Nestlé & Qualifio: from data collection to engagement, a global data strategy in a cookieless world

Rethinking a global data strategy

With third-party cookies gradually disappearing, Nestlé, the food industry giant, had to rethink how they collect data and adapt their strategies to better understand and engage consumers.

Today, maintaining a direct relationship with audiences relies on collecting first-party and zero-party data in a transparent and engaging way. This is crucial: collecting high-quality data allows the company to offer increasingly personalised and relevant experiences, even without direct contact with consumers, since Nestlé’s products are sold through retailers.

But how do you implement an effective strategy for a company present in 75 countries, with more than 2,000 brands and markets as diverse as coffee, confectionery, and pet care?This is the challenge Nestlé tackled in partnership with Qualifio. We spoke with Carine Chevrier, CRM Activation Manager at Nestlé Switzerland, and Axelle Fillaudeau, Consumer Data Lead at Nestlé France, to gain insights into how the group has transformed its data strategy.

The challenge: growing in a cookieless world

For us, the key is to increase our first-party data collection, to build a direct connection with our consumers, through engaging marketing campaigns.

Nestlé focused on three main marketing priorities:

1. Qualified data collection
   Enhancing existing databases to better understand consumer needs, ranging from coffee and pet care to infant nutrition.
2. Advanced segmentation
   Tailoring messages according to regions, product preferences, and consumer profiles to create highly personalised experiences.
3. Global and local strategy
   Building a global framework that aligns with regional marketing strategies (Switzerland, France, etc.) and local brands, while maintaining overall group consistency.

To achieve these priorities, Nestlé leveraged first-party and zero-party data collection through the Qualifio platform, ensuring actionable, compliant, and transparent data for all teams.

A global collaboration rolled out across EMEA

Today, the global collaboration between Nestlé and Qualifio includes:

• 800+ active users on the platform
• 5 licenses per category (coffee, confectionery, pet care, etc.)
• 19 country licenses across Europe

Nestlé chose Qualifio to standardise data collection practices across all their brands, ensure compliance and data security, integrate data directly into the group’s CRM ecosystem, and give more autonomy to local teams, all while maintaining central governance.

We wanted all our brands to collect data in the same way, according to the same standards. Qualifio gives us that uniformity while still allowing local teams some flexibility.

Thanks to this infrastructure, Nestlé can:

1. Empower business units to tailor campaigns for each market
2. Manage the platform centrally while preserving local flexibility
3. Ensure data compliance and security, with a single CIAM integration
4. Gain full visibility over all collected data

If you want to know more about Nestlé’s data strategy with Qualifio, download the complete success story ⬇️