An Interview with Ramiro Davila, Pepsico South Division
Guest
Ramiro Davila is the Senior Manager of Consumer Insights over Pepsi’s South Division.
Transcript
Felicia: Hello and Welcome to our Leadership Strategy Series. I am Felicia Rogers with Decision Analyst, a strategic research and insights firm and I’m here today with Ramiro Davila, who is the Senior Manager of Consumer Insights over Pepsi’s South Division. So, Ramiro, I’m so glad to be with you today, it’s always good to see you and always good to chat with you. How are you doing?
Ramiro: Thank you. Felicia, I’m really happy to be able to talk to you today.
Felicia: You know speaking of your role at Pepsico and over the South Division now, when you think about some of the things that have changed recently, let’s just jump right into the situation we’re in now with the pandemic with COVID-19, are there things that you’ve seen, even in your time over the South Division that you think are going to last, what are some of those changes that you see going on in [the] industry, that may be long term?
Ramiro: Yeah, Felicia, so I think that COVID really came to changed the way we actually do business and the way we approach life, right. Very humbling experience, I think, nobody was really prepared [for] something like this. And with COVID came a lot of changes in consumer behavior. So, we’ve done extensive research at Pepsico to actually see where the consumer and the consumer behavior is going to, and how the new world is going to be looking. So, I would say that when you think about the consumer, there are going to be some trends that I am sure are here, and they are here to last for a long, long time, because with the pandemic, we don’t really know when it’s going to be over. So, there are a couple of things that are happening that I think that are going to stay here, and came to really reshape the way we are thinking about our business what are the categories that are going to be growing in the long run, and also telling us how we need to be managing the short term versus the long term.
So, a couple of changes in the behavior are; one, the increasing need for energy, for example, I mean if you think about us a working at home, if people are really working for longer hours, so there’s this big need for beverages that can get us through the day, through the working day. We are struggling with so many things happening now in the house. So, the importance of energy drinks, I was talking the other day about the sport drinks, that they need for sport drinks because people are realizing that it’s important for me, for us to be active. So those are categories that we know are going to be growing fast and that we need to be thinking about right.
Another trend that we are seeing is this need for indulgence, I mean and if you, I think that we can all relate to something like this; we’ve been distressed, we’ve been anxious, and we really need something that can help us bring some smiles into our daily life. So, we are we are consuming more and more snacks, beverages that can really help us indulge, help us relax.
Felicia: And you mentioned also having been a part of some wonderful new brands like Bubly, which leads me to think even more about innovation, and you’ve talked some about what the pandemic has spurred thus far, are there other areas that you feel your company or the industry as a whole may be impacted in terms of need for innovation, and maybe even longer term as you look out into the future?
Ramiro: Absolutely, I think that everything that is related with health and wellness, so if you think about the low- and mid-calorie beverages, I think that we will see a revamp on those. All the new Zero, the Zero offerings in pretty much every single category, I think that we need to expect them to keep growing.
But it’s not only about products, when you think about health and wellness, I think that we need to start also considering the way we come to life at point of sale. It’s like, how can we ensure that our products are safe to consume when we are talking about, when we are talking to our consumers? So, think about food service, right, think about food service, and when we sell beverages to our consumers, how can we ensure that our beverages that go through the fountain are safe for them to consume and that they know that? So, I think that those are areas in innovation that we can, we should be thinking of. Another area that I think opens opportunity for innovation it’s this idea of being affordable, right, because COVID has not only come here to impact our health. But when you think about the impact it has on the economy, and the need for consumers to save money, I mean a lot of people have lost their jobs, I think that opens an opportunity for us to start thinking about new packaging that offer higher values, a higher value to the consumer, maybe smaller packages. When you think about not only smaller packages but also when you think about promotions and programs there’s opportunity for us to innovate and start you know being more creative in the way we come to market for the consumer.
Felicia: That’s such an excellent point because a lot of times when we think about innovation we’re very product focused but to your point innovation needs to happen in terms of package design, in terms of promotions, in terms of other types of services, or maybe we’re even thinking digital, are there apps that people might be able to use, for example, so many opportunities are out there it’s good to hear you talking about some of these things that even go beyond product.
So, if I can shift gears just a little bit one of the things that so many companies have faced during this time has been the impact on the labor force and that’s been painful and it’s been rough in a lot of organizations. Can you share some of the biggest challenges or concern points, whether it’s labor force, or other things, what are some of those big challenges that you see for your industry, and for Pepsico as you look into the future?
Ramiro: Yeah, so what I what I need to say is that you know, Pepsi has done a really, really good job about taking care of us, of the employees because not only providing us with tools to work from home, the ones that were fortunate enough to work from home, but also to our front line, right our front line people, the ones that are working in the plants, and also the people who are going to the stores, making sure that they are safe, providing all the protective equipment. So, Pepsi has done a really great job on that, and also ensuring that there’s work and stability in our company.
In the future, I think that if the economy doesn’t really come back as fast as we think it should come back we will start thinking a, we will start seeing more and more companies restructuring or probably downsizing and that’s kind of the fear pretty much for everyone. In terms of businesses, I think that the pandemic has really affected heavily, the away from home business, so when you think about the restaurants, a lot of them have closed, so that has been kind of a big impact for the industry, but away from home is not only restaurants. Away from home, it’s movie theaters, it’s entertainment it’s traveling, it’s even colleges, universities, and schools. So, those are people that have been suffering, we have been suffering a lot. So, I think that you know the sooner we get back to work, the sooner that the economy recovers, I think we were all going to be better off.
Felicia: Is there any new focus on something strategic for Pepsico, or for the industry? How might those strategies change going forward with what we might expect to be less eating and drinking away from home in the future?
Ramiro: Well, I think that there’s opportunity for us to really help breed these businesses revamp, I think that e-commerce and not only e-commerce for retail, but also the way we use partnerships with Uber Eats, we’re with DoorDash that can help the restaurants to come to life again, I mean because what we’ve seen, is that online ordering for restaurants have been growing, going up, curbside pickup and those kind of solutions are kind of becoming the norm for restaurants. So, I think that as part of our strategy, is how can we help our partners to succeed in those areas and in those new ways of doing business?
Felicia: That’s great. So, as we think about again these types of changes that we’ve all experienced, what are some things that you might be looking at going forward, some people are saying that our overall values are changing, for example, as a society and in relation to what’s been happening with COVID, What is your sense of the types of changes we might see in society in terms of how consumers behave? How we relate to each other? And how might that impact your industry?
Ramiro: Absolutely, what I can tell you about that, is that consumers are expecting more and more from for brands. I think that consumers are expecting brands to do the right thing, to have kind of a social purpose. And it’s not only about a doing business, it’s about doing business the right way, with the right values. So, I think that we will start seeing more, and more brands succeeding or there will be more demand for brands with a social purpose, but also there will be some push from consumers for brands to stand for the right thing, because if you think about the past [few] months, it’s not only COVID that has been front and center, it’s been also some of these racial tensions right. So, at the end of the day, I think that the consumer is expecting brands to stand for what is right. Than in terms of value and expectations for brands to be a little bit more involved with what’s happening.
On that venue, I think that we’ve been successful in creating programs that do exactly that. So in the South Division, for example, there’s a program that we created, that it’s called “Stronger Together,” and at the beginning it started with the idea of helping, or celebrating and helping the front line heroes, the way we call the people at the front line, and nurses, doctors, people in police, people who have been in the front lines helping with COVID. But then we are expanding that, we are expanding that to the future not only helping people with COVID, but also here in Florida, and in the south every year we are impacted by hurricanes.
So, what are the things that we can be doing to help the communities, that are suffering? Racial tensions, we had a big program to help African Americans, to support African-Americans, not only the whole community but being more concrete. How can we help the African-American business owners? Restaurants? And stuff like that. So, I think that Pepsi has been successful but that the work just started.
Felicia: That’s really great and you’re so right about that, that consumers more and more do seem to be not only interested in but almost demanding, or certainly seeking after brands that align with their beliefs, and it’s wonderful to hear about this program Pepsico, did you call it “Better Together”?
Ramiro: “Stronger Together.”
Felicia: “Stronger Together.” Yeah, I love that. So, as you think about your leadership in the insights industry and I certainly consider you a leader, what are some areas that you might share, or some tips or advice you might share to other consumer insights and strategy leaders, brand planners as they take their next steps, or as they look ahead to the future in terms of leading their organizations?
Ramiro: Yeah, I think that what I would say is we really need to be pushing for the consumer, I mean we really need to make sure that our whole organization stays closer to the consumer, and sometimes it’s not easy. We really need to be brave and represent the consumer internally, because I think that our roles is not only about just delivering project after project but I think that the challenge is how can we make our company come closer to the consumer in every single thing that we do. So, we’ve been doing a lot of things to build that empathy with the consumer, developing that the gut the feeling for our senior leaders to even make the decision without the data, but because they have been so close to the consumer through the journey they kind of know now, I mean what feels right, and what we think it will resonate with the consumer.
So, I think it’s really for us as consumer insights people and leaders, is push to have the consumer voice always front and center of what we do, and it’s easier to say than do, but I think that we really need to really to keep hammering in and make sure that every program, every innovation has the consumer lens, because at the end of the day it’s going to pay off in terms of business.
Felicia: Absolutely, I mean that’s what we’re all about, is trying to help our brands and our organizations understand the consumer better because we’re here to please the consumer. Ramiro, thank you so much for your time today. I want to go ahead and wrap it up at that, and it’s always a pleasure to talk with you and spend some time together and i just so appreciate that you’ve shared your experience, and your knowledge, and your wisdom with all of us today.
Ramiro: So, I just want to say thank you so much. Thank you Felicia, it is great to see you and to talk to you.
Interviewer
Felicia Rogers
Executive Vice President
Felicia Rogers is a dynamic insights consultant who leverages decades of business and consumer research experience. During her career, she has partnered with companies across an array of categories. Felicia began her career in print advertising and has since spent most of her professional life in various consumer insights roles at Decision Analyst. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing, from the University of North Texas.
