindset that they want to buy in at the cheapest they can, no matter the effectiveness?
Antonia Farquhar (18:21):
Or is that changing? Do you think it's changing? I think it is changing. I do. I'm a believer that the more great effective research and the more case studies and that sort of part you read, it's not about that to me. These are soft metrics in terms of did the campaign deliver what you signed for on your media plan? But really we are here to drive business and brands and whether it's cross between equity and sales and category growth. So to me, you have to come back to, is it driving business results, making sure you're able to measure and manage those effectively because yeah, if you can't measure it, you can't manage it and you can't go back and say, well, we reached this many people, but did they convert? Did they do anything? Did they feel differently about your brands? These are the questions I'm really interested to answer.
Damian Fowler (19:15):
I guess final question, what's one of your favorite Nestle ad campaigns? Past or present?
Antonia Farquhar (19:21):
This is a tough question to answer because as my role is global, the brands are equal. I have to say some of my favorite, or I think it's timeless, is the George Clooney and espresso pieces as well. The art direction there I always think is beautiful. And I'm a big Nespresso fan, I have to say from a personal perspective. And also in Australia and New Zealand and Asia, there's a brand called Milo, and that is all about sport being a great way of bringing together people to learn and play and have fun. And they've done some fantastic ads throughout the time, really showing that resilience and the grit as well that it comes to what sport can teach you to do. So that's some of my favorite ads that we've done.
Damian Fowler (20:29):
And that's it for this edition of The Big Impression.
Ilyse Liffreing (20:31):
This show is produced by Molten Hart. Our theme is by love and caliber, and our associate producer is
Antonia Farquhar (20:37):
Sydney Cairns.
Damian Fowler (20:38):
And remember,
Antonia Farquhar (20:39):
Yeah, fewer, bigger, better is a phrase I feel like I say every single day.
Damian Fowler (20:43):
I'm Damian
Antonia Farquhar (20:44):
And I'm Ilyse,
Damian Fowler (20:45):
And we'll see you next time.