The three brand managers aged up to 40 take care of brands such as Coca-Cola, Fanta, Cappy and Dorna, which are part of extremely competitive categories, such as carbonated drinks, natural juice and water.
Nicoleta Eftimiu, 35, has been working for Coca-Cola since 2003 and is in
charge of the carbonated drinks portfolio, which includes brands such as Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Schweppes. The category where it competes with PepsiCo peaked in 2009, while this year, amid the crisis, it reached 2005-2006 levels, according to her estimates.
Natalia Stroe, 36, manages non-carbonated drink brands Nestea, Cappy, Illyssimo in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and her role is to create marketing plans for these brands. This is a market that pursued the same trend as purchasing power, i.e. it fell.
In terms of the market progression, the luckiest one is Dana Ichim, 39, who manages the water portfolio. She expects the category to grow next year.
By presenting the brand managers of Coca-Cola Company, ZF continues its article series about the managers in charge of brands (in the fast moving consumer goods industry), who are the engines of any business.
Coca-Cola Company, which holds the soft drinks brands and the concentrated juice brands, where the three brand managers work, is one of the divisions of Coca Cola, which also includes bottler Coca-Cola HBC Romania. The drinks are bottled in three plants – in Ploiesti, Timisoara and Vatra Dornei. Product launches and marketing campaigns are coordinated by mixed teams.
According to Trade Registry data, Coca-Cola Romania SRL last year had a turnover of 51.4 million lei (EUR12.2 million). The bottler’s turnover amounted to RON1.74 billion (EUR414 million) last year.
“In 2012 we expect consumption to stabilize. It’s difficult to make a precise estimate because there is still December, which is very important both for our category and for other categories,” says Eftimiu.
Stroe also expects good news about the trend of her segment in 2012. The non-carbonated drinks she manages are divided into three subcategories: natural juice, ice tea and iced coffee. The segment declined during the crisis and consumption is one of the lowest in Europe. Natural juice consumption is four times lower than in Austria and ice tea consumption is two times and a half lower than in Switzerland.
“Iced coffee is a niche segment, a very interesting one for consumers who adopt novelties. It seems like a small segment, but it is one we believe in,” she says about the third niche she is in charge of.
Dana Ichim, Group Brand Manager Waters Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Malta, is even more optimistic. The company’s water brands are Dorna, Dorna Izvorul Alb and Poiana Negri.
“The category of bottled natural mineral waters has had a constantly positive evolution over the past few years. Bottled mineral waters are one of the most dynamic categories which, until 2009, saw a significant rise. It is worth mentioning that in the past two years this growth rate diminished, but the category continues its expansion,” she says.
This is the first time that Coca-Cola’s brand managers agreed to discuss with the press the way they see the evolution of consumption, as well as that of the market, which is estimated by ZF at EUR1.8-2.3 billion per year. (EUR1=RON4.2)
(English version by Daniela Stoican)