Coca-Cola aims to cash in on AEC fizz
Claudia Navarro took up her role as regional marketing director of Coca-Cola (Thailand) on April 1 with the intention of streamlining the company's strategic marketing direction to support the growth of the Coca-Cola portfolio in Thailand, Laos and Myanma
PLEASE COMMENT ON YOUR GOALS FOR COCA-COLA IN ASEAN.
It is a very exciting time to be in Asean. There is opportunity all around us: from that provided by a young, vibrant consumer base to the possibilities allowed to us by connectivity; to finally, increased consumption based on a middle class with more buying power.
In terms of the category in which we compete, the reality is that the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink [NARTD] category continues to grow (8 per cent year-to-date), and with it, consumers’ love for our brands.
Specifically for brand Coca-Cola, our ambition is to continue creating little moments of optimism daily, by bringing people together, and also to remind people how amazing the taste of Coca-Cola is.
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS REGARDING SALES GROWTH AND COCA-COLA’S CONTRIBUTION IN THE ASEAN MARKET?
In terms of growth, it is interesting to observe where the growth is coming from in the region.
From the NARTD categories, it is clear that much of the accelerated growth is coming from categories like water, while sparkling maintains a healthy growth trajectory. And we are ready to capitalise on these opportunities.
As you have seen, we have recently launched our Aquarius brand to address the complex hydration needs we all have every day.
Particularly in weather like that of Thailand’s, our ever-increasing hectic lives mean that we are in need of replenishment of the fluids and the minerals that we lose in the process.
Aquarius offers balanced hydration for everyday active lifestyles. We are very optimistic about its performance, and have put a very comprehensive launch plan behind it. Finally, Thailand is delivering sustainable growth within Asean, and is only second in the region to the Philippines. As well, we are excited about our growing business in both Myanmar and Laos.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO CONSUMERS IN ASEAN PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS?
As consumers become more involved in both their personal well-being and broader public health challenges such as obesity, we are working to ensure we do our part.
With our global well-being commitments and the work of our foundation, we have focused our efforts on providing consumers with expanded beverage choices, which include zero calorie beverages and transparent nutrition information on pack. We also support active, healthy living programmes in every country we serve.
Locally, there is a number of initiatives that demonstrate our commitment: our support of global platforms like the Olympic Games; local sport activation with football clubs, and bike club programmes with some educational institutions.
GIVEN THE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE THAI MARKET, WHAT ACTIONS AND GOALS DO YOU HAVE TO STAY AT NO 1 SINCE PEPSI AND EST ARE ALSO AIMING FOR THE TOP SPOT?
The reality is our competition is a key driver for our continuous effort to become better and stronger. Strong competition keeps you on your toes. Our priorities in terms of maintaining our leadership include support behind some of Thailand’s favourite brands: Coca-Cola and Fanta, but also the introduction of new products to satisfy new hydration needs, such as Aquarius.
For Coca-Cola, you may have seen that we have just introduced our new packaging with emoticons to encourage Thai people to share an emotion with each other in a fun way. This is very much in line with our ambition to create little moments of togetherness around the great experience of drinking a Coke. Finally, with the strength of our two bottling partners: Thai Namthip and Haad Thip, we are positioned to ensure availability of our products and quality service to our customer partners.
WHAT IS YOUR IMPRESSION OF THE ASEAN MARKET AND THE ARRIVAL OF AEC? HOW WILL IT CONTRIBUTE TO COCA-COLA’S BUSINESS?
We believe that the arrival of AEC will give us the opportunity to scale quicker, enhancing the growth dynamic in Asean.
With 600 million people, Asean continues to be an interesting bet into the future and the AEC will likely be an enabler or catalyst to accelerate its development.
We embrace this and are optimistic about its onset.
Made for marketing
Claudia Navarro was appointed regional marketing director of Coca-Cola (Thailand) on April 1, succeeding Kostas Delialis, who moved to take charge of Coca-Cola Japan’s marketing strategy.
Born in Colombia, Navarro has worked for Coca-Cola for nine years in strategic and marketing positions, most recently as marketing communications director for Central and Southern Europe based in Milan, responsible for all marketing platforms across the entire portfolio of Coca-Cola brands in 23 countries.
Prior to this, Navarro was based in Atlanta at the Coca-Cola headquarters, leading the global marketing team for the 2012 London Olympics campaign, which was activated in over 110 countries around the world and was recognised with a prestigious “Cannes Lion”.
