Back in 2018, The J.M. Smucker Company reimagined its entire marketing model, realigning internal teams around its major business units and consolidating the work of a dozen agencies under one. The “Power of One” model looked to streamline creative, data and media functions, bringing its $580 million account to a bespoke Publicis Groupe unit called PSOne.
In the years since, Smucker — like other major advertisers — has needed to navigate the pandemic, a number of operational challenges and evolving consumer behaviors, and — like other consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers — has needed to modernize legacy brands for a latest generation of shoppers.
When Smucker began on its latest marketing journey, lower than of 1 / 4 of its brands were growing or maintaining share, a percentage that now stands near 86%, by volume — surpassing a two-third benchmark, in line with Smucker CMO Gail Hollander. The company saw net sales rise 6% during Q3 of its 2024 fiscal yr, led by volume and sales mix growth by brands including Meow Mix and Cafe Bustelo.
The executive has seen the turnaround from each the brand and agency side. Before joining the corporate as chief marketer in 2023, she ran the Smucker business for Publicis as client lead, giving her a singular perspective about boost CPG brands.
J.M. Smucker CMO Gail Hollander
Courtesy of The J.M. Smucker Company
“We got here in six years ago when there have been 11 different iconic brands, but they were dusty,” Hollander said. “Fueling brands with modern energy is what helps you maintain relevance over time, and that’s what the JMS marketing model is actually about… we fuel these iconic brands with modern energy by considering about the brand’s DNA and by uncovering an enormous brand platform idea, and people ideas tap into culture in unique and ongoing ways.”
Building brand platforms
Among those “dusty” brands were Jif, Folgers, Meow Mix and J.M. Smucker itself: the marketer was a part of the primary wave of pandemic rebrands, setting aside its familiar strawberries, leaves and countrified typeface for a sleek, modern look that higher spoke to the corporate’s portfolio, expertise and appeal.
For Smucker’s own brands, there are three core parts to rebranding or rethinking a brand’s place on the fashionable landscape: understanding the brand’s truth and DNA, the buyer truth and what they’re in search of within the category and what role the brand plays in culture.
“If you place all those in a bucket and also you mix it up, that helps you get to a brand viewpoint,” Hollander explained. “That is the inspiration for every little thing that we do. That allows that brand to not only be relevant today, but stand the test of time.”
Jif was one among the primary Smucker brands to be reimagined under the brand new framework. A “That Jif’ing Good” platform launched in 2019 has shifted the brand away from what choosy mothers decide to campaigns tapping into hip-hop and web culture. Similarly, Folgers had to unravel for a foul repute problem as millennials entered the market.
In the case of Milk-Bone, the dog treats brand has been oriented around fostering a real, authentic relationship between pets and pet parents at a time when culture is inundated by social media-induced superficiality. For Meow Mix, Smucker keyed in on its iconic jingle and connection to music for a boy band-focused nostalgia trip. Brand platforms function “broad shoulders” for news and innovation, but in addition are built to last, Hollander said.
“Six years ago, no person was talking about those brands, and now they’re healthy, they’re growing, we’re attracting younger audiences,” the chief said. “That is all because we’re dedicated to the art and science of promoting communications.”
Lessons for CMOs — and the C-suite
The role of the chief marketing officer continues to evolve, with CMOs facing short tenures and grappling with “murkiness” over who’s chargeable for what within the C-suite. In the company landscape, particularly with public firms like Smucker, investors expect brands to deliver on short-term business goals that sometimes run counter to the priorities of the marketing organization. For Hollander, integral to the CMO role is the necessity to get the complete organization to purchase into the importance of long-term brand constructing.
“It’s easy to default to marketing as a cost-center mentality, and when budgets are tight, those media investments are a very big number on your P&L,” Hollander said. “But creativity has an outsize impact on the business.”
Hollander works closely with President and CEO Mark Smucker, COO John Brase and head of sales Robert Crane, executives that imagine in the facility of promoting and communications, she said. Demonstrating the results of promoting throughout the organization requires reminding folks that marketing is about the “art of the ‘and’:” a mixture of each breakthrough creative and data-driven insights.
“There are fundamental principles that may drive your small business, and you’ll be able to’t forget about them, but you then need the dollop of magic which is all of the creativity,” she said.
Data is the “backbone” for every little thing Smucker does, from insight-driven strategies and the creation of consumer targets that could be scaled through lookalikes powered by Publicis Groupe’s Epsilon division — a process that’s continuously being tweaked to sharpen media spends and their outcomes.
“You’re squeezing probably the most out of each penny that you just put on the market. It’s started working as hard because it possibly can,” Hollander said.
“When budgets are tight, those media investments are a very big number on your P&L, but creativity has an outsize impact on the business.”
Gail Hollander
CMO, J.M. Smucker
Nearly six years on from the launch of the “Power of One” marketing realignment, the Smucker-Publicis relationship in the shape of PSOne is “alive and well,” Hollander said. Before the shift, Smucker’s marketing work was linear and siloed, increasing complexity and reducing efficiency.
“What’s really unusual about the connection between Publicis and Smucker is we built this together,” the chief explained. “We built the notion of integrated teams that did not have any silos, that had all of the connective tissue. Whether it’s from media or data or social, it just doesn’t matter. You do not know where one group begins after which the opposite one ends.”
The integrated approach allows data, creative and media to work hand-in-hand. It also requires the agency to not only provide creative uses of ads and media, but have a business-focused mindset that helps Smuckers achieve short-term and long-term goals.
“You need that integrated considering, and you would like that partnership to deliver business today and brand health for tomorrow,” she said.
Read the total article here
