Nestlé increased its marketing and advertising spend by 0.8% across 2023, despite year-on-year sales slipping 1.5% to £83bn and a 0.3% fall in real internal growth amid global inflation.
The Nescafé, KitKat and Nespresso owner spent a healthy 7.7% chunk of its total sales revenue on marketing and advertising expenses throughout the financial year.
Although global grocery inflation significantly undercut the FMCG firm’s ability to price competitively last year, it still registered 7.2% global organic growth, with this figure rising to 8.2% for its home European market.
“Unprecedented inflation over the last two years has increased pressure on many consumers and impacted demand for food and beverage products. In this challenging context, we delivered strong organic growth and solid margin improvement with increased marketing and other growth investments,” Nestlé CEO, Mark Schneider said.
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“Looking to 2024, we are prioritizing volume- and mix-led growth with increased brand support, as we enhance value for consumers through active innovation and renovation, premiumization, affordability and more nutritious options.”
He continued: “To drive market share gains, our key priorities are delighting consumers through differentiated offerings and focusing on superior execution. We are confident that we have the right strategy, portfolio and capabilities to deliver on our 2025 targets.”
In 2024, the Swiss brand has said that it expects to see solid organic sales growth of “around 4%”, alongside a “moderate increase” in its underlying trading operating profit margin.
