Nestlé’s Ludvig Steén: Why user-generated content is important

In a time which is increasingly governed by algorithms and data, it’s easy to forget about the human factor in today’s marketing. It is the marketer’s job to absorb all this information and then create content with quality and relevance for the intended audience. This is something Nestlé’s Ludvig Steén talked about when he gave an inspiring performance at Smartson’s seminar series Forward Thinking.

With the ear to the ground and the finger on the pulse, we’ll find tomorrow’s customers”

With many years of experience and a growing interest in digital marketing, Ludvig has landed in the role of Nordic Regional Brand Manager and Digital Champion for Nestlé Purina, one of the world’s leading producers of quality feed for animals. During the breakfast seminar “Forward Thinking with Smartson” at Bonnier’s Art Hall, Ludvig explained how today’s marketers are very skilled at getting to know the customer but they don’t prioritise optimising the content to fully engage the target audience.

– Everyone who works with digital marketing must review their content and what channels are used for distribution. For larger companies, it is also important to review underlying brands and ensure that they all take the same direction to avoid it sprawling.

See Ludvig's entire presentation here (in Swedish):

Increased opportunities and expanding complexity

With the increased potential of digital marketing, the complexity of this also expands. Consumer demand for relevance increases. Ludvig believes that the person who works with digital marketing should ask distinct questions.

– Who are tomorrow’s customers? How can you creatively compose the right content for the right audience? Content should be met correctly and be relevant to the target audience to which it is exposed. We are already pretty sharp at finding the right customers in our marketing, but what content are we showing them, and do they want to see it?

Purina DentaLife – a viral success

Ludvig talks about a campaign together with Smartson, where Nestlé Purina let 4,000 dog owners in Sweden and Finland offer their dogs DentaLife, a new chew stick with caring qualities. The object was to film the first impression and share the experience in social media, with the goal of creating fun and relevant social content.

User-generated content is cheap, efficient and loved”

He attaches great importance to the sense of authenticity in the films from the personal experiences and the DentaLife campaign became a successful digital venture with an estimated 2,000 films being created under the hashtag #purinadentalife.

Of all the amazing material that was created, Smartson made 4 best-of-movies with different themes. The result was millions of views on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Purina have also used the films in their online marketing as well as TV commercials.

Here is one example of a best-of-movie:

The campaign continues

– The result is so good that we will continue to use the material for banner advertising in 2017. Before we are done with the DentaLife campaign, we will have run the content for about a year in different formations.

Results and learnings for the future

– People love to share – do not have to enforce compensation

– User-generated content is cheap, efficient and loved!

– Don’t under estimate the quality of UGC

– The same campaign was used in different formations over 5 months


Are you curious about how you could use Smartson in your work? Please contact us at hello@smartson.se and one of our recommendation expert will gladly help you.

Karl Händel

2017-05-03