Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and in the age of brands that means Salman Amin, who has recently been appointed the new CEO of grocery multinational Pladis Global.
The holder of an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellog School of Management (his first degree, from Syracuse, was in civil engineering), Amin spent a decade at Procter & Gamble – in Germany, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland – and no fewer than 17 years at PepsiCo in various high-level positions, finishing as CMO.
During his time at PepsiCo Amin developed and marketed its snacks portfolio across the world, while also driving forward its “front-of-pack” labelling initiative – high-visibility panels which display information about a product’s nutrition and ingredients, to help consumers make healthier choices and avoid chronic diseases.
Before his latest appointment at Pladis, Amin was the COO of the global commercial division of US chemicals giant S.C. Johnson & Son. Amin is a man with vast experience – “experience [that] offers useful lessons that speak to our 21st century global marketplace” – and knowledge of planet-wide consumer grocery retail at the highest level.
He has developed a viewpoint and perspective to match, and it is centred around the phenomenon of brands and their strange power.
As Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff explained in her 2001 book, The Support Economy, after people have taken care of their basic needs, consumption starts to become an element of identity and psychological self-expression, and this is where brands come in.
Since Western economies entered the age of plenty following the Second World War, brands are the means whereby we recognise and choose products. The companies that own and administer brands have enormous power to order our economy and even shape our sense of ourselves.
Such organisations – among them the huge consumer goods multinationals – are also the ones that make steady profits year-on-year and need leaders with the sort of understanding and acumen that Amin possesses, to ensure their continuing success.
“Fundamentally, great brands thrive during both good times and bad when they communicate basic human truths that speak to the needs and interests, concerns and dreams of the global consumer,” says Amin. “Whether he or she lives in New Delhi, Melbourne or Houston, consumers have far greater expectations than did previous generations. Basically, they want an ongoing and enduring relationship with their brands that is governed by a set of core premises.”
The first of those, says Amin, are authenticity and trust: “When people spend their hard-earned money, especially when it is a discretionary purchase, they want to know a brand’s value proposition and they want to believe in what the brand stands for,” says Amin. Fakery will be spotted and punished by increasingly sophisticated consumers.
Engagement and entertainment come second. The data of the internet age has made marketing – especially the segmentation and targeting of customers – far more precise, but has also meant that merely average products do less well than before. “When consumers get what they want, they have the communication tools to celebrate their enjoyment and excitement,” Amin concludes.
“On the other hand, if they are disappointed, they will complain and make their concerns known.” A company must be in tune with its customers to succeed – just ask Gillette, which recently lost $8 billion following a controversial “toxic masculinity” ad campaign for its razors.
Differentiation is the third core premise – an ever-more important element as choice continues to proliferate in the market. “Brands need to offer a series of unique qualities that make people stop and think about why they are preferable and superior,” says Amin, adding, “driven by people’s desire to feel unique and special.” If brands don’t stand out – in the consumer’s imagination as well as on the shelf – they will fail.
Last comes consistency and constancy. “Brand management tends to be a young profession and there is a temptation to make dramatic changes in what the brand stands for in the offering,” Amin warns, and this must be resisted and is identified as the short-term thinking it truly represents.
Brands must evolve not only retaining their DNA, but also expressing it continuously. Otherwise, “Suddenly, brand loyalty starts to slip away, trust erodes and consumers look for new options,” Amin says. “While companies need not stay glued to past realities and glories, they need to stay true to what they stand for and stay consistent with what made the brand great in the first place.”
Pladis is a company that has Turkish roots (its chairman and owner is billionaire Murat Ülker) and was established under three years ago when it brought together United Biscuits, Ülker Group, Godiva Chocolatier and DeMet’s Candy Company as one global business – named for the Pleiades open star-cluster, visible from anywhere on earth.
The company has 34 factories in 13 countries and its products reach most of the planet – four billion people in 120 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
The mission for Pladis is to compete with and beat companies such as Proctor & Gamble and Unilever in the quest for the “soul” (and the wallet) of the consumer: to win the loyalty and acceptance that make Pladis products indispensable household names.
“I’ve built a career on seeking out opportunities to rewrite the rules, diversify and be part of consumer evolution. At Pladis, we have the opportunity to make our local favourites global stars and share the heritage of our biscuits and confectionery with the world,” says Amin, after taking up his new appointment in January 2019.
“I am a huge believer that leaders build trust, as well as an advocate for transparency in the workplace and having the courage to have a point of view,” he tells the GG2 Power List.
Amin sits on the board of directors of ITV plc in the UK and on Global Advisory Board for the Kellogg School of Management in the US.
He is a former board member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association and from 2010 to 2015 was a director of The Elizabeth Arden Company.
In 2009 Amin was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from De Montfort University.
He says he is an “enthusiastic but average” golfer and also enjoys scuba diving. He is married to Neelum and the couple have two sons.
