profiles Chris Burggraeve chief marketing officer, Anheuser-Busch InBev ■ WFA EXCLUSIVE
Industry Honing a collective consciousness
WRITER Pip Brooking
PHOTOGRAPHER Dann Cortier
» TOPIC’
All too often marketers operate in a silo, wary of sharing too many of their marketing experiences, but they can’t afford to be so inward-looking anymore. They need to learn how to tackle the global issues troubling marketing today, how to justify and make credible their advertising claims, and how to survive the real threat of regulations
“No-one of us knows as much as all of us.” Anheuser-Busch InBev’s chief marketing officer Chris Burggraeve’s statement can be difficult for many marketers to swallow as they choke on their egos, but here is one person who cares about what’s outside his own P&L. The newly-elected president of the
World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) is betting on the fact that others do too. Membership of the
sustainability. Good marketers have to take responsibility for dealing with this, and in turn the WFA has a track record in dealing with the regulators. “Brands need to earn their licence
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WFA grew last year by 20%, simply because the recession forced people to accept their own limits and raised awareness that there are issues beyond their immediate control. These include the now daily business imperatives of effectiveness and efficiency, together with how to embrace new technologies, integrate new communication channels and how to reach new markets. Competition often rules against too much collaboration but sharing experiences here, rather than it being a case of every man for himself, clearly has its advantages. But Burggraeve places even greater emphasis on the expanding role of the marketer as the discipline comes under attack from rising interest in societal issues, be they obesity, alcohol abuse or
BURGGRAEVE: CAREER HISTORY.
1988 With a Masters in European Economics and a TRIUM Global MBA, starts career in consulting and technology in the US
38 M&M Q2 2010 1990
Joins Procter & Gamble in Belgium where he assumes responsibility for brand management and innovation
1995
Begins 12-year career with The Coca-Cola Company, latterly as group marketing director for the European Union Group
November 2007 Appointed chief marketing officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s leading brewer
“I want all my marketers to be
street smart and act as if it’s their own money they are spending”
to operate,” says Burggraeve. “How marketers operate in society is too important an issue to ignore.” It’s something he knows about all too well, having spent time at Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, where the obesity debate has raged. Now he is at the world’s largest beer company, which has shot into the limelight following the merger of its constituent parts over the past 18 months. But as the new figurehead for the WFA, he warns that
consumers’ issues are not just a
concern for tobacco, FMCG or booze companies. The ‘don’t text and drive’ message has fallen squarely in the laps of the telcos; while cosmetic companies now have to justify their health claims.
EARNING CONSUMER CREDIBILITY “It is time to wake up. Beyond effectiveness and efficiency, how brands nurture their licence to operate is of prime importance,” Burggraeve says. Taking his own brand as an example, AB-InBev has gone from aspiring to be
“the best beer company in the world” to being “the best beer company in a better world” since the merger. “That one word has made a significant difference internally,” he explains. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to be tree huggers or saving the whales. That’s not credible with the consumer. If it is relevant for the business, it is sustainable.” For the beer giant then, issues of
responsible drinking, the environment (in terms of saving water, energy and so on), and connecting back with local communities are on the agenda. “Companies can’t be defensive,”
Burggraeve explains. “They need to shift from seeing it as a ‘PR problem’ to a business opportunity. They can’t see it as a ‘UK problem’ or a Western world problem either. Today it is a global discussion.” He continues: “The Chinese are the best marketers in the world as they constantly seek out best practice examples. At AB- InBev we have had to put things in place that we might have only thought we needed in 20 years.” The importance
of having a neutral voice that can fairly represent
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