Ski pledges slick innovation in its fightback. Helen Gregory reports
The boss of Nestlé's chilled dairy division is blunt in his assessment of the once-popular Ski yogurt brand. "It was seen as old-fashioned, having zero innovation and suffering from a lack of investment. It had been left behind in a very aggressive and fast-moving market."
But one revamp later, and Greg Krol is confident that the former family favourite will once again grace fridges across the country. "We have now reinvented Ski and we're here to tell consumers that it is going to deliver."
Nestlé Dairy Chilled, which bought Ski, together with kids' dairy dessert Munch Bunch, from Eden Vale last April, aims to push the company's presence in the chiller cabinet with improvements and a dynamic marketing programme.
And the Croydon-based firm is banking on bigger success than its previous owner which, 18 months ago, unveiled similar rejuvenation plans for Ski, including improved recipes, new packaging and £4m of marketing support. At the time, Eden Vale's marketing manager Ian Mackenzie declared: "We want Ski to be to yogurt what Heinz is to beans."
The sentiment is still there and Krol's team is banking on British consumers' affection for the brand to help regain ground lost to Müller.
Ski slipped when the German manufacturer appeared in the early 1990s, after dominating the market for more than 20 years. Now at number two with annual value sales of £57m, the 40-year-old brand is still "far away" from Müller's £310m [52 w/e Oct 02, Information Resources] but it has the rival in its sights.
Turnover for the brand is set to top £65m this year and Krol understands Ski needs to deliver growth within the first six months of launch.He says: "We believe we can achieve double-digit growth for the value of the product. Growth in market share will happen." He hopes its success will increase consumption in the market overall, rather than take share from competitors.But he admits: "It's my dream to replace Müller, but it's been strong for years this isn't short-term." Nestlé has given Ski a complete overhaul including new recipes stripped down to the bare ingredients and packaging, while keeping the brand values. In a bid to simplify its range, it now has three yogurt varieties: Ski, a standard low fat product for families; Ski D'Lite, a 0.2% fat yogurt; and Ski Delicious, a more indulgent product.
UK consumers may like the category, but yogurt is nowhere near as popular here as in other European countries such as France, where consumers get through 20.9kg of yogurt each a year, compared with a measly 6.3kg in the UK. But Krol is convinced our habits will change as healthy eating grows. And he's well placed to understand the market: formerly unit general manager at Nestlé, he has been md of Nestlé Poland's chilled dairy division, and ran Danone's chilled dairy in Austria.
Krol promises to be consistent and innovative with Ski and first evidence of this is a new fromage frais, but more interestingly, a different marketing approach. A nationwide TV campaign kicks off next month with support for all three varieties throughout the year. Strong point of sale material is promised along with widespread sampling.
But what Krol promises as a "multi-dimensional approach" should really make shoppers take notice specifically, advertising on fruit and milk cartons because milk and fruit buyers are potential yogurt buyers. Manufacturers and multiple retailers have received Nestlé's plans positively and either extra shelf space or more listings for NPDs has been allocated.
The aim is to make Nestlé a challenger in the chilled dairy category. Krol says: "We want to be the clear number two and our acquisition of the Ski and Munch Bunch brands are pivotal to that success."
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The boss of Nestlé's chilled dairy division is blunt in his assessment of the once-popular Ski yogurt brand. "It was seen as old-fashioned, having zero innovation and suffering from a lack of investment. It had been left behind in a very aggressive and fast-moving market."
But one revamp later, and Greg Krol is confident that the former family favourite will once again grace fridges across the country. "We have now reinvented Ski and we're here to tell consumers that it is going to deliver."
Nestlé Dairy Chilled, which bought Ski, together with kids' dairy dessert Munch Bunch, from Eden Vale last April, aims to push the company's presence in the chiller cabinet with improvements and a dynamic marketing programme.
And the Croydon-based firm is banking on bigger success than its previous owner which, 18 months ago, unveiled similar rejuvenation plans for Ski, including improved recipes, new packaging and £4m of marketing support. At the time, Eden Vale's marketing manager Ian Mackenzie declared: "We want Ski to be to yogurt what Heinz is to beans."
The sentiment is still there and Krol's team is banking on British consumers' affection for the brand to help regain ground lost to Müller.
Ski slipped when the German manufacturer appeared in the early 1990s, after dominating the market for more than 20 years. Now at number two with annual value sales of £57m, the 40-year-old brand is still "far away" from Müller's £310m [52 w/e Oct 02, Information Resources] but it has the rival in its sights.
Turnover for the brand is set to top £65m this year and Krol understands Ski needs to deliver growth within the first six months of launch.He says: "We believe we can achieve double-digit growth for the value of the product. Growth in market share will happen." He hopes its success will increase consumption in the market overall, rather than take share from competitors.But he admits: "It's my dream to replace Müller, but it's been strong for years this isn't short-term." Nestlé has given Ski a complete overhaul including new recipes stripped down to the bare ingredients and packaging, while keeping the brand values. In a bid to simplify its range, it now has three yogurt varieties: Ski, a standard low fat product for families; Ski D'Lite, a 0.2% fat yogurt; and Ski Delicious, a more indulgent product.
UK consumers may like the category, but yogurt is nowhere near as popular here as in other European countries such as France, where consumers get through 20.9kg of yogurt each a year, compared with a measly 6.3kg in the UK. But Krol is convinced our habits will change as healthy eating grows. And he's well placed to understand the market: formerly unit general manager at Nestlé, he has been md of Nestlé Poland's chilled dairy division, and ran Danone's chilled dairy in Austria.
Krol promises to be consistent and innovative with Ski and first evidence of this is a new fromage frais, but more interestingly, a different marketing approach. A nationwide TV campaign kicks off next month with support for all three varieties throughout the year. Strong point of sale material is promised along with widespread sampling.
But what Krol promises as a "multi-dimensional approach" should really make shoppers take notice specifically, advertising on fruit and milk cartons because milk and fruit buyers are potential yogurt buyers. Manufacturers and multiple retailers have received Nestlé's plans positively and either extra shelf space or more listings for NPDs has been allocated.
The aim is to make Nestlé a challenger in the chilled dairy category. Krol says: "We want to be the clear number two and our acquisition of the Ski and Munch Bunch brands are pivotal to that success."
{{ANALYSIS }}
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