Creative Content

Introducing, Phileas Fogg's latest and greatest creation! Chicharon Crispers! My creative content is a mock up of the packaging complete with logo. I liked to keep the old feel of the brand and decided to make the logo a gentleman with a dated feel [something along the lines of Sherlock Holmes]. I kept it simple while giving it a unique look to differentiate itself from all the other chips or snacks out on shelves.

Week 10: UVP

“The products people buy reflect their lifestyles. As a result, marketers often segment their markets by consumer lifestyles and base their marketing strategies on lifestyle appeals.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, pg. 179) With Chicharon Crispers, we have to come up with a unique value proposition that would cater to the consumer. It would have to make sense in context of the product and the target market. Here are 3 possible unique value propositions that could represent our brand:

1.)   Chicharon Crispers. Delivering great tastes, one bite at a time.

2.)   Chicharon Crispers, one bite is all it takes—the rest is delicious history.

3.)   Craving a unique, inspiring taste of savory goodness? The answer: Chicharon Crispers—one bite and you’re hooked

Implementation Evaluation Control

“Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives. Whereas marketing planning addresses the what and why of marketing activities, implementation addresses the who, where, when, and how.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, pg. 57) Now that we’ve addressed all parts of the marketing strategy, the only thing left to do now is to actually do it. “Many managers think that “doing things right” (implementation) is as important as, or even more important than, “doing the right things” (strategy). The fact is that both are critical to success, and companies can gain competitive advantages through effective implementation. One firm can have essentially the same strategy as another, yet win in the marketplace through faster or better execution. Still, implementation is difficult—it is often easier to think up good marketing strategies than it is to carry them out.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, pg. 57) This brings up an interesting point: right now, we may have the best marketing plan ever devised by a human being; yet, the execution of such a plan can either make or break this brand.

My plan from here is simple: create relationships. We need to find people who want the product as much as we want to give it to them. This is where a careful examination of all potential clients will prove beneficial. If we want a client more than they want our product, they have the leverage in the situation—this is not what we want. Therefore, we would have to also build brand identity ASAP to ensure that we appear professional and serious about our business endeavors. Next, create and secure accounts with the clients. In the background, our social networking team would be promoting the product through various mediums [instagram, twitter, facebook, commercials, etc.] From there comes distribution to the clients and the rest of the job would be to maintain and improve such relationships with our consumer.

Price

“Price is the amount of money customers must pay to obtain the product.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, pg. 54) Price is also a big determining factor of whether or not someone will buy your product. Too high of a price and people will simply pass on your product. Too low, and the business will struggle to keep up with manufacturing costs. Needless to say, the perfect balance must be found. “Rather than offering high quality at a high price, or lesser quality at very low prices, marketers in all industries are looking for ways to offer today’s more financially cautious buyers greater value—just the right combination of product quality and good service at a fair price.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, pg. 79) Considering that the product, an 8oz bag with a vinegar-based dip packet, will be served initially in bars, the price has to stay competitive. I decided to price my snack [per unit] at an even $1.00. This is taking into consideration the fact that the bar will most probably mark it up to make a profit. By making it $1.00 for the bar, finances can easily be tracked with the exception of taxes. If I give the product to the bar for $1, they can easily mark it up another .50-.75 cents to make their profit. At the same time, most people at the bar don’t want to hold on to change or coins and therefore will probably give the bar $2 even. That keeps the bar happy and the consumer doesn’t break bank over bar snacks. The only variable we would have to monitor, due to lack of experience in such an area, would be the cost to make the product. As long as we can keep manufacturing low enough, which I think we can consider the simplistic packaging, the company can still net profit. The company would make more money when branching off to bigger clients with bigger orders, specifically the big box stores. We would have to re-evaluate costs and pricing to maximize profit.

Distribution

Now that our marketing strategy is “off the ground” so to speak, the business now has to work on its current marketing situation. We know that we want business-to-business relations but the next reasonable question would be how to get the product there.  To maximize efficiency and minimize unnecessary expenses, the book suggests “a review of distribution that evaluates recent sales trends and other developments in major distribution channels.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, Table 2.2, pg. 56) After reviewing that, we have to decide where we would want to get our product and how. This is where marketing intermediaries come in play. “Marketing intermediaries help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its products to final buyers. They include resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing services agencies, and financial intermediaries.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, pg. 68) I think for my business, I would consider taking the risk of starting local. Although some may argue that going this route would be the last thing a new business would do, I think that this city [Vegas] would provide the boost we need that other cities wouldn’t. Starting local, first and foremost, would keep distribution costs down. We want to get to local bars because word and demand for a good bar experience would spread like wildfire by word of mouth. After gaining support [hopefully] and fulfilling some orders from local bars, we would open up to the big box stores. With enough money and the backing of the Las Vegas bar scene, people would want the snacks at home as well. A similar approach can be observed with products like TGIF’s Potato Skins. Originally starting as menu items exclusively served at the restaurant, demand for the product, brought up by people asking the company “where they could buy them” created a sustainable demand for the product outside of the restaurant. Now, you can buy Potato Skins at your local Walmart as well as other brick and mortar locations. This is the type of expansion we seek to accomplish with the Chicharon Crispers. This would, then, cater to our secondary target market—the masses.

Promotion

Promotions, as the name implies, are ways to promote the brand. “Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, pg. 54) It’s through our promotions that our product will get noticed and it’s through our promotions that people will find a reason to 1.) Either get excited about our product or not get excited about our product and then 2.) Either stay excited about our product or decide to leave our product. According to the textbook, promotion, in marketing, includes: “advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations.” (Marketing An Introduction, Gary Armstrong, Figure 2.5, pg. 54)

Our promotions would be aimed towards the bars first before moving on to the “big leagues.” We would have to secure a business relationship with the bars so that they keep us on their shelves and call us back for more. This is where promotions would come in. Incentives for return customers [special pricing and deals for bigger orders] would encourage a continued relationship with us. Other promos could include giving away merchandise and gear during events at the bars. This would not only bring business and attention to the bar, but also would give the people a reason to physically own something attached to our brand and name. Then, people would be asking where they got those things and our name would again come up in conversation. Our goal here is to come up in conversation as much as possible. The more people here about us, the more the opportunities will present themselves.  A promotion aimed towards our consumer would be the idea I had about the travel sweepstakes in a bag [think Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket]. Other ideas would obviously be developed and executed by the marketing, social networking, and PR teams.