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(Titles and employers of interviewees are those in effect at time of interview)
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Philip Donne
President
Campbell Company of Canada
Phil Donne, president of the Campbell Company of Canada, was named earlier this year one of the world's top marketers of 2003 by Advertising Age magazine.
The epitome of the old adage 'ask a busy person', Donne seems to balance a business, professional, volunteer and personal life with aplomb and is constantly looking at, if not for, new challenges.
Joining Campbell as president in June/02, Donne, 43, has been stirring up the pot since joining the food company from Cossette Communication-Marketing where he was Toronto president.
Campbell had a great image based on tradition when Donne moved in. "I felt an emerging enthusiasm as we set new objectives," Donne says. "There was energy and a willingness to drive forward."
With a reputation of liking to keep things somewhat unsettled and provoking staff with questions of "What if….?", he admits, "Such questions help everyone to learn, to find new opportunities, new things that can be owned. It makes coming to work more exciting and stimulating."
In an early move, Donne led a name change for Campbell, dropping the word 'Soup' in the Canadian company's name. While Campbell held more than 70% of Canada's wet soup market, and already had a strategic plan, Donne's aims from day one have been to stimulate the company to become more visible as a 'food' company rather than a 'soup' company, and to challenge its employees to work as a team to help discover new products, categories, and personal growth.
Another early move was the putting together of Campbell Canada Values that encourage such employee behavioural qualities as risk taking, curiosity, and the courage to step up to leadership roles, to help all pull together with the same objectives.
"Campbell had a strategic plan but not a strategic behaviour," Donne says. "We looked at the embedded values to see what could be added. We had a core team from public relations and human resources to sketch out the initial ideas, and then worked with a team of 100 people to clarify and finalize them. These Campbell Canada Values are now posted in common areas, in booklet and on wallet cards.
"You have to see them between five and eight times to learn them," says Donne. "People refer to them at business meetings. And we have a recognition program aligned with them."
Trilingual from European Postings
The son of post-World War II immigrants from the United Kingdom, Donne took a Science degree before his MBA. In addition to stints with General Mills, Duracell Canada and Coca-Cola Foods, he spent 15 years with Kellogg, including periods of posting in Italy and France where he made the effort to become trilingual through intensive courses and immersing himself in the local culture. His wife is Italian-Canadian and their two children, 15-year-old Matthew and 12-year-old Michele, study, respectively Spanish and French. The household also includes a Brittany basset called Tango, bought when the family lived in France.
"He was the last Tango in Paris," Donne jokes.
Despite a household that includes following the young people's diverse music and sporting interests (Donne used to coach his son's hockey team), and his current position as president of the Association of Canadian Advertisers, he still finds time to get to the gym four or five times a week, to run (he has done four marathons) and to follow rugby scores.
At Kellogg, where he held various management and marketing positions before being named president and CEO, he was on the fast track, known for his innovation and creativity. He launched a number of products, and focused especially on the level of nutrition. That interest on nutrition and wellness has carried over into Campbell where there is a current heavy focus on health, wellness and nourishment.
PR Allows Special Opportunities
Since moving to Campbell, Donne has set up an in-house public relations division headed by Jacki Nelson, director of corporate communication, whom he enticed from Kellogg, and with a current staff of three.
"A lot of products have lots of advantages that you can't do in a 60-second ad," says Donne. "PR allows you to talk to other areas 360 degrees. The PR group helps build visibility through individual efforts and in coordination with advertising agencies BBDO Canada, Young & Rubicam, OMD, and in-store promotion firm Accumark.
And with a vice-president and a director both moving to the U.S. to take on new assignments, Donne reorganized the marketing department, bringing in Randy Weyersberg, new vice-president marketing, from Nike.
Donne regularly joins OMD, Campbell's media agency, at meetings with Toronto and Montreal media where he personally imparts his vision for the company and leads brainstorming sessions in search of partnerships. Such media vendor talks bring about opportunities and challenges, he says.
The company spends an estimated $75 million in advertising, promotion and public relations. Advertising is a multi-media mix.
Solutions for the Time-Challenged
With today's consumer so time-challenged, Donne is interested in targeting products to specific consumer markets and timing advertising to reach them when they're making mealtime decisions and wanting meals that don't take a lot of preparation time.
To draw attention to Campbell products, Donne chose television for the Power2Cook, a series of two-minute cooking shows using Campbell products and targeting people ready to make a quick meal decision. The popular Power2Cook chef became so publicly recognized that Donne had business cards and autograph photos made for him. The Power2Cook program was supported by direct mail brochures, point-of-purchase and public appearances.
"With the proliferation of media, you have to create vehicles for TV that will get people talking about them," says Donne. "And rather than making a blanket buy, you want to reach people when they're ready to make a decision."
Campbell is now expanding the concept of the chef and his cooking show to in-store appearances.
Another example of reaching consumers at decision-making time is Campbell's TV buy on the Weather Network. For the past two winters, every time the weather went below -5? C, a short commercial reminded viewers that it's good weather for soup. Cold weather also triggered ads in the National Post and on radio.
The idea for the Power2Cook program came from the success of the Tasty Tuesday program by Campbell in the U.K.. And the product concept for new Gardinnay soups came out of Australia.
"We both innovate and 'steal with pride' ideas developed in other countries," Donne says.
Learning the Basics
Donne spends one day a month in a different department of the Campbell plant so as to learn the intricacies of each step of production from reception of fresh vegetables to distribution, and to encourage development of ideas for an expanding food portfolio.
"I love doing it," he says. "It gives me a full appreciation of how each member of the team works. You see the enthusiasm, the commitment, the stress. I've learned about making the fresh pasta noodles that go in our soups, how mushrooms come in every day, and how the labels go on cans. But more than that, I've been able to make a connection with folks. They give ideas and perspectives on better ways to do things, and new ways to get the Campbell name out."
Since his arrival, Campbell's product lineup has expanded to include Gardinnay soup, V-Go (a lighter seasoned beverage for the younger market) and V8 Splash, three varieties of Chunky Chili, flavour-blasted Goldfish crackers for tweens, and 25%-lower-salt broths in Tetra Paks. In the next four-to-eight weeks, two more products will be launched, one a totally Canadian innovation and the other another idea 'stolen with pride' from another country and adapted.
Keeping up with trends is an important part of the job, and since he and his family like to eat out at different restaurants and take short vacation trips, he gets inspiration from various people and places.
"I'm proud of how quickly we were able to get our Goldfish crackers without trans-fats on the market," he says.
Innovating to follow Campbell's emphasis on health and wellness as well as the culinary aspect also keeps him constantly busy with new developments. For example, labels are currently being changed to put the vitamin content up front on soups.
Charitable Efforts Linked to Campbell Values
Under Donne, Campbell has streamlined its charitable efforts, focusing mainly on hunger and children, to align them more with Campbell's interests, values and Campbell Kids icons. Donne himself chairs a favorite: Kids' Help Phone. Campbell staff help with the logistics of the Canadian Association of Food Banks, and with the United Way drive. The company also sent products for the firefighters during last year's fires in British Columbia.
"Campbell is on a tremendous track with new categories and new techniques," says Donne. "It's our time to do great things and be a leader in bringing together health, wellness and nourishment. We want to have a legacy of values."
For his own future, he has no concerns.
"I like being in an environment where the aim in to win, and to work with people who want to win. I'm not worried about the future or the next move. The focus is on 'now'."
(April 6/04)
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Copyright (c) 2004 Rice Wine Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Articles may be referenced but proper credit must be given to PubZone(tm) as the source. Any other use of this material requires the written consent of the publisher.
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