Kraft Heinz, whose brands include Heinz and Philadelphia, is working to significantly increase the percentage of its marketing spend that is consumer-facing – from 65% to 85% of the total. Total spending currently stands at 4.5% of sales which CFO Andre Maciel believes is a sufficient level. \"Our main focus here will be on quality\", in other words, on the return on that investment,\" he told the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference. \"We have made progress to gain visibility on our most relevant brands,\" he said. \"However, we still have a compelling opportunity to optimize spend\" – hence the drive to increase the percentage of marketing spend that is consumer-facing. Kraft Heinz aims to close a 20 percentage point gap between best-in-class returns by optimizing allocation across branded media types and improving the quality of its messaging. CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera paid tribute to in-house agency, The Kitchen, which has been instrumental in enabling the business \"to market at the speed of culture\". Alongside that Kraft Heinz’s Brand Growth System \"provides a systematic and repeatable framework to drive brand superiority,\" said Abrams-Rivera. \"It ensures that creative excellence is a likely outcome, not a lucky one.\" Consumer-facing spend – advertising, sponsorship, in-store activation – is of course the most visible part of a brand’s marketing efforts and is expected to deliver tangible results. By increasing such spending, a brand will hope to drive additional sales, but the ideal ratio of consumer-facing spend to non-consumer-facing spend will vary depending on several factors, including the brand’s objectives, budget, and the specific channels being used. \"Our marketing success stems from building an ecosystem that fuels brand relevance and creative excellence: by bringing together the right internal talent and external partners, we are able to move at the right speed\" – Carlos Abrams-Rivera, CEO at Kraft Heinz.

Kraft Heinz Ramps Up Consumer-Facing Spend

Kraft Heinz, the food and beverage company with well-known brands such as Heinz and Philadelphia, is increasing its consumer-facing marketing spend from 65% to 85% of total marketing budget. The company currently allocates 4.5% of sales to marketing and aims to optimize spending by improving the quality of messaging and allocation across media channels. CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera highlights the role of its in-house agency, The Kitchen, and its Brand Growth System in driving creative excellence and brand relevance through internal talent and external partnerships.