My Best Marketing Tips #11: Costa Coffee / Sandra Ferreira / Global Head of Coffee Innovation
Costa Coffee’s Sandra Ferreira may be the Global Head of Coffee Innovation, but she started not knowing much about coffee itself or the retail sector. Moving across from an illustrious career in FMCG with Unilever and Mondelez, Sandra was dropped in at the deep end and used it as an opportunity to learn and lead by example.
Admitting that no one can be an expert at everything is a big part of being a leader, in marketing and beyond, as Sandra shares with us below. She’s also a big proponent of having marketers drive the inclusion agenda, taking responsibility for the influence that advertising plays in driving consumers’ choices, but also framing conversations around stereotypes.
What would be your best marketing tip?
You don’t have to know the answer, just go and find it.
Most people think that especially senior figures must be experts at what they do and know all the answers. But, actually, no one is in that situation. My Portuguese heritage taught me to always find a way, and I believe you can just go out and fact find and get things done, without being an expert.
How have you put this marketing tip to good use?
When I started at Costa, I was coming from an FMCG background and I knew nothing about retail, and nothing about coffee, other than that I enjoyed drinking it!
But one of the first questions I got asked was: “How can we improve our coffee consistency?” Now, I didn’t even know where to start, but I relished the challenge and realised it didn’t matter that I knew nothing about coffee making, it was an opportunity to learn. It’s how I came up with a formula I’ve used over and over again: you take a big “hairy” question and you break it down into sub-questions that help you target specific answers, then build up again.
With this coffee question, I spoke to lots of people and ended up with a great network very quickly in a new business. I also generated a lot of data from consumer research, store managers, our mystery shopper team. It helped me do a lot of myth-busting, too.
What marketing tips does the industry need most right now?
I don’t think we all fully realise how much influence we have on societal assumptions and reinforcing or destroying stereotypes. From the language we use in advertising, to package design, to everything we do in marketing that consumers come in contact with. Brands – especially on the client side – need to be more aware of their impact on society and work to drive inclusion better.
What is the marketing tip you give most often?
I am always saying: “You’re not the consumer. It doesn’t matter if you like it.”
This is crucial for marketers. People instinctively put their opinions on marketing, but they’re not the target audience. For example, the typical consumer for Costa Coffee isn’t a hipster with extensive knowledge of coffee roasting – it’s a regular person who just wants a great, consistent cup of coffee from a barista they know and like. You should always put yourself in the consumer’s shoes.
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