The strategy of ‘sneaking in healthiness’ seemed to work well for PepsiCo.
Former PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi, who stepped down as CEO last year, was instrumental in shifting company’s focus from sugary beverages to healthier options. But it wasn’t always an easy task for the former CEO.
Speaking at Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women International Summit recently, Nooyi recalled how she met with a lot of resistance not only from the investors and fund managers but also from the customers themselves. “Imagine taking Lay’s potato chips which is a salty potato chip and reducing the salt,” she deadpanned.
To tackle this, the company reduced the salt levels a little bit every few weeks so that customers wouldn’t notice the shift in taste. Today, the Lay’s potato chip has 20% less salt than it did in 2006, according to Nooyi.
Lay’s chips get fried in heart-healthy oil, and has 20% less salt than it did in 2006. The strategy of ‘sneaking in healthiness’ seemed to work well for PepsiCo. Nooyi recalled another incident where customers were up in arms because the chips were being fried in heart-healthy oil and how the company tackled it.
“Lay’s chips get fried in HOSO - High Oleic Sunflower Oil – which is a heart-healthy oil. It cost a lot of money for us to do that,” she said.
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“We put a big sunflower on the bag and we were so proud of making the transition. (But) The consumer complaints just went through the roof and sales plummeted because they said it tastes awful. So the next day, we took off the sunflower from the bag and people said, ‘Thank God, it tastes the same.’ (But) It’s still fried in HOSO. I was not backing off from the healthy part.”
Azim Premji, Indra Nooyi & Jack Ma: Farewell Notes By Business Leaders That Struck A Chord
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In his final letter to Wipro employees, Azim Premji, who recently announced his retirement, wrote: “Leading Wipro from 1966 till now has been the greatest privilege of my life.”
Here are some other memorable words from departing CEOs.
(Text: Shannon Tellis)
In his final letter to Wipro employees, Azim Premji, who recently announced his retirement, wrote: “Leading Wipro from 1966 till now has been the greatest privilege of my life.”
Here are some o..
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“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.”
These were the opening lines of Steve Jobs’s resignation letter in 2011 informing the board that he was stepping down as chief executive. Jobs, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer at the time, read this letter out at one of the company’s board meetings where he recommended that Tim Cook be appointed his successor. Jobs passed away a few weeks later.
“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.”
These we..
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“Think hard about time. We have so little of it on this earth.”
When Indra Nooyi stepped down as CEO last year, she reminded employees to be lifelong students and good listeners. One of the lessons she recalled from her own career was to be more mindful of time. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing career, but if I’m being honest, there have been moments I wish I’d spent more time with my children and family,” she wrote.
“Think hard about time. We have so little of it on this earth.”
When Indra Nooyi stepped down as CEO last year, she reminded employees to be lifelong students and good listeners. One of the lessons..
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“My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers.”
When he was fired in 2013 from a company he co-founded, Andrew Mason sent employees a memo saying, “If you are wondering why... you haven’t been paying attention.”
In his memo to the ‘People of Groupon’, Mason took responsibility for the company’s lacklustre performance, controversial metrics, poor stock price and offered employees one last bit of advice. “This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness — don’t waste the opportunity!” he wrote.
“My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers.”
When he was fired in 2013 from a company he co-founded, Andrew Mason sent empl..
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“I’m brimming with nostalgia, gratitude and optimism.”
When Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017, then Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer penned an email informing the employees of her exit. She reflected on her five years with the company and the milestones they achieved for each stakeholder group, signing off the email with a celebratory “Yaho-o-oo!” (Image: Reuters)
“I’m brimming with nostalgia, gratitude and optimism.”
When Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017, then Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer penned an email informing the employees of her exit. She reflected on her f..
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“At 48, I am no longer young for the Internet business.”
In January 2013, Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced he was stepping down as chief executive of the Chinese e- commerce group. In his letter to the employees, he hinted that the decision was part of a larger company-wide change that would allow younger employees to take up leadership mantles. “It’s not because I wanted to take things easy,” he wrote. “It’s because I see that Alibaba’s young people have better, more brilliant, dreams than mine, and they are more capable of building a future that belongs to them.”
“At 48, I am no longer young for the Internet business.”
In January 2013, Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced he was stepping down as chief executive of the Chinese e- commerce group. In his letter t..
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“After much contemplation, I have decided to leave because the distractions, the very public noise around us, have created an untenable atmosphere.”
In August 2017, Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO citing “unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks”. In a long letter posted on his blog, Sikka detailed the challenges he faced when he took the helm in 2014 and also gave employees some words of wisdom. “However difficult the noise of the last several months has been, I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything,” he wrote.
“After much contemplation, I have decided to leave because the distractions, the very public noise around us, have created an untenable atmosphere.”
In August 2017, Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO cit..
