Campbell’s = soup ‘n sodium

Last week, Campbell’s new CEO informed the analyst community about the company’s plans to stop  messing around with their soup’s sodium levels and just give consumers what they want (actually, what they’ll buy in higher volumes).  That is, “better taste” by upping sodium levels to 650mg from 480mg in 31 of their Select Harvest soups.  Apparently Campbell’s experienced enough of a hit in market share to conclude that their “attempts at doing good” and using lower sodium formulations as an experiment in innovation simply didn’t serve their bottom line. 

“Campbell is right to respond to their customers rather than activistswho tell consumers that eating too much sodium is harmful to health,” said Salt Institute president Lori Roman.  She added that the company’s lagging sales should be a “cautionary tale” for companies that want to cut sodium in their products.

While I am not privy to how committed CPG companies are to reformulating I do know that if there isn’t a market for lower sodium products, the party will continue.  Advocacy groups, nutrition experts, even consumers can righteously demand change … but if they don’t support product reformulations with behavior – that is, by actually buying – it’s all over.  Continue reading

Tags: advertising, Campbell's, Campbell's soup, Campbell's soup + sodium, CBD, food, Lori Colman, Select Harvest + sodium

Customer-Centric Seminar Positions Energy Firms for Growth

Energy industry leaders are starting to embrace the consumer as an important voice in the national conversation about energy. As a result, understanding how to transition to modern customer interface practices is of paramount importance in building a stronger and more differentiated organization. While it is critical for utilities and providers to adopt a customer-centric business model, this is a huge organizational and cultural challenge.

In this one-day, executive-level strategy session entitled “The Energy Imperative: Adopting Customer-Centric Strategies to Differentiate and Thrive”, Colman Brohan Davis brings together leading energy industry experts to provide unique perspectives and change management practices for accomplishing this critical transformation.  Specifically, discussions will present opportunities that can be realized for customer-centric providers and the threats that traditional top-down providers will face.

During this interactive session, we will address:

• Adaptive strategies of customer-centric companies in energy and other deregulated industries.
• Business models that recognize and embrace the changed role of the consumer.
• Insights into how regulations will evolve and how you should organize your efforts.
• Upgrades needed in IT capability and their anticipated costs.
• Customer perceptions of energy providers and strategies engaging audiences appropriately.
• And much more.

Our panel of experts includes Richard Guha, former President of Reliant Energy, Brett Perlman, former head of the Public Utilities Commission in Texas and Lynne Kiesling with the Department of Economics and Social Enterprise at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business.  Lynne is also co-author of the book, “Electricity Restructuring, The Texas Story.”

For more detail on how this seminar will be the catalyst for change and for your organization, please contact me at lbrohan@cbdmarketing.com or 312-661-1050.

Tags: Brett Perlman, CBD, CBD Marketing, Colman Brohan Davis, Electricity Restructuring, Energy, energy industry, Kellogg School of Business, Lynne Kiesling, Northwestern University, Reliant Energy, Richard Guha, The Texas Story

Can marketing make the world drool for “man-made meat?”

Credit: Shutterstock

“Man-made meat may be just around the corner,” proclaimed Food Navigator earlier this month.

What an awesome marketing challenge!

Dr. Mark Post, physiology professor at Maastricht University in The Netherlands, leads a team of scientists who are developing meat products made grown from stem cells taken from healthy cattle.  His team’s work was featured in a New Yorker article (May 23, 2011) which also provides insights on the pros, cons and in-between opinions regarding “test tube meat.”

The genesis of this concept traces back to William van Eelen, a Dutchman of privilege who ended up in a concentration camp during WWII.  There, he witnessed horrendous treatment of prisoners and the animals kept there as a food source.   After the war, haunted by memories of starvation and animal abuse, van Eelen decided to dedicate his life’s work to growing meat without inflicting pain.

Thanks to van Eelen’s persistence, the award of a patent and some NASA-funded experiments that proved growing food outside of a body was indeed possible, there are now teams forming at universities throughout the world. While their passions are varied, the welfare of animals and the planet are front and center to most of the development.  PETA has even provided funding. 

Currently, our 7 billion fellow earthlings consume 90 pounds of meat per person, for a collective intake of 285 million tons of meat each year.  Continue reading

Tags: CBD, Colman Brohan Davis, cultured meat, environment, Lori Colman, man-made meat, marketing meat, New Yorker, Sustainability, Test tube meat