TV production

During the month of December Jenny Svensson have done a “cheese school” on tv, I hope you have seen it ;). It has been a part of the program “Mitt Kök” (My Kitchen) that are shown in the mornings during Nyhetsmorgon at TV4. Jenny Svensson is a cheese expert, she sells cheese on her own and co work with us at Göteborgs Kex and our biscuits Göteborgs Utvalda which you eat together with cheese.

I was with the TV-team for one day in November to see how the TV-production went. Wow, it took time! During one day (without lunch break) we did five short programs that last for approximately two minutes each in TV. That is a whole a lot of work for very few minutes. But it was funny and Jenny, the production team and Tommy Myllymäki (a professional chef in Sweden) were professional and patient. It was interesting and very funny to be a part of a tv-production and another part of my job as a brand manager at Orkla.

If you have missed the program you can see them at TV4´s site: http://www.tv4.se/mitt-kök
Or at Jenny´s blog: http://www.ostochkex.se/
Merry Christmas!

New design – new photos

This week we almost finished a new design. It is a new launch coming up next spring. The design-process has been rapid and intense but luckily the outcome is great! I am happy and believe that the new launch will be warmly welcomed in-stores.

The final step we need to add to the new design is some photos. So last Thursday me and the design agency meet at a photographer`s place to take photos of some biscuits that will cover the packages. The photographer`s name is Bengt Pettersson and he is a really great photographer he has created some really nice food pictures throughout his career. I would say, probably he is one of the best photographers in Sweden within this area.

The photo-session lasted the whole day. It can feel long for only some photos but it is precision and the result is amazing! You will have to wait and see until next spring when the product will be launched in-stores...

To work with a beloved category

It is very fun to work with a category of products that almost everyone likes and has an opinion about. I have just started my computer after a great summer vacation here in Sweden and I think back of my weeks away from work. I cannot remember one single dinner with new people this summer that one of the topics has not touched my work; cookies! It is such an easy subject to discuss. People want to describe their favorite cookie, if they prefer chocolate or strawberry, what kind of cookies they ate when they were kids, the cookie of their dreams, and so on. It is so much easier to talk about cookies than for example to talk about being in charge of information technology and technology competences. I realize time after time that it is so fun to work with something that everyone can relate to, I love it! To work with a category full of joy and that everyone can relate to is not the reason why I took this job, but it is definitely a bonus ;)

Signing of a project

When you (as a project leader) and your group are done with a project it is time to sign off. For some weeks ago me and my group have been working with a project for several months and of course it feels a little sad to say good bye. I am writing about the project of Singoalla Cheesecake Jordgubb that recently has been launched in Sweden.

The project started for more than one year ago by searching for existing trends and what kind of cookies and tastes that would work in the Swedish market. When finished with that we continued to develop the cookie (the product), the design and at last we developed the communication and decided in what channels we should communicate it in.

This is a long but very interesting and fun process where I have learned a lot. I have enjoyed every minute and now it is time to sign off the project and my colleague takes over. Even if I signed off I will follow Singoalla Cheesecake Jordgubb in the market and how it develops. Singoalla Cheesecake will always have a special place in my beloved cookie-heart ;)

Cookies for free!

Last week me and my colleagues were out on the street and gave out samples. We wanted consumers to try our good news, Singoalla Cheesecake Jordgubb and Ballerina Marängsviss (launched week 13) so we decided to give them away ourselves.

Of course, we have a great mediaplan for our big news for the rest of the year with TV commercials, boards, magazines and so on but we wanted to see our consumers’ reactions with our own eyes.

So after lunch we went into Stockholm city. We placed us at the best spots where most people are around and gave out samples for some hours. We met many reactions from consumers and luckily only happy ones ;).

This was a fun day/evening where we combined great sampling of our god tasting news, catching up reactions from consumers and at the same time having fun with each others. This is usually nothing we do and therefore, it was even more fun. I really recommends it to other companies ;)

New launch - be patient!

By the time the new innovation is launched in-store you and your colleagues have been aware of the product for (usually) over a year. So when it finally reaches the consumers it is not new for you, not at all. You know the product so well, why we picked that kind of packaging-material, why it contains exact that kind of ingredients, why the design has that color and so on, you know every part if!

That is the reason why it feels as years before you will find out how the new launch works in the market. The consumers must find it in-store, buy it, bring it home, eat it, maybe buy it again, and again. This takes time! Before you know for real how a new launch is doing, time must pass. I want to be patient, but in these cases I am not ;)

How to create new products - you are there from the very start!

The best thing with Orkla is that you as a brand manager are a part of the innovation process from the very start. You have to search the market, find out what kinds of products are already there, what the competitors have done and what do you expect them to do next. Moreover, you have to know the drivers of the category and of course the local preferences. When you have done the research you can start the next step. Create workshops with both internal and externals partners to find the most preferred taste, smell, figure and look. Of course, we cannot today know for sure what the “next big innovation” is but with research and workshops behind you the chance of success is bigger.

When you have sorted out the very many ideas that were there from start and you only have a few concepts left, it is time to try to create it in the real world, not in the factory but in the lab. If you find some of the cookies great you continue by letting consumers eat them. If the results are good you move on together with the project group to decide production type, packaging, design and communication.

It sounds easy but the entire process from start (research) to end (final product in-store) takes usually over one year. Along the way you will for sure have fun, realize that you have to be patient and learn a lot. I strongly recommend it!