“The strength of its portfolio,” Heydi Hernández Domínguez, Marketing Director of Inversiones Pucara SA (IPSA), categorically assures when we ask her what she considers to be the company’s most important tool to attract clients.
Really, IPSA does not have an equivalent in the Cuban market, at least not one that manages such a large number of brands—many of them world-renowned, such as Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, Pringles, Moët & Chandon, Campari or Pascual—and that reach the hands of the Cuban consumer thanks to this supplier, which already has almost three decades of presence in Cuba.
But, at the same time, managing such an extensive and diverse portfolio represents one of its most complex challenges for its team, which has forced them to sustain constant work of organization, development and growth.
“The more brands you have, it is true that there are many more business opportunities, but when it comes to channeling marketing actions, it is obviously a very big challenge,” confirms Heydi Hernández.
“You have to keep the focus very well so as not to distort yourself and be able to activate each brand on each channel—or in the relevant channel—without mixing them or allowing them to be cannibalized,” he explains.
Having a portfolio of more than 10,000 brands has led Pucara to better focus on personalizing work with each client, what they call “accompaniment,” which begins precisely from the presentation of that immense portfolio.
“We start with advice before the sale: which brands can give prestige to a store, which ones can help your space grow. And it’s not just about having the product, but about helping it rotate. That’s a win-win: the client rotates the product and for us it translates into sales, but also into positioning and brand building,” Hernández details about the conception of a work style that today, in Cuba, is within the reach of anyone.
Sow brands
Inversiones Pucara, in its global vision, not only makes it possible for thousands of products of different types to reach the Cuban market, but also assumes the responsibility of inserting each of the brands it manages into the taste, imagination and interest of the public.
“We work with very well-known brands, but they are brands that have to be positioned in Cuba. We have to bring them closer to the consumer so that they arrive and want to order them. So we create that entire consumer experience around the products to build loyalty among our consumers with our brands,” says Hernández.
But its extensive portfolio also includes less internationalized names. Such is the case of beer Belgian Startoday widely known and consumed on the Island.
“The challenge is to achieve this positioning, not only of the brands that today have international recognition, but also of slightly smaller and local brands, such as Belga Star. We have been working very hard with it for a whole year now and we are very proud: we can say that in Cuba it is the only beer reference that offers a consumption option for each type of consumer.”
Brand activations at various events and advice on social networks are also ways in which Pucara accompanies its brands and clients to boost consumption. Behind that, he says, there is a lot of passion and professionalism.
“At the human resources level, even with a much larger team today, the structure continues to grow because the company grows. There are more brands every day. As Pucara has the infrastructure, suppliers want to do more every day, and that represents an important challenge. That is why we are strengthening the structure, attracting more personnel to focus on each of these brands and their particular development profile, because we have very diverse categories. For example, Pascual has nothing to do with sparkling wines: they are totally different, and there is the challenge”, contextualizes Hernández.
An easy door to touch
Pucara has had a presence on the Island since 1997, and for many years Cuban state companies were its only market niche. Today they continue to be its most important clients due to the volume of their operations, but the changes implemented in the Cuban economy in the private sector have opened a new door for the distributor.
An opportunity that is also reached by private businesses that have been emerging in the country, and that have found—or may find—in IPSA a strategic ally not only to obtain supplies, but to receive preparation and support.
“You don’t have to make the million-dollar purchase, just the references that you need. There are businesses that started with us when they were very small and then have grown,” clarifies the Marketing Director.
Pucara can be reached from its website or in person at its office in the Siboney neighborhood, in Havana. The type or size of the business does not matter: the variety of products exceeds 10 thousand brands, with significant strength in food and beverages, but also with a presence in hardware and marked growth in the fashion sector.
Constant supply—another nightmare for any company or business in Cuba—also finds a solution in Pucara.
“We are a foreign branch, so the large volume of our merchandise is under customs regime In-Bond: It is in Cuba, in national territory, but to be nationalized. We collaborate a lot with the entire line of national importers, and through them our clients acquire the products. Access is very easy and, in the end, we always have the doors open,” explains Hernández.
