Nestle is one of the largest food and nutrition companies around the world. It is always offering its consumers quality products that are also healthy at the same time. Their chocolate product kitkat is one of the best sellers throughout the world. An article from the BBC news website tells us that kitkat is the best selling chocolate biscuit in the UK (). The website also tells us how about how the brand is going fair trade. This shows us that Nestle and kitkat are not only the best selling biscuit in the UK, but they are also a brand that cares about the environment. Getting the picture across that the brand is a very caring brand.
They are seen by many as a brand who offer many foods and drink products. In many places throughout the world such as here in the U.K they are seen as a company who provide mainly confectionary products such as chocolates and sweets. To me when I see the Nestle brand or the Nestle logo, we instantly think of a company that makes chocolates and sweet products.
Ideal identity – Nestle would like to be viewed as the number one company for food and nutrition Due to the global economic crisis throughout the world many businesses have seen there sales figures go down. Nestle is hoping that through their intensive research and development they can produce new innovative products, giving their consumers exactly what they want and need. Nestle feel that the notion of trust is vital, therefore trust is a central part of their thinking, and be it trust with their consumers, suppliers or business partners. We can see that gaining trust is a key goal for Nestle, as in the company annual report, a letter from the chairman, the chairman says
“We said in 2009 that we thought the notion of trust was central to the crisis. Trust, therefore, is central also to the recovery: between business partners, between legislators and industry, and between companies and the consumers of their products”
From this quote in the annual report we can see how important it is to both the chairman and the company. As they feel that if they can gain trust, then it may help the company overcome the difficult time they are facing. This difficult time is because of the global recession and it is incurred to not only Nestle but also other companies throughout the world. So building trust will help them to overcome this difficult time.
. One of the key goals Nestle are targeting is that through their various programmes throughout the world they are seen as a brand that has reshaped the world. In their annual report the chairman tells us that due to such elements as the global recession Nestle feel they have not been able to fully fulfil this goal. Therefore Nestle must keep working to make sure they can keep striving to make the world a better place.
The company has also install ten main business principles that they feel will help them change the world, these can be seen on their website, these principles are as follows:-
1 – Nutrition, health and wellness – the main aim of this is to enhance their consumers well being by offering them healthier and tastier food options.
2 – Quality assurance and product safety – a promise to the consumers that the product will be safe and of a high standard.
3 – Consumer communication – communicating with their customers so customers can say what they want and need.
4 – Human rights in Business activities – supporting human rights campaigns all over the world.
5 – Leadership and Personal Responsibility – the company treats all employees equally and promote personal responsibility.
6 – Safety and health at work – To prevent accidents and injuries at the work place safety measures are put into place.
7- Supplier and customer relations – the company ensure that all their suppliers are trustworthy and honest. The company also is committed to their customers in the same way.
8 – Agriculture and rural development – they help agricultural development in many countries allowing countries to better themselves both economically and environmentally.
9 – Environmental sustainability - The Company is committed to being environmentally friendly, they strive to use as many environmentally friendly products as possible and target zero waste
10 – Water – their water management programme recognizes that there is a problem throughout the world of water shortage and therefore the water used by the company is managed efficiently.
These ten principles allow Nestle to protect the trust of both the stakeholders and consumers of Nestle and help them to achieve their objective which is, to be the recognised leader in Nutrition, Health and wellness and the industry reference for financial performance. Having these ten principles in place Nestle feel this will ultimately help them achieve one of their key goals. This key goal is to help reshape the world and to make the world a better place to live in for people throughout the world.
Nestle would like to be seen not only as a company who make quality food and drinks products, the image we feel they presently have. They would like to be seen as a company who also cares about the world and the people living in it. They would like to be seen as a company who are helpful whenever people are in need or there is a disaster in a part of the world. And ultimately they would like to be seen as a company who are always working hard to help reshape the world so it is a better place to live in for all.
Desired Identity – In the Nestle annual report there is a letter addressed to shareholders from the chairman, in this letter it says that Nestle wants to change the world; they want to shape a world that is more sustainable and stable as this would ultimately make the world more prosperous for everyone. Due to the economic recession they have not been able to fully do this, as they feel consumer confidence needs to be returned. Therefore one derisible for Nestle would be return consumer confidence in them so the can get back on track of their target of reshaping the world.
The Present Identity
By combing the actual identity of Nestle with the communicated identity of Nestle and the conceived identity we can find the present identity of Nestle.
We feel that at the moment when you think of the brand Nestle, you think a company that operate on a worldwide scale. They are a massive company who operate throughout the world. A company that offers their customers various different food and drink products. They are seen as a company that provide quality food and drink products. Products which are tasty but at the same time also healthy.
Future Identity
By combing the actual identity of Nestle with the desired identity and the ideal identity, we can find the future identity of Nestle.
The future identity of Nestle is that they would like to be a company that can be trusted. They would like to be a known as a Brand that can be trusted throughout the world. Another key identity for Nestle is that they would like to be seen as a brand who through their work throughout the world has helped reshape the world. And have made the world a better place to live in.
E – Examine the ten identity interfaces
Remember it’s not all supposed to match up perfectly so I can write about the misalignments and how to improve.
References:
Balmer J.M.T. and Greyser S.A. (2003) Revealing the Corporation. Perspectives on
Identity, image, reputation, and corporate-level marketing.
- The Nestle Annual Report 2009
- The Nestle Corporate Business principles.