Marketers such as Starbucks discover that simple sells

USA Today, October 28, 2009 — Simple is better.

This could be 2010's most powerful marketing mantra.

If 2009's hottest sales pitch was all about buying stuff on the cheap, 2010 marketing will increasingly stress less as more, as in fewer parts, additives or ingredients. While the trend is taking hold in many product categories, including health and beauty items, nowhere is it more apparent than with things we eat and drink.

Food Firms Cook Up Ways to Combat Rare Sales Slump†

Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2009 — The packaged-food industry has long touted itself as recession-proof. Strapped consumers are shattering that assumption, setting off a frenzy in the nation's supermarket aisles and cooking labs.

In the last quarter of 2008, consumer spending on food fell by an inflation-adjusted 3.7% from the previous quarter — its steepest drop in 62 years, the Commerce Department said. So, food giants are racing to adapt to what they believe is a lasting shift in eating and shopping habits.

CEO nears 10-year goal to clean up a soupy mess

Conant's determined to take Campbell from 'bad' to best

USA Today, January 26, 2009 — Sip. Slurp.

Repeat.

That sums up the business plan at Campbell Soup before Douglas Conant took over as CEO eight years ago this month. It was the same old company doing much of the same old stuff it had been doing since it was founded in 1869. It had no clear direction. No red-hot brands. Its innovation cupboard was bare.

Pretty thin for a company whose basic product — soup — is held in such high esteem that the typical American home has six cans of Campbell's in the pantry.

Conant went to work. His self-described mission: to take a "bad" company and lift its performance to "extraordinary" by the end of one decade — that's by 2011.

BK Boxers Leads Pack of Worst Line Extensions†

Brandweek, December 13, 2008 — What do Burger King underwear, Kellogg's hip-hop street wear and Allstate Green insurance have in common? They all were voted among the worst brand extensions of 2008.

Earlier this month, TippingSprung polled 689 Brandweek readers and other marketing professionals, online, about this year's flurry of line extensions. Among the other duds: Coca-Cola's RPet clothing at Wal-Mart, Playboy energy drink and the Disney Sleeping Beauty executive fountain pens priced at up to $1,200.

Google, Campbell Soup, J&J Tops in CSR

Marketing Charts, November 10, 2008 — Google, Campbell Soup, and Johnson & Johnson top the list of American companies that the US public sees as most socially responsible, according to the 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Index (CSRI), from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and Reputation Institute.

You Call That Innovation?†

New Survey Shows Consumers Value Unique Products -- Not Just Line Extensions

Advertising Age, November 10, 2008 — As everyone struggles just to stay above water, now is exactly the time to redistribute your resources to develop unique products that deliver a new consumer experience and create a franchise capable of long-term, significant growth. Try offering new benefits or delivery systems through real innovation.

Campbell's Chief Looks for Splash of Innovation†

Conant Plans New Line of Light Soups and a Move Into Markets in Russia and China

Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2008 — When Douglas Conant became CEO of Campbell Soup Co. seven years ago, naysayers bet against him being able to revive soup with today's busy and health-conscious consumers. Mr. Conant proved them wrong after remaking the company's condensed soups, introducing soup in microwavable containers, revamping marketing and redesigning shelving systems in supermarket soup aisles.

Campbell CEO Douglas Conant is launching new soup lines next year.

Now, Mr. Conant, 56 years old, has more proving to do. Campbell, which also makes Pepperidge Farm foods and V8 beverages, is struggling with high ingredient and energy costs as well as a competitor that beat it to market with a successful new product.