Snapple: Integrated Marketing Communication. By Dan Hoff and Lindsey Lajiness

Transcription

1 Snapple: Integrated Marketing Communication By Dan Hoff and Lindsey Lajiness

2 Table of Contents Title Page 1 Executive Summary 3 Industry Analysis 3 Company Background.4 Competitor Analysis 5 Customers and Prospects 5 Products and Customer Loyalty 6 SWOT Analysis and Discussion 7 Current Market and Promotional Strategy Analysis 8 Marketing Mix 8 Promotional Mix 10 Objectives and Goals 11 Market Share 11 What is Your Big Idea? 12 Types of Appeal 13 Position the Brand 13 Promotional Mix 15 Monitoring the Brand 15 Interactive Marketing and Advertising 15 Product Placement 16 Product Sponsorship 17 Evaluating Success 18 Executive Summary 2

3 Snapple has become one of the most popular alternative beverage options throughout the past few decades. Due to a declining economy matched with an increasingly competitive market, sales have slumped in recent years. Currently advertising has been minimized for the brand. By launching the Get Juiced campaign, we plan to increase brand awareness, reach new demographics and increase market shares. By integrating fruit characters into our campaign we will start a series of television commercials and webisodes, while utilizing new forums such as FaceBook and Tweeter to maximize the brand s potential. Industry Analysis Current Industry trends for alternative beverage brands like Snapple, Naked Juice, Lipton, Nestea, Minute Maid and many more seem to be using healthier ingredients in an attempt to minimize calories and fat content in their products. With society becoming more and more health conscious, consumers are looking to juice drinks, teas and waters as opposed to the traditional carbonated options. Many brands are expanding their product lines to include fruit, vegetable and tea alternatives as opposed to carbonated sodas. Because of this trend, competition has increased drastically over the past few years. Snapple, being one of the first companies to offer alternative beverages, has enjoyed high brand recognition, which has led to a larger share of the market. 3

4 Company Background Snapple brand has been recognized as a pioneer in the alternative beverage industry. The line of beverages was founded by childhood friends Hyman Golden, Arnold Greenberg and Leonard Marsh in Valley Stream, New York, on Long Island in They started the Unadulterated Food Corporation and began selling their fruit drinks to health food stores in the New York area. The name Snapple came from a carbonated apple soda that was part of the original beverage line (Snapple, 2009). Over the years, Snapple has grown the product line to include juice drinks, lemonade, tea and water. Snapple originally became a household name in the early 1990 s with a popular ad campaign featuring a former employee named Wendy Kaufman, also known as The Snapple Lady that would answer letters sent in from consumers. This increase in sales led the Quaker Oats Company to purchase the product line in (Gattuso, 1995, p 1, 6) Poor management and marketing strategy led to catastrophic losses for the company and Snapple was again sold to the Triarc Corportation, who turned the company around and sold off to Cadbury Schweppes in In 2003, Snapple made history by becoming the "official iced tea of New York City" (Botas, 2003). Included in this agreement were exclusive vending machine rights in public places and schools across the area. Unfortunately a lack of structure and management within the company led to the eventual unraveling of this deal as well. In 2008, Snapple was sold to the current owner, Dr Pepper. With slumping sales in the carbonated beverage industry, Dr Pepper is looking to focus more on returning the Snapple product line to the height of popularity it has reached in years past. With 4

5 promises to increase funding for advertising and product quality, Snapple will soon gain back the market share they enjoyed in the past. Competitor Analysis What started out as just a few alternative beverage options a few decades ago is now exploding into a sustainable market. Because of the array of beverage options available to consumers, Snapple has competition from juice brands like Minute Maid, tea brands like Lipton, lemonade brands like Country Time and carbonated brands like Coke and Pepsi. Snapple has been able to stand out from the competition because of multiple aspects like brand recognition, successful advertising campaigns and fun attributes on the bottles, such as the Snapple Facts that can be found under every cap. After fledging leadership the past few years, Dr Pepper promising to focus more on the Snapple sales is a breath of fresh air for your brand. On top of this focus, Snapple has committed to ensuring only natural ingredients are used in the beverages going forward. With all of this momentum, Snapple is looking to return to the former glory the brand has known. Customers and Prospects Because of your vast product line, Snapple has the luxury of appealing to all ages, genders and cultures. Younger age groups will likely enjoy the fruit drinks and lemonade, where a health conscious person may drink Snapple teas and waters for the antioxidants. Implementing Snapple brand products into vending machines at schools 5

6 and universities will help increase brand awareness and provide students with a healthier alternative to the usually offered carbonated options. Products and Customer Loyalty Snapple has been pioneer in the alternative beverage industry, starting in the 70's. Throughout the next few decades, they were able to build a sturdy customer base that led to carbonated beverage companies to take notice in their loss of sales. With an incredibly successful marketing campaign, where a company administrator named Wendy started answering customer letters personally, Snapple turned many of their casual customers into loyal fans (Guttuso, 1995). People everywhere sent in letters in hopes of seeing their words read on a nationally televised commercial. At this point, this type of consumer involved corporate advertising was a fresh idea that the general public embraced. Because of this fan base, Snapple has been able to build a vast product line that consists of dozens of fruit juice flavors, lemonade and iced teas which has helped make Snapple one of the most recognized brands on the market. Snapple's height of popularity, consumption and success came in the early nineties after the "Wendy" campaign doubled sales in 1993 to $516 million (Guttuso, 1995) from sales of the previous year. Since then, a combination of increased competition, more available beverage options and poor company strategy has led to an overall decline in sales the past decade. Snapple posted just over $5.7 million in annual sales for fiscal year 2008 (Gale, 2008, Annual Sales section) which is a drastic decline from the previous decade. 6

7 Strengths Brand and image recognized and well known. Great tag line with catchy phrases on bottles. Snapple products available over 80 countries worldwide. Changed from high fructose corn syrup to sugar. Offers multiple healthy products Redesigned bottle to better fit into cup holders. Line of green teas contains the highest concentration of EGCG on the market. Interesting facts on every bottle cap. Opportunities Possible markets in numerous countries. Redesign bottle to save on production and shipping costs. Partner with fast food restaurant chain Partnering with a celebrity. Health conscious market. Tea consumption rising. Partnering with diet programs. Bring the brand back to life, making it a part of people and not just a juice drink. Weaknesses Lack of or no advertising current and new products. Sales down since purchased by Dr. Pepper Group. Majority of sales stem from one geographic location. Damaged reputation by online rumors Failed to meet revenue goals in NYC deal. Threats Expanding health beverage market competition. Increased media activity providing consumers with more awareness to new products, especially with celebrity influence. Competition is increasingly more global. Consumers less willing to purchase premium beverages in slow economy. Opportunities Snapple s vast product line appeals to all ages and cultures around the world. There is opportunity to increase sales on a global scale in numerous countries. Partnering with a fast food chain, such as Subway will help increase brand awareness and sales. This will also provide consumers with a healthy alternative. 7

8 Sponsoring a weight loss event or a television show, such as NBC s Biggest Loser will help consumers identify Snapple with weight loss and health. Tea consumption is increasing. Snapple can promote having the highest content of EGCG in their beverages. Threats Poor economy is causing a decline in sales for premium alternative beverage markets. The alternative beverage market is expanding, along with competition. A health conscious society has led to an increase in healthy beverage options. Globalization has led to greater brand awareness for smaller brands with consumers. Current Market and Promotional Strategy Analysis Marketing Mix: Product Snapple has been an industry pioneer that now offers customers one of the largest product lines in the alternative beverage market, including fruit juice options, iced teas, enhanced waters and lemonades. With changing demands in the alternative beverage market, your brand has been able to adapt their product line to include options that fit most consumer needs, such as healthier teas, antioxidant waters and delicious fruit combinations. As of 2009, the brand has also committed to using only natural ingredients in every product by replacing corn syrup with real sugar (Lee, 2009, 8

9 6). Providing a healthy alternative to the traditional carbonated beverages has largely been part of what helped make Snapple a household name for the past 37 years. Keeping that commitment to quality ingredients will help Snapple increase your market share. Place Snapple beverages can be found all over the world, in numerous venues such as convenience stores, vending machines, health stores, coffee shops and super markets. The large appeal of the beverage options affords an advantage to the brand in that there is an appeal to multiple markets, such as health conscious consumers, parents and children, tea drinkers and consumers who prefer non-carbonated alternatives. Price Snapple is considered to be a premium beverage by many standards, due to the high quality ingredients used in your products. Because of this, many fans of your brand are willing to pay a slightly higher price than some of the other available options. An increase in premium beverage competition, such as Sobe and Arizona has helped level the price difference between Snapple and other products. Promotion Throughout the past few decades, Snapple has implemented successful marketing campaigns and promotional strategies that included Wendy the Snapple Lady and Snapple Facts printed underneath every bottle cap. The 9

10 slogan Made from the best stuff on Earth has started to increase in popularity as well, which will help the brand awareness that has been hindered over the past few years. Promotional Mix: Advertising To help increase brand awareness with the teenager and young adult demographics, Snapple most recently created a campaign called What s Your Story that encouraged fans of the drink to submit videos of their own commercial ideas, with the winner receiving a 20 second spot on national TV. To help with the campaign, Snapple partnered with media giant Viacom and used MTV to launch a set of commercials that engaged the viewer. Ads were also placed on billboards, mall kiosks, bus stops and promotional displays all over the country. (Manning-Schaffel, 2003). Sales Promotion Snapple has been creative by implementing an open door policy that invites employees to submit fruit combination and other drink ideas. This idea was also the basis in the line of thinking for the What s Your Story campaign. (Manning-Schaffel, 2003). Promotions have suffered in recent years with dwindling budgets and the removal of proven strategies that helped your company gain the original notoriety. Other current promotions include trade promotions such as displays, consumer promotions that include free product samples and coupons, product promotions at schools, athletic clubs and super markets and even internal sales force promotions like creating contests for sales representatives. 10

11 Interactive Marketing Consumers and fans alike can log online to join Snapple on FaceBook and Twitter to stay up to date with product updates and receive special deals and discounts on teas and fruit drinks. Online forums and communities are also available for Snapple fans to discuss the products and share opinions with each other. Other promotional items like coupons are available on Snapple.com as well. Develop Your Strategy Objectives and Goals: Your company has been a pioneer in the alternative beverage industry, and as it grows and evolves, you need to be prepared for what the competition is doing and find new and exciting ways to impress and gain market share through customer refreshment. What do we mean by customer refreshment? We noticed Snapple and the Dr. Pepper Group have not developed a mission statement. We believe if you create one, it will give your company strength and a sense of ownership for the brand and its products. It provides a sense of pride to work for a company that cares about their employees, products and customers. The suggested mission statement is. "To refresh our friends with the 'Best stuff on Earth' in an effort to promote a healthier lifestyle." Market share: 11

12 In order to achieve success through market share and uphold what your company stands for, we recommend you partake in the following objectives. This will help to strengthen your short and long term planning for Snapple and ultimately provide the results you desire. Your main focus should be to promote loyalty through customer value and satisfaction, while building brand recognition. To do this, provide your customers with a refreshing sense of loyalty by allowing them to become a part of the brand. Dr. Pepper Group has strong brands, and within those brands stands Snapple. Current and future potential with any customer interested in drinking juice, tea or water to promote their healthy lifestyle would be interested in Snapple products. In order to expand the market you should promote the brand utilizing multiple plans like interactive, online, and advertisements. Also, showcase customer value by giving them the opportunity to review the brand and how they would like to see it grow. What is Your Big Idea? Snapple s big idea for the juice product line is Get Juiced!. Your target audience has proven to be expansive between all product lines, but younger crowds relate closely with the juice line. The focus of this catchy phrase is to get your customers attention, create an interest in the product your selling, develop a desire for your product, then call them to action to buy the product. Their action should result in purchasing your healthy juice, tea or water beverage that will fit their lifestyle. We suggest continuing the 'better stuff' campaign when focusing on tea, but Get Juiced! will remain the focus for your juice campaign, and the younger target audience. 12

13 Types of Appeals: Rational: A rational appeal should focus on health benefits. This is a very logical response, and as America focuses more on a healthier lifestyle, the Snapple brand should continue to grow with consumer s desires. Emotional: Connect your target audience with the brand. It s fun and has a competitive edge. Your brand has promoted their uniqueness in the past, and will continuing to excel now with your benefits of EGCG. The Snapple consumers will remember and connect with the feel-good campaigns. Reminder: Reminder advertising is crucial to your company because it builds brand awareness and continuously reminds the consumer about your product lines. By continually advertising and expanding across multiple mediums, Snapple s brand image will be a constant reminder in the market. Position the Brand Snapple sells products that are healthy and great tasting drinks for all ages to enjoy. Part of what sets you apart from the competition is having the highest concentration level of EGCG in all of your teas, which provides your consumers with more antioxidants. This is very unique and will help to set you apart from the competition. 13

14 You are also a fun company and want your customers to enjoy drinking your beverages. One way you do this is by providing them with fun facts under each cap, interactive programs on the website, and other websites so customers can provide feedback on what is or is not working. By getting your customer involved, they feel a part of the brand and want to help a fellow friend succeed. The following storyboard illustrates just how fun your company is and the direction in which to focus your new juice campaign, Get Juiced! 14

15 Promotional Mix Monitoring the Brand In order to monitor consumer response and feedback on your brand and products, Technorati is a helpful tool. This is an internet search engine for locating blogs. The site is a full service media company providing services to the blogs and social media sites and connecting them with advertisers who want to join the conversation, and whose online properties introduce blog content to millions of consumers. ( This is a good way for you to monitor how the Snapple product and brand image is being shaped by consumer blogs that mention your product or brand. Interactive Marketing and Advertising Interactive marketing will be introduced as a way to relate and engage the consumer more directly with the brand. Some of these strategies would be to develop a Facebook and Twitter page for the fruit characters that are featured in your commercials. It would also be beneficial to create a page for the Snapple brand too. This is another way to connect with your consumers and potential consumers. It would allow for feedback, but also create a fun and current look for Snapple. The pages would be updated regularly, and consumer questions and posts would receive prompt feedback. The advertising portion of the campaign would focus mostly around your current set of commercials. These commercials will all feature a certain Snapple juice drink and the accompanying fruit character that makes up the drink. These commercials will be 15

16 comedic in nature, and have a theme song. The commercials all end the same with the signature pop of a Snapple top, and your tagline and big idea - Get Juiced. Another advertising portion of the campaign would be sending out mailer coupons for one free Snapple to potential customers. This will be informing the customer of our current sales promotion with SuperAmerica gas stations. This mailer will help to promote trial and repurchase, while also attracting new customers to our products. This mailer will help to promote trial and repurchase, while also attracting new customers to our products. This oversized post card will also prompt cardholders to sign up on Snapple.com to continuously receive more coupons and discounts via . Eventually, based upon how well the mailer coupons are received and used, the plan is to expand to more gas stations other than Super America. As with all of the advertising in the plan, the Snapple bottle will be feature prominently on the mailer to appeal more to the reader s senses. Product Placement Another portion of promotional mix we will be incorporating will be the use of product placement. Possible candidates for television shows featuring our product are Grey s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, 90210, The Office, and cable shows like The Hills and The City. For example, in Grey s Anatomy the doctors could be drinking a Snapple in the cafeteria at work or while walking down the hallways. In Gossip Girl and 90210, which both feature kids in high school and college, there are plenty of opportunities to show the students enjoying Snapple while studying, playing, or just being trendy. The Office has a loyal fanbase which would provide you with great product introduction to a large crowd. In the show, the humor is sarcastic and funny, which helps relate your ads 16

17 humor to the audience. The Hills and The City are also great outlets because of two things: they are on cable (which will broaden your reach beyond local TV), and they have a younger audience demographic (your target audience). One more idea for product placement would be within a big budget movie. One example would be to get a promotional ride on the buzz surrounding the Transformers movies. Product placement in the upcoming Transformers 3 movie would be extremely beneficial for the product. Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf are also growing stars in the industry and would attract a younger crowd. Product Sponsorship An additional avenue we would like to add would be product sponsorship. We would be looking to sponsor episodes of NBC s The Biggest Loser where some episodes feature the trainers from the show providing brief testimonials about the product. This will help to promote Snapple as a healthy beverage alternative, potentially integrating the product more into the health industry. We would also like to create an online Snapple advertainment. To keep costs down, humorous webisodes can be created that will tie into our big idea "Get Juiced". These can be posted on YouTube and linked to from sites like Snapple.com and Facebook. This will help create brand awareness with the younger generations that you are trying to reach. Currently, Snapple uses the following promotions: - Trade promotions: advertising and display allowances 17

18 - Consumer promotions: free product samples and coupons - Product promotions at schools, athletic clubs, and supermarkets - Sales-force promotions: contests for sales reps Evaluating Success With your new Snapple campaign, we suggest using a lot of interactive media outlets to not only market your brand, but also monitor what the consumers say about your brand, your competitors, and gather opportunities to help you grow. Use Google Alerts and Google Trends to track your company and the brand to measure audience impact. Google Alerts allow you to monitor developing news on the Snapple name, and it also keeps a current perspective on a competitor or your industry. Using Google Trends, the user can compare the world s interest in their favorite topics. They can enter up to five topics and see how often they ve been searched on Google over time. It also allows the user to see how frequently their relevant topics have appeared in Google News stories and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most. This would aid in giving a grasp on Snapple's market s demographic divisions. Another great way to evaluate effectiveness is to monitor all websites in which Snapple controls so you can track clicks. By doing this you can track the frequency of which links are being clicked on and what interested your consumers more. 18

19 References Botas, P. (2003). Mayor Bloomberg puts Snapple into every New York school. Retrieved from Chan, B. (2007). How does snapple market its products? Retrieved from DPS. (2008). The best history on earth. Retrieved from Facebook. (n.d.) Retrieved from Gale. (2008). Company profile display page. Business and Company Resource Center. Retrieved from Gale Databases =CO&vrsn=unknown&locID=mnamsu&srchtp=cmp&cc=1&c=1&mode=c&ste=60 &tab=1&tbst=tscm&ccmp=dr.+pepper+snapple+group+inc.&tcp=snapple&doc Num=DC209819&bConts=3&finalAuth=true. Gattuso, G. (1995). Drinking it in: communication is key to snapple s customer loyalty. Retrieved from Jean. (2009). Oh snap!. Retrieved from Manning-Schaffel, V. (2003) Snapple, the best stuff. Retrieved fromhttp:// randchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=107 Olsen, E. (2008). Objectives and goal setting. Retrieved from Snapple. (2009). A leaf was plucked: the history of snapple. Retrieved from 19

20 Snapple. (n.d.). Retrieved on September, 23 rd from Wikipedia: Twitter. (n.d.) Retrieved from 20