Force invests $ 20 million to sell Greek yogurt

The Force, dairy company of J&F group, the holding company that controls the JBS, launches today an intensive advertising campaign to promote the launch of new varieties of Greek yogurt line, the big bet of the company in the segment. In all, the Force must invest about $ 20 million over the next six months in the campaign, said the value of the Existing CEO, Gilberto Xandó.
"We're doubling what we invest in marketing in the first half," he said. In the first half of the year, the Force has spent about $ 10 million in the dissemination of Greek yogurt and yogurt, the company category functional debuted at the beginning of the year to compete with the French company Danone, which dominates sales of functional yoghurt in the country, with the brand Activia.
Launched in July last year at the same time by competitors Force and Nestlé, the Greek yoghurt soon fell into the graces of the Brazilian consumer and forced companies such as Danone and BRF to also join in the market in 2013. Through its press office, the BRF reported that also starts this week a campaign on television and the internet to publicize the Greek of the Batavo brand, launched in June. The campaign will be starring comedian Gregory Duvivier, backdoor, a program broadcasted on the internet. The BRF has not disclosed how much invest in the campaign.
Currently, the Greek already accounts for 5% of sales of yogurts as a whole in the country, according to Xandó. In the United States, where the product has been available since 2007, that's enough rate to somewhere between 25% and 30%. In Sao Paulo, the country's main consumer market, the Force is the leader, with 50% participation, says Xandó, citing data from Nielsen.
In the advertising campaign that Debuts Today, the Force will launch the Greek yogurt with "zero trans fat" and low calorie, a line geared for children, in addition to traditional Greek tastes ganache (chocolate mixture with sour cream), guava and Apple Cinnamon. According to Xandó, launches cater to over 5 thousand orders placed through customer service (SAC) of the company.
Despite being optimistic about the results of the new campaign, the CEO of Force admits that investments in marketing will weigh negatively on the company's expenses in the short term. In the first quarter, when it posted a net profit of only $ 1.4 million, the Force attributed the weaker results to marketing expenditures that had mainly in publicizing the Greek in the period.
"There are times of harvest and time investments. We are in a phase of investing in brand repositioning. So, it is possible that this investment has greater representativeness in the result, "acknowledged Xandó. According to the Executive, the Existing marketing investments are part of a project that should result in a larger company within five to ten years.
In an interview with Value, avoided comment on the unfolding Xandó of share exchange offer that will allow the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) change the roles of dairy company listed on BM & FBovespa by JBS, its former parent company. The Executive's expectation is that the operation is completed in 2013.
Announced in July, the stock swap offer is a side effect of the low liquidity of the shares of Force. When dismembered his then dairy division in June last year, the FB-JBS SP Equity and Force-signed a compromise that provided a voluntary exchange offer if the actions of the Force failed a liquidity level expected. That's what happened.
When the swap operation is complete, the BNDES, which currently holds 31.4% of the capital stock of Force, replace your actions by JBS papers, no longer a shareholder of Force. The FB Participation, of J&F, is the controller of the Force, with 44.6% of the shares.