here is its marketing strategy
COURTESY: NESTLÉ
Nestlé’s marketing strategy in 2026 is undergoing a transformation that goes far beyond increasing its advertising budget. The giant behind brands such as Nescafé, KitKat, Maggi, Purina and Nespresso is concentrating its resources on fewer brands, increasing its presence in digital retail media and influencer marketing, and using artificial intelligence to improve its marketing and innovation processes.
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The changes were detailed by Nestlé in its financial results for the first half of 2026 and, especially, during the presentation made to investors and analysts.
The starting point is the budget: advertising and marketing expenses increased to represent 8.9% of sales, 30 basis points more than a year earlier.
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However, for the company, the goal is not simply to optimize the budget. Nestlé’s management says it is looking to invest more and better, placing emphasis on media effectiveness, return on investment and the brands with the strongest growth potential.
The result is a strategy that combines more money for marketing with greater concentration: paid media is now focused on 135 brands, compared with around 400 previously. In addition, Nestlé reported sharp increases in investment in digital retail media and influencer marketing.
How much is Nestlé investing in marketing in 2026?
Nestlé reported global sales of 43.109 billion Swiss francs during the first half of 2026. During the same period, advertising and marketing expenses reached the equivalent of 8.9% of sales.
The figure represents an increase from the 8.6% recorded in the first half of the previous year.
The increase comes even as the company’s margins faced pressure from higher coffee and cocoa costs, tariffs, currency movements and the impact of the infant formula recall.
In fact, Nestlé acknowledges that the increase in advertising investment was also one of the factors that weighed on its operating profit during the period.
The decision is significant: instead of cutting marketing to immediately protect profitability, the multinational is using part of its operating efficiencies to fund greater investment in brands and growth platforms.
Why is Nestlé betting on influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is one of the areas Nestlé specifically identified as a destination for higher investment during 2026.
In its presentation to investors, the company said paid media spending increased and that there were sharp increases in both digital retail media and influencer marketing.
Nestlé does not disclose in its financial documents how much money it allocates specifically to influencers, which platforms receive most of that investment or what share of its budget corresponds to content creators.
What it does make clear is that this channel is part of a broader transformation in the way it wants its brands to engage with consumers.
Philipp Navratil, CEO of Nestlé, told investors that the company is seeking communication that is more digital, more social, more organic and more fun, particularly to connect with the way younger consumers interact with brands and culture.
In this context, influencers are no longer merely an add-on to a campaign, but rather a component of a communication strategy in which digital and cultural conversations play a more important role.
What role does retail media play in Nestlé’s strategy?
The other major bet is retail media. Nestlé said investment in digital retail media increased sharply during the first half.
The decision coincides with the growing importance of e-commerce in its results.
During H1 2026, e-commerce posted organic growth of 12.2% and came to represent 21.8% of Nestlé’s total sales.
That means more than one-fifth of the multinational’s global business is now linked to e-commerce.
For a consumer goods company, retail media also offers a strategic advantage: it allows advertising to be placed closer to the point of purchase and makes it possible to use retailers’ digital ecosystems to reach consumers who are already searching for or comparing products.
The combination of retail media and e-commerce can help Nestlé reduce the gap between awareness, consideration and conversion.
Why did Nestlé reduce its paid media investment from 400 to 135 brands?
One of the most revealing figures in the new strategy is precisely the concentration.
Nestlé reported that its paid media investment is now concentrated on 135 brands, compared with around 400 previously.
This does not mean Nestlé has only 135 brands or that it has eliminated hundreds of them.
The figure refers specifically to the brands on which it is concentrating its paid media investment.
The decision shows a change in resource allocation: instead of spreading advertising investment across a very broad universe of products, Nestlé wants to concentrate it where it believes it can generate better returns and stronger growth.
The CEO explained that the company is being more deliberate about where and how it invests.
For Nestlé, growth depends on a combination of superior products, strong brands, the right value proposition, good physical and digital visibility, and better communication with consumers.
How does Nestlé measure whether its advertising works?
The new model also places greater emphasis on measurement.
Nestlé said it is expanding coverage of MROI, or marketing return on investment, for both paid media and consumer-facing promotions.
The multinational also monitors indicators related to:
- Taste preference.
- Price competitiveness.
- Space and visibility at the point of sale.
- Marketing return on investment.
- Product availability.
- Consumer communication.
The company maintains that when execution indicators work properly together, it sees consistent market share gains.
For marketing professionals, this approach is relevant because it shows a strategy in which advertising and brand building are increasingly integrated with variables such as price, distribution, availability and commercial performance.
What are Nestlé’s growth platforms?
To understand where Nestlé is allocating its budget, it is necessary to distinguish between its core business and the so-called growth platforms.
The goal for the core business is to achieve between 3% and 4% organic growth on a sustained basis.
For the growth platforms, expectations are higher: Nestlé aims to achieve high-single-digit organic growth.
During the first half of 2026, these platforms achieved approximately 7% organic growth.
Among the opportunities identified by Nestlé are areas such as:
Coffee
- Nescafé in emerging markets.
- Out-of-home.
- Cold coffee.
Petcare
- Wet cat food.
- Emerging markets.
- Therapeutic products and supplements.
Nutrition
- Adult nutrition.
- Medical nutrition.
- Premium and specialized infant formula.
Food & Snacks
- KitKat.
- Noodles.
- Maggi culinary solutions.
During the investor presentation, the company showed that the level of advertising investment is deliberately higher in these platforms.
Nestlé invests more in advertising for its growth businesses
The difference between the two groups is one of the clearest indicators of the strategy.
In the core business, advertising and marketing represented around 7.9% of sales during H1 2026.
In the growth platforms, they reached approximately 10.8%.
A year earlier, those percentages had been 8.0% and 9.7%, respectively.
This means Nestlé is deliberately increasing investment intensity behind the businesses where it identifies the strongest structural opportunities.
The company also explained that the additional resources generated by its savings programs are being reinvested precisely in those platforms.
Which brands are driving Nestlé’s growth?
Nescafé led growth in Coffee, a category that posted 7.5% organic growth during the first half.
In Food & Snacks, Maggi, KitKat and Milo supported category growth.
Petcare counted Pro Plan, ONE and Felix among its main growth drivers during Q2.
This helps explain the logic behind Nestlé’s concentration strategy: increasing resources around brands capable of gaining share and expanding into platforms with stronger growth potential.
What is Nestlé’s marketing strategy for 2026?
The financial results make it possible to identify several pillars in Nestlé’s marketing transformation:
- more investment, because advertising and marketing already account for 8.9% of sales;
- greater concentration, because paid media is focused on 135 brands compared with around 400 previously;
- more retail media, in line with e-commerce, which already represents 21.8% of sales;
- more influencer marketing, as part of more social communication designed to connect with younger consumers;
- greater MROI measurement, to determine which investments generate the best results;
- artificial intelligence, progressively integrated into marketing and innovation;
- and overinvestment in growth platforms, where organic growth reached 7% during the first half.
Nestlé is not simply betting on buying more advertising. Its 2026 strategy is to invest more money behind fewer brands, increase the weight of influencers and retail media, use data to measure returns and accelerate decisions with the support of technology and artificial intelligence.
The challenge will be turning all that investment into sustained growth.
