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Given the segments’ high percentage of professionals, senior managers, and business owners there is decidedly a professional tone to this cluster. These consumers enjoy a financially comfortable, fast-paced and busy lifestyle; they frequently enjoy outdoor family activities such as bicycling and ice-skating, and often go on fun family weekend getaways. These consumers are considered active and health-conscious often engaging in sports activities, and are much more likely than average Canadians to jog, take aerobics classes, and play sports such as tennis and golf.
Many take pride in their healthy lifestyle, telling researchers “l eel guilty when I eat junk food”. The benefits this segment would seek in our product is the convenience factor it offers; which caters to accommodate their busy work-life schedules, as well as provide a healthy snack alternative that is appeasing to the appetite yet low on calories. This segment is more likely to be critical of ingredients, and scrutinizes nutritional labels carefully.
Parents are often concerned about the nutritional benefits of products they are feeding to their families; it is important to emphasis the health factors and high quality standards of our product to this segment especially, in order o gain their confidence and trust in our product. (Appendix A). “Young & Active” Segment The Young & Active segment consists of Canada’s youthful, economical and transient demographic be??een the ages of 25 to 34. They hold university level degrees or are possibly in the midst of completing postgraduate degrees.
This demographic consists of singles or couples considered to be in the starter-nest life stages (House hold size 1 to 2). Their income ranges from modest to medium (Personal income $25M to $49. 9M) depending on their occupational choices, and how far they have advanced in their careers (Technical, clerical, skilled and unskilled). Although they tend to have university and college education, most can only afford rentals in older low- rise apartments. But they will stretch their modest incomes to pursue trendy lifestyles rich in fitness and the arts.
By day, Young & Active have a high rate Of engaging in physically active lifestyles by taking yoga classes, swimming, bicycling to work, cross-country skiing and tennis. At night, they head to trendy restaurants or bars, music festivals and small outdoor stages. With so many residents still unmarried, this is a potential market for brides-to-be who are concerned about healthy eating and weight management, in preparation or the big day (could potentially be targeted by ads in bridal magazines). The Young & Active segment believes in liberal values, the flexibility of gender identity and equality in relationships.
This segment is not likely to spend too much time indoors or preparing meals on a daily basis; they are young and busy professionals who work diligently to achieve their goals, but also make time for enjoying life to the fullest. The benefits this segment would seek in our product is also the convenience factor; which caters to accommodate their busy and active schedules, as well as provide a healthy snack alternative hat will appease their appetite, provide nutritional benefits and is low in calories.
This segment is more likely to pay attention to marketing trends of the “Next Big Thing’ in dietary fads, key terms such as “Gluten Free” are attention grabbing to this segment, but soon the fad fleets and is replaced with the next new trend. (Appendix 8). Targeting Consumer Segment Most buyers do not share the Same palate, purchase the same quantities, or respond in the same manner to marketing efforts. Therefore, a concentrated Niche Marketing approach will work best to target our selected segment.
Instead of pursuing a smaller share of a large market, Exotic Fruit Bars will target a large share of one focused niche. Through niche marketing, Exotic Fruit Bars can achieve strong market positioning by gathering thorough and detailed knowledge of the consumer needs in the niches it serves, and by acquiring a distinct reputation to differentiate Exotic Fruit Bars from it’s competitors. The product can be marketed effectively by fine-tuning the products attributes, price, delivery channels, and overall image for a carefully defined segment.
Introducing the product into a niche segment will also nsure that Exotic Fruit Bars gains a foothold against larger more resourceful competitors, and eventually grows into a larger competitor with conceivably newer and more diversified product selections. The Suburban Select segment represents a more lucrative niche for this product. Exotic Fruit Bars will thrive by catering to affluent parents who typically shop for their groceries at higher-end grocery retailers such as Provigo, Loblaws, IGA and health food grocery stores.
The parents in this niche segment are health conscious and wealthy consumers who are willing to spend more on a premium quality product. By offering them a product that is organic, natural, and preservative free while at the same time highlighting its nutritional benefits using clear and prominent labeling and promotional efforts, this product will likely stand out on the shelf enticing their attention.
Positioning and Mission Statement Mission statement: “For the active and health conscious suburban family, Exotic Fruit Bars is a snack bar that is big on appetite and low on calories, providing you with delicious exotic varieties, abundant nutritional benefits and the highest quality standard. Unlike other snack bars, we are committed o bringing you a healthy snacking alternative that is practical, portable and nourishes your body’ Promotional Slogan: “big on appetite, low on calories! In order to differentiate Exotic Fruit Bars from other competitors, we must highlight the benefits of the product and promote how these benefits differ from our competitors. In addition, we must relay to the customer how these benefits are relevant to their needs and values. The benefits that differentiate this product are mainly the distinctive fruits selected, the dietary benefits, and the high quality standard Exotic Fruit Bars IS committed to offering to our ustomers. The exotic fruits selected offer an unusual variety of flavors that cater to an affluent and well-cultured segment.
The Family Select segment is more likely to dine in elegant restaurants, and shop for their groceries at higher-end grocery stores. This segment appreciates a discerning palate. unlike the competitors, Exotic Fruit Bars comes in a diverse selection of imported fruits from all around the world, such as Dragon Fruit, Gogi Berries, Lychee, Star Apple and Passion Fruit. This exquisite hand picked selection will surely entice this segment and create an allure that can distinguish our roduct from others.
Eating a healthy high-fiber diet is a main nutritional concern among many Canadians. The Suburban Select segment is health- conscious and particular about their eating habits; they care about eating a healthy well-balanced diet. Exotic Fruit Bars focuses on adding lots of fiber in the product, and making sure to include a balanced combination of both insoluble and soluble fibers in the ingredients. Soluble fibers are found in nuts such as almonds and cashews, and insoluble fibers are found in fruits.
Both nuts and fruits are focal ingredients found in Exotic Fruit Bars. In ddition, the product is 100% gluten free, and also considered both vegan and vegetarian friendly. Our high quality standard guarantees that we deliver organic, natural, and preservative free ingredients, with no added artificial flavors or sweeteners. Our fruits are sourced from international free trade that has received the seal of approval by the Organic Products Regulations governed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CHA).
Obtaining the organic certification guarantees that our consumers are protected against misleading or deceptive labeling practices, and ensures that our ingredients btained from foreign markets have passed a rigorous regulatory oversight before acquiring the organic seal of approval (Appendix C). Product: The core value of our product is helping our customer’s grab a great healthy snack, no matter where their active life takes them. Healthy eating has never been so important than it is today. In todays hectic world it is always a challenge to eat healthy while being on the go.
With all that being said this is why it is our pleasure to introduce Exotic Fruit Bars; an organic snack bar that is all natural with no artificial preservatives and loaded with superfood ngredients. When you eat on the go, the majority of people don’t realize what substances go into their food, and how detrimental it can be to their health. With our snack bar you dont have to worry about where its coming from, or if any unhealthy substance are being included. Exotic Fruit bars offer a full serving of fruit in each bar.
In order to accommodate everyone we made sure that our snack bar is vegan/vegetarian. Our product is made for people who are conscientious about the substances/chemicals that are going into their food; people who take pride in their body image and lastly people who are ooking for a tasty but healthy addition to their meal plan. A variety of exotic flavor combinations are available to choose from: Dragon Berry (Dragon Fruit and Gogi Berry), Kiwi Burst (Kiwi and Lychee), Star Passion (Star Apple and Passion Fruit), and finally Ugli Guava Beauty (Ugli and Guava).
Each snack bar includes a mix of the following organic nuts: Flaxseeds, almonds, and cashews. Exotic Fruit Bars is considered to be a high quality premium product. Our product contains special fruit selection that is specifically imported and not widely distributed in regular local grocery stores. We nsure that our fruit is grown in small scale fair trade farms that have high quality control; harvest organically certified produce; and do not use pesticides or harmful chemicals in their farming process. Our exotic fruits are hand selected and naturally preserved.
Exotic Fruit Bars will be sold in packages of 6, they will also be available to purchase individually. Our box that contains the snack bars will be an exotic fruit bar dispenser. Our rectangular shaped box opens from the top in order for our customers to obtain multiple bars at a time, or they can utilize the individual disposal from he bottom of the package so you can grab one and go. The name of our product “Exotic Fruit Bars” will be written in big bold red letters on a white background in order to emphasize the name of our product and make it stand out.
To be able to give the customers a little look into what they will be experiencing; we will also include a picture of the specific fruit and nuts that we will be including in our snack bars. The wrapping of the individual bar will mimic the design of the box. The wrapper will be white with Exotic Fruit bars written in bold red letters with a picture of the specific fruit and nuts that we ill be including in our snack bar. Given the fact that our product is newly being introduced into the market we want to ensure that our customers are fully satisfied.
In order to ensure that our customers can contact us we will have a 24 hour 1-800 customer service hotline as well as website support (chat online) and also a suggestion / comments section that will be available online. In an effort to connect with our customers, we will be sending out monthly email newsletters that provide little tips and tricks on how to manage your busy schedule, how to eat healthy when continuously on the go, stress management techniques and many more. Price: The MSRP, manufacturer suggested retail price for a box of 6 units will be $6 while the MSRP for a box of 12 will be $1 1. 0 resulting in a significant savings to the consumer when purchasing 12. We can transfer this savings because Exotic Fruit Bars will save on packaging with the larger box. The cost for a box of 6 will be $4. 50 and $7. 20 respectively not inclusive of freight to the distributor. There will be a minimum per order of $300 which can be spread across all four SKI-I’s. This price allows for a minimum of thirty-five percent gross margin. The pricing strategy incorporates uniform delivered pricing cross Canada meaning that from East to West Coast freight charges to distributors will be the same.
There are many factors to consider when setting the price for Exotic Fruit Bars since we are an emerging brand and new to production. The raw ingredients for our bars are very volatile being that they are premium ingredients. Thus, we need to incorporate this into our pricing strategy to ensure that we do not suffer tremendous losses when there are spikes in the cost of raw ingredients. Thus, when doing business in the food industry one needs to understand that there are many external factors that affect cost which then affect price.
This is the nature of the beast when you are manufacturing a product in a market that consists of many buyers and sellers. Competition can be advantageous to the costs, or detrimental to the bottom line. The pricing for the Exotic Fruit Bars is centered around value-based pricing, more precisely value-added pricing. The value added principle emphasizes our core product attributes, organic and loaded with superfood ingredients in contrast to the rather homogeneous products of our competition. These two points allows us to differentiate our product and offer a price that is aligned with the perceived alue of the product.
The term ‘superfoods’ is emerging as a buzzword within the food industry and is all the rage, as these ingredients (Dragon Fruit, Gogi Berry,Star Apple, passion Fruit, LJgli and Guava) are organic and premium. We will not offer any discount or allowance to the major, larger grocery retailers as we would like our price point to remain consistent from one point of purchase to the next. This will ensure that we remain consistent with the target market that we are wishing to serve; and to ensure that consumers recognize and are willing to pay for superior product attributes.
We strongly elieve that the price point can positively influence and affect the consumers final decision to purchase our product given the theory of psychological pricing. The customer can perceive our product as being better than the competitor given the higher price point. Place (Distribution): Exotic Fruit bars will be sold through indirect marketing channels. We will source all raw materials, produce the goods and package the goods to be made for sale by distributors. Exotic Fruit bars will be made available through the use of more than one distributor but less than all.
The distributors will then sell to the retailers. In order to avoid channel conflict, we will select distributors who fit within our niche; those that already distribute organic products. We believe that this will maximize our sales potential as the retailers that buy from these distributors will understand our product positioning and thus the higher price point. Nonetheless, in order to expose Exotic Fruit Bars, we will also offer them through one distributor that has both the capability and facilities across Canada to sell our product to supermarkets.
This channel can provide us with greater visibility across the country; however it may also pose a problem. Typically, large supermarkets equire promotional pricing or discount and allowance pricing which Exotic Fruit Bars will not offer. This will be done to ensure that distributors who deal mainly in organic and specialty stores can remain viable as it is assumed that Exotic Fruit Bars will capture most of its market within this category. The decision to use a distributor was made in order to manage costs and reach out to the most channels possible.
It will also allow for easier order fulfillment and replenishment in comparison to dealing with every retailer directly. As such our product will be placed within the organic aisles Of known grocery hains such as Loblaws, Provigo and IGA in order to reach as many consumers as possible. Nevertheless, the main retail environment that we would like to position our product in is in specialty grocery shops, such as chains that specialize in organic products, those that have trained professionals that can advise the consumer ofthe value of the product, or in health food stores.
This will result in the most repeat customers while the large chains will feature our product amongst many others. We would also be selling our product in cafeterias at selected workplaces and hospitals in order o appease our target market. Promotion: When launching a new product, respectable promotion is the main key to your success. It is crucial to ensure that the product is being promoted properly and across as many channels as possible. Based on the demographics we will be marketing to young professionals between the age range of 25-34, as well as adults aged 35-49 which is typically the age range for parents with young teens.
Social media is a powerful and effective promotional tool, consequently we will use Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to gain publicity. This will allow us to keep the buzz going about our roduct because it will be seen everywhere. It will also allow consumers to join our journey by following us on Instagram and Facebook where we will post pictures and weekly newsletters about little tips and tricks on how to stress management techniques and many more. Consumers will also be able to view our product online and voice their opinions about it in our suggestion / comments section that will be available on our website.
Our customers will be able to subscribe to monthly newsletters that Will be sent to them by email, similar to the ones available on social media. Given the fact that there ill be a lot of specialist waiting to tear apart our product and tell the world that it is actually not as healthy for consumers as we say it is, we decided to stay one step ahead of the game. We will have a nutritionist/dietitian as one of our spokesperson in order to explain to the world the advantages of our product and tell them how healthy it really is for them.
The nutritionist/ dietitian will appear on our television and radio commercials and social media adds. In order to sell our products at selective workplaces and hospitals, we will have sales representatives who will proactively contact our business lientele by phone, and also meet them in person in order to promote and sell our product. In order to promote the product evidently there needs to be a budget set aside. There are many ways a budget can be allocated to the promotion strategy, the way that we have chosen is the competitive-parity method.
We will monitor competitors’ advertising and gather promotion spending estimates from trade associations, and then we will set our budget based on the industry average. We have decided to go with this method given the fact that we are a new product and we cannot afford to be outshined by the competitor. The consumers will be more likely to stick with what they know, therefore we need to ensure that our product is being seen as much as our competitors’. Even though our product offers added value and additional advantages, we still need to ensure that our product is being promoted as much as our competitor.
Major Competitor Analysis: The snack bar industry is constantly evolving and growing. Currently, sales in absolute dollars (millions) for 201 3 are highest in the breakfast bar category at 191. 6 million dollars in sales and other snack bars being the category our product falls under only being at 27. million dollars in sales (See Table 2 in Appendix). The growth prospects within the breakfast bar category have been lagging, however, the other snack bars category has experienced growth of 15. 8% within the last 5 years (from 2008-2013) (See Table 3 in appendix).
As such, Exotic Fruit Bars in entering the market in a growth phase and can capitalize on the opportunity by position ing itself as a leader in the “Other Snack Bar” category. The Canadian snack bar industry is led by 2 global manufacturers, General Mills and Kellogg Canada, with market shares of 26 percent and 1 7 percent respectively. General Mills has the largest market share due to its extensive product offering of both granola and fruit bars. Its leading brand is Nature Valley; an advertising powerhouse.
Nature Valley has the ability to bring its product to the market quickly with its large product development team and cutting edge innovation. As such, this has led to increased brand awareness, enticing consumers to carry their bars around as a snack to go. Nature Valley also prides itself on offering bars that feature granola and muesli as that are high in fiber and protein, accounting for the large majority of their bar sales. Notably, Nature Valley’s product developments and sales within the fruit bar category have been much less impressive.
Nature Valley is not a niche product, it is sold mainly in mainstream grocery stores, convenience stores and discount stores, all of which command low costs in order to meet competitors retail prices. The downside to such approach is that Nature Valleys’ current snack bars will always remain mainstream, despite their large market share, this is because their snack bars can be seen as easily substitutable and uninspired. Additionally, their product attributes are very similar to that of other ompetitors mentioned above, as they are not differentiated by gluten free or organic attributes.
Moreover, more and more consumers are now becoming health conscious, and carefully scrutinize all nutritional labels to examine the caloric intake and sugar content. Particularly, nutritionists and health experts are describing the products currently on the markets as glorified chocolate bars. Kellogg Canada has gained its notoriety in the snack bar industry through catering to consumers trying to watch their weight. They offer significantly less stock keeping units (SKU’s) than General Mills, as they are ssentially trying to create their own niche through offering low calorie bars.
They have very limited marketing support and depend highly on a consumer that is result oriented and less picky about flavor; as they have a very limited product line. As such, Kellogg has very little brand awareness; it is typically sold in large grocery stores amongst the many other competing bars. This is undeniably a major weaknesses once again, as this makes their product easily substitutable. Overall, the snack bar industry is expected to sustain steady demand by consumers searching for healthy and convenient snacks.