A Window on the Future!

Our mission here is to delight our customers and consumers. And that journey starts with insight. Who are our customers? What do they need today? What will they want tomorrow?

To get the right answers to such big questions, we need the best talent we can find. So when I joined the Coca-Cola HBC (CCHBC), one of the first things I suggested we do to help boost those efforts, was to partner with CEMS, the Global Alliance in Management Education.

Founded in 1988, their network now includes:

• 33 top business schools in 33 different countries
• 70+ of the world’s leading corporates from AstraZeneca to Zurich Insurance, and
• seven social partners, from the UN and The European Space Agency (ESA) to Fairtrade. 

Together, they deliver a Masters in International Management (MiM) to 1300 students each year.

A window on A-list talent 

I’ve met hundreds of these students in my 13 years working with CEMS and they are as impressive as you might think: smart, ambitious, imaginative and very global in their hearts and minds.

One of the great things they get on the CEMS program is 14 weeks of collaboration on a live business topic with a corporate partner. This spring, we had our first one at CCHBC here in Switzerland and the results have been as eye-opening as we hoped.

A big thank you to Carina Geiger who orchestrated it so well from our end and then let me hand over to some other key people on the project who’ll tell you more.

Sophie Song, Category Development & Insights Manager, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

12 months ago in Switzerland we launched Qwell, a direct to consumer online retail channel with a range of our premium drinks. Only 2% of grocery revenue in Switzerland is spent online so there’s a big opportunity.

At the same time, it's a relatively new arena where we have limited knowledge and a topic that is scalable in complexity. Those factors meant it was ideal for a collaborative research project like this.

In terms of our immediate aims, building growth in rural areas is a key target so we wanted help with research to:

1.     Define a best-in-class digital strategy for rural customers

2.     Optimise the portfolio of products and services

3.     Pinpoint the key additional touchpoints on our customer journey 

I’ve been in consumer research for 10+ years and I was deeply impressed by what our five CEMS students brought to the project.

They were brilliant at project management with clear plans from the onset. I was particularly impressed with their engagement and the level of fluidity they displayed while addressing the presentation questions.

Their research was thorough, they adapted well to the many challenges that Covid brought and the survey we ran together generated some very powerful insights and an extensive list of recommendations. We’re now evaluating cost on a number of them like whether to use a chatbot on the site. 

Linus Flammer, CEMS student at University of St Gallen 

From my side, I was really impressed by CCHBC. They put a lot of time and thought into designing and running the project.

The two big takeaways for me were learning how to plan and implement a big consulting project and how to communicate with many different stakeholders.

The fact that history was unfolding around us in real time as the Covid crisis exploded brought another huge dimension.

The speed with which CCHBC can change direction and the commitment they give once they’ve agreed to a project says a lot about their agility, their commercial know-how and, perhaps most importantly, their values.

On top of all that, the insights into the Swiss delivery market at a time of rapidly accelerating change were fascinating.

I would never have guessed that consumers would pay a premium for delivery from a trusted and reputable supplier.

Dr Karla Linden, Lecturer at the University of St. Gallen

As a CEMS graduate myself, I know just how valuable these assignments are. The MiM opened many doors for me to new opportunities and unique experiences – be it during the studies itself, subsequently as a CEMS curriculum manager, or now as a CEMS faculty member where I get to see many great collaborations between students and our corporate partners.

On this project, we had to change the research method because of Covid and it was a pity the students weren’t able to do any face-to-face consumer research. But both they and CCHBC were very quick to pivot.

As Linus says, Coke’s level of engagement was really high: site visits had to be cancelled but workshops went digital as did collaboration with some of CCHBC’s fast-track leaders. The students were supported but really challenged which is perfect: I find they learn more and come up with better insights as a result.

Corporate partners clearly benefit from this in the short-term but long-term, they get ambassadors too: CEMS has a very active network of more than 15,000 alumni, spread out across many of the world’s leading corporates. It’s like a huge knowledge database so if your company has a good reputation there, your employer brand will reap the benefits. 

Markus Wolf: Qwell project leader, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

What stood out for me were the recommendations we got for expanding our portfolio. I wouldn’t have guessed that our target audiences (20-40 and 40-60 years old) would be interested in branded merchandise like tableware. But that’s a good opportunity for revenue and for building the brand: if you’re on the table, you’re front of mind!

It was also very useful to test our assumptions about local content: in the research, products from local breweries and wineries proved popular as did local snacks and that will strengthen the premium feel of the service.

Looking ahead, we’ll be trying other ways to accelerate – like express delivery options– and the input from the CEMS students there was also useful.

I wasn’t aware of the program before this project but next time I’m hiring for high-potential management talent, then I’d be very interested in hearing from #CEMS graduates.