So, how important is it or should companies even
be getting involved in political
and social conversations these days?
I think that today,
the brands that I personally admire the most
are brands that have a point of view.
A point of view on like what's happening out there
and trying, especially if you can link that point of view
to the positioning of the brand.
I think the risk is when brands do things
or have a point of view on something
and it comes across inauthentic
because it has nothing to do with the history
of the brand has done before,
or of the positioning of the brand,
but I think more often than one would imagine,
brands are doing that right.
I think that there are great examples like
from Nike, great examples from New York Times.
Some good examples from Burger King,
I'm a little bit bias on that one.
So if you do it right, if you are adding value
to the conversation,
if you're like putting yourself
on the right side of history,
if you can tie it back to the positioning of the brand,
I think chances are that
you're going to increase brand love
and over time, that will probably translate
into better business for your brand.
And how do you decide what's consistent
with Burger King's brand?
I think that in our case,
when we did our brand positioning work
around five years ago,
it was a work where we went a little bit in terms
like kind of like soul searching.
Burger King is a brand that has been
in the marketplace since 1954.
So it's like, we went back in time to understand
why people love the brand.
And if you stop people on the street
and ask them about Burger King, especially in the US,
which is our largest market, they will say,
what the first thing that comes to mind, the Whooper.
Like why the Whooper?
Because it's like the big general sandwich,
flame grilled, perfectly imperfect, messy,
the grill marks are never the same,
because they're grill marks.
What else about Burger King?
They talk about 'Have It Your Way',
which has to do with the respect for individuality.
They talk about the fact that we put the crown
on everyone's head.
So we took that as like the basic ingredients
that were already there because it's a brand
that's traditional in the marketplace
and we try to modernize.
So in our case, when we touch something that's purposeful
or that when we put our point of view,
it has to do with welcoming everyone,
because we welcome everyone with the crown.
It has to do with respecting diversity and individuality
because we foster 'Have It Your Way'.
And it has to do with being perfectly imperfect,
self depricating,
because that's kind of like the vibe of the brand.
So when we do things that tie to that,
if we do in a way that's not commercial
and that's trying to add value to the conversation,
it's really well received by most people.
And what's the biggest issue right now
that marketers are facing as far as reaching this audience
that has different values,
they respond to different media
and they're viewing media in a different way?
I think that the biggest challenge that I see
and that's why we do the work the way we do
is to always come up with like big ideas,
fresh ideas, creative ideas.
The media landscape is crazy.
You know like, technology is like bringing like new options
and new opportunities like every day.
So I cannot cope with that,
I try to be as much as I can informed
and in touch with those things
but that shouldn't be like necessarily
like the beginning of the work.
The beginning of the work is the idea.
You know, so as a marketeer,
I think that you need to understand
what your brand is about
and work with great creative partners
to come up with great ideas
and then the idea will form the channel.
So the biggest challenge for me is like
how can we continue to come up with awesome ideas
that will touch the hearts,
the minds, and the stomach, because I'm selling food,
of the people?
And I think that when I talk to other CMOs,
it's kind of the same.
How can we come up with new fresh ideas
that will entertain, that will get people to talk about,
that will get on media,
that will be not like a commercial
because if it's just a commercial,
people are not going to want to consume that.
And what's the biggest risk you've taken
as a CMO that totally paid off?
In the case of Burger King,
we are not the biggest spender, right?
I mean, in the marketplace.
So whatever we do, it needs to stand out.
If it has to stand out, it probably needs to be different.
If you're doing something different,
there is a risk associated to it.
So most of the things we do,
they have a certain degree of risk associated to it,
because we know that that's kind of like of our,
it's a little bit of the secret of our success.
So every single campaign,
if we don't feel uncomfortable with the idea that we have,
it's probably not good enough.
So I don't know like which one is like the riskiest.
I think that the riskiest thing would be
to do something flat, generic
because that I know it doesn't work.
So when we do things such as like McWhopper,
Google Home of The Whopper, Whopper Detour,
Burning Stores, they're all campaigns
that get a ton of recognition in the industry,
they are campaigns that were talked about,
that get billions of impressions,
billions with B, you know,
and that increased brand love.
At first we do think that oh my God,
should we do this?
What if it goes wrong?
How do we mitigate that and this and that?
But risk to me is doing something flat.
If you're trying to do something that's edgy
and if that ties back to the core of your brand,
it's probably less risky than doing something flat.
So it's hard for me to precise,
like maybe Burning Stores, maybe Proud Whopper.
But we are used to that.
So we don't even think as much as like, oh,
it's riskier.
And looking back on your career,
at Burger King and before, at Unilever,
what is the biggest mistake that you've made
in your personal career and what have you learned from that?
I think that like I was lucky enough
to work with people that were like very smart,
with like very strong marketing teams,
both in Unilever and Burger King.
And I think that the classic mistake
that I've done in the past
is like when things are working really well
and you're growing and the processes
are blending themselves like very strongly,
you're getting more market share and all this.
And then suddenly you think you can do more
and your spread yourself too thin.
You know what I mean?
Like, so there were occasions where in Unilever
or even at Burger King that we,
instead of like making sure that our core
was like well sustained and had like the proper funding,
we spread ourselves too thin
and we launched either like in a new segment
or in a new market,
and then we didn't invest as much on the core.
And if you don't do that,
the core erodes very fast.
And the increment doesn't come at the same time,
and in Brazil, we say that you're playing
like the small blanket game,
like you cover your head, your feet are cold,
you cover your feet, your head is cold.
So if you have to cover something,
cover the core first,
that was the lesson I've learned
when I spread myself, or the brand, or the budget too thin.
Is there a campaign that someone else did
that you wish that you had thought of?
Oh my God, so many.
And it's funny because like most of them
are like from from friends.
Like I love the New York Times stuff,
just talking about the stuff that's here this year, right?
I mean, David Droga, with Droga5,
I mean, you're interviewing David Droga, right?
Ask him about that like that's like an amazing company.
He's super proud of that one,
I spoke to him yesterday by accident.
I think like the Nike staff, I don't know the CMO,
but it's just like amazing, the bravery.
Viva La Vulva, it's like, I wish I had done that.
There are so many,
and it's just great to be here and see that stuff.
And see what's moving the industry.
I love advertising.
I love this industry,
like the guys that work in our team at BK, same thing.
We don't even get jealous, to be honest.
We just want people to do well,
and to come here and to learn
and see how we can push ourselves even further
in terms of creativity and innovation.
And as you push further into the future,
what does the future of marketing look like?
What will be the biggest changes?
I think that like people need to focus.
And it may sound very simplistic,
but I think people need to focus on big meaty ideas.
And I think that sometimes
we get distracted about trends
and things that are happening like in a very short term
and shifts, and changes, and media landscape,
and programmatic and all that stuff.
And we forget that what makes people stick,
at least from my perspective, are big ideas.
So I think that the future of marketing
will be to continue to bring amazing creativity
and innovation to people and with that,
grow your brand, grow your business
and build a long term relationship with people and brands.
And one of the big things that Burger King is doing
is the Impossible Burger?
So we launched the Impossible Whopper in the US
and we are in the process of rolling that out.
I mean, we identify that there was a trend
in the marketplace around plant based,
and it is cool because like plant based
that the product is so good,
that people cannot really tell the difference
between the regular Whopper with the regular patty,
and the impossible one.
So it's not a niche product.
People who eat the impossible,
91% of the people who eat the impossible foods
or the impossible Whopper, they eat beef,
just trying probably to eat a little bit less beef.
So it becomes very mainstream,
and that's why it's doing so well.
We launched the Rebel Whopper,
it's a different name in Sweden.
I think it was last week.
It's still like starting but it's doing well already.
It's also plant based, it's a different partner.
It's not with Impossible Foods,
but it's like it's a segment that's probably here to stay
and it will continue to grow
and we are very proud and happy
to be like one of the first brands if not the first brand
that brought that into scale in QSR fast food
especially in the US.
And marketing is one of the parts of the company
that speaks the most to the consumer.
What comes first, the conversation with the consumer
or the actual changes in the product?
I think it's both,
you know, I think that we identify the trend
because we are looking at people, right?
And then we did the testing,
and we develop the product, and this and that,
I was like, touch basing with the consumer
to make it better, make it better,
improve on this and that.
And then when we, after identifying the opportunity,
developing the product,
we launch, and we test the advertising and all that,
and then we communicate to people.
But like, people, consumers,
they are part of the journey from the genesis of the idea
in the inside to the launch.
And when you, because if you don't do that
you risk coming with a product or communication
that will be disconnected to people's expectations
and desires.
So that's why I think that the most successful brands,
they integrate the consumer throughout the journey.