Welcome to a different particular episode of the Advertising Vanguard podcast. In the present day, host Jenny Rooney speaks with Todd Kaplan, who lately joined Kraft Heinz as CMO after a 17-year profession at PepsiCo.
On this episode, recorded at Brandweek 2024 in Phoenix, Kaplan shares his insights on the facility of promoting, calculated risk-taking, and the steadiness between creativity and enterprise targets.
“We have to discover that candy spot between creativity and enterprise targets,” Kaplan says on the podcast. “It’s not about selecting one over the opposite. We will pursue excessive ROI initiatives whereas additionally being culturally related and progressive. Balancing these elements is essential to profitable advertising at the moment.”
Because the newly appointed CMO of Kraft Heinz North America, Kaplan leads a $22 billion portfolio of iconic manufacturers whereas driving innovation by way of partnerships with plant-based startup NotCo and condiment maker Simply Spices.
Acknowledged by Forbes and Enterprise Insider as a prime CMO, Kaplan is a disruptive innovator and strategic risk-taker, obsessed with tradition and creativity. A proud husband and pa, he’s additionally a Lakers fan and sneakerhead.
Key takeaways:
05:44 The Steadiness of ROI and Creativity in Advertising — Kaplan emphasizes entrepreneurs’ have to embrace high-ROI initiatives and interesting, inventive content material. He argues towards the notion that manufacturers should select between “boring” business-focused methods and “cool” inventive efforts. Entrepreneurs can successfully combine each approaches into their yearly plans by understanding model id and shopper wants. This steadiness drives cultural fairness, pricing energy, and differentiation, finally benefiting the enterprise whereas satisfying the CFO’s objectives.
10:50 The Significance of Model Constructing in Advertising — Kaplan explains that advertising encompasses artwork and science, with measurable metrics typically overshadowing model constructing. He highlights the excellence between model constructing and product advertising, noting that the previous is a long-term technique targeted on establishing core model fairness and differentiation. Profitable model constructing fosters deeper connections and drives pricing energy, resulting in sustainable development. In distinction, short-term techniques like discounting could yield quick gross sales however finally create a cycle of diminishing returns. Prioritizing model fairness over fast wins ensures lasting success.
