There is more to Peru than Paddington Bear

Peru is the home of Inca Kola, a bright yellow, sweet, almost bubble-gum flavoured soft drink that has been a Peruvian icon and institution for over a hundred years; originally brought to the country by an Englishman, but now as Peruvian as Machu Pichu itself.  Over the last few years, despite the brand's ubiquity, its image became a little tired, outdated and began to suffer from more modern and cheaper competitors. In 2004 it was decided to re-launch the brand and re-engage the nation, particularly with younger adults, but how?

Specifically it was asked, could such a Peruvian brand take advantage of its own culture and if so how?  

• How Inca Kola could lead and give new significance to what is 'being Peruvian'
• How it could become a brand that has an opinion and encourages change

We needed to unearth deeply-felt human truths that would create a powerful, personal connection between the brand and Peruvians, resonating with people, really touching a nerve. We wanted Inca Kola to be able to give people a 'positive shock of recognition' about themselves and their country and to be seen to be championing the best of being Peruvian.

To achieve this we needed to really understand the fundamentals of 'being Peruvian' and gain a sense of where Peruvian culture was heading.  This was the focus of our work and we learnt that amongst the younger generations, those under 30, there was an emerging sense of being. They were open-minded, outgoing, creative, confident, relaxed and took more risks. There was a sense of less taboos (e.g. sexual, racial), less conservatism, more perceived power to express what they really think.

These emerging positive attitudes were taking place in a poor country, with many economic difficulties, where many Peruvians have to create their own income source to make ends meet. We found that difficulties and crises make the people more creative in the way they approach things. They are creative in a spontaneous and pragmatic way, to deal with everyday problems, to survive. The spontaneous way in which Peruvians deal with everyday crisis is a strong Peruvian value. They are highly inventive and ingenious.

We concluded that the combination of the emerging new positive attitude and Peruvian ingenuity was a potential rich positioning territory for Inca Kola. We made a recommendation to the brand team and their agency that Inca Kola should stand for the re-interpretation and modernisation of Peruvian 'ingenuity'.

The resulting communications campaign, when tested with the Peruvian population, was seen to communicate encouragement and recognition of Peruvians efforts to improve via the creative ways they achieve this.  The campaign was seen to enhance the perception, standing and cultural ubiquity of the brand, giving it a more modern aura and encouraging change for the better.

Owning positive aspects of ones own particular culture when the brand is the culture can offer immense positioning opportunities.

Latin housewives living in the 'New World'

Consider the Hispanic community who decided to set up home in the United States but still feel very Latin American.

Working with the Latin immigrant US brand team for the food-enhancement brand Maggi, we felt that there might be a cultural positioning opportunity, leveraging a combination of Latin culture and perceived American ambition for the future.  The brand had the opportunity to recognize the unique and challenging position that Latin immigrant women were facing outside their home, but still recognizing where they come from.

Historically its main competitor Knorr had been very functional in its communication and we wanted to create greater consideration for Maggi by establishing it as THE culinary expert (leveraging aspects of its global brand essence), by sharing in the values and beliefs of female Hispanics living in the US, a kind of secret home-grown ally holding your hand in the new world.

The insight area that we found to offer the most potential was that, amongst the Latin women we wished to target, there was an emerging group of 'New Optimists', foreign-born Hispanic women who were discovering their more independent selves within a more challenging and faster lifestyle in the U.S

They feel that their life is changing so dramatically and that they continuously discover - ‘what I am made of' and ‘what I can achieve for me and my family in the new country'.

We concluded that the brand could be part of 'Discovering who I really am', working within the cultural overlap of Latin and US values, a kind of soup (excuse the pun) of Latin traditions, particularly in relation to food and the new discoveries and challenges of an American way of life.

The lesson learned here?  A culture within another culture can also offer positioning possibilities.    

A one world teen world

Consider how to tap into characteristics, attitudes or behaviours of a given consumer segment, one that is distinct from the wider consumer base, as a route to effectively position a brand across the continent as a whole, leveraging cross-country insight.

In 2004, the Sprite brand went for a total Latin American continent positioning. In the past each country had developed its own marketing positioning and communication.

It set itself some tough objectives:

• To deliver consistent values, maintaining a consistent/strong point of view for Sprite  
• To gain cult or iconic brand status by forming a deep emotional connection with the defined target
• To be seen as the most authentic brand by sticking to the defined set of brand values

It wished be seen as such a brand amongst young teens, primarily 17-19. Championing their own teenage perspective, by creating a cause that could inspire a movement that teens could feel they could own for their generation.

This required a fresh and honest understanding of this group. Our involvement was to establish if there were similar teen perspectives across the continent and if the communication agency efforts to build a common 'attitude platform' would resonate and appeal in the chosen South American markets (primarily Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Honduras and Mexico)?   

In short:

• Were South American teenagers similar or not, is there such a thing as Latin teen culture?
• Could a Sprite brand point of view cross market cultures?

The communication agency based in Buenos Aires believed that the brand could have a point of view about honesty in a teenage world as opposed to the lack of it in the adult one.   It felt that the Sprite brand could stand for 'BRUTAL HONESTY', linking this attitude to the product's physical properties of clear refreshment and had the opportunity to create a language of connection that is very different from conventional carbonated soft drinks. Its communication idea was built upon the idea of 'someone had to tell this', a teenage view on life where the truth is always told even if it is uncomfortable. 

• Edginess: the continent's teenage appeal of honesty/authenticity 'telling it like it is' in life generally amongst their peers and in society generally?
• The ability/practice of brands themselves being edgy 'telling it like it is'. Was this something that was done/not done across markets?
• 'Someone had to tell you this' Is it an edgy/honest/authentic message? How does it work?  Is this common across markets?
• 'Someone had to tell you this' and Sprite. Is there a common perception of the brand that enables it to fit with the communication idea?

The findings from these areas of questioning were encouraging and gave us the go/no go answer and provide critical direction for further communication development. There was clear support for the original insight that these late-teens value strong points of view, telling things as they are and the ability to laugh at these 'honest things', in so doing laughing at yourself, also being important. This was unlike the perception of the adult world

In their words, the communication idea was about: honesty, transparency, being direct, provocative, being down-to-earth, close to the real world of teenagers, across the countries tested.  It was felt that the idea of honesty and directness told in this way was felt to be talking the way that teens talk. There was universal understanding and appeal for the controversial 'un-thought of' truths, that they find hard to say, that need to be said, told in a highly humorous way.

This was unlike the whole point of conventional advertising/marketing to not be honest, but rather paint an idealised, sanitised world-view. From a teenage perspective across the continent, brands including carbonated drinks and teen brands were expected to be the opposite of 'telling it like it is'.

Hence it was seen as edgy, controversial and differentiating. Its message and humour makes Sprite a closer, more intimate brand. It achieved a cross-cultural osmosis between teenage insight about honesty in life, a universal appeal for the comic timing of the brand and Latin American teens' ability to laugh at their own life/situation.

Our belief in the commonality of a common teenage mind-set around the issue of honesty and the way it is perceived paid off, as did a collective teen appeal for the Sprite idea, its humour and the brands ability to own it.