Brand Management: Fortunate Foods - Essay Example

? Brand Management: Fortunate Foods BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE Brand Management: Fortunate Foods Introduction to Fortunate Foods Fortunate Foods is an SME with a business model designed to revolutionise the food procurement and consumption processes. In today’s hypermarkets and supermarkets, diversity of product offerings that range from frozen foods to non-perishables conflict operational models, especially as it pertains to procurement. Diversified supply chains that ensure timely and efficient delivery of multiple products require constant analyses to determine whether merchandise purchased is meeting with long-term return on investment. Not all supply chains in the grocery industry are cooperative and well-structured, thus incorporating risks into the business model including determinations of sufficient pricing structures and ensuring that distribution costs fit within the operational budget. This is not the case at Fortunate Foods, a smaller competitor for such organisations as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, offering only a single product line, produce, designed to outperform more diversified business competitors. Description of Fortunate Foods Fortunate Foods will offer top quality produce at affordable prices, a revamping of the traditional mom and pop grocery retailer that specialises only in quality agricultural products. Fortunate Foods will offer the freshest assortment of common and hard-to-find agricultural products, procured under a significant corporate social responsibility model to differentiate the business from larger competitors. Local and international growers will be targeted for contracted delivery of various fruits and vegetables, procured through responsible farming and harvesting organisations and independent grower systems. This responsible procurement model will consist of a well-publicised quality assurance program, in which independent and internal inspectors will conduct full-scale inspections of product before giving the procured agriculture the coveted Fortunate Foods Seal of Approval label. All products procured will meet the rigorous quality standards unparalleled in the grocery industry, a key positioning strategy for this new business concept. Procured merchandise will consist of hard-to-find agricultural products, such as pine nuts, ugli fruit, and Korean pears, among a very diverse selection of locally-procured and internationally-procured products. To make this business model attractive, Fortunate Foods will be utilising in-store recipes that include hard-to-find and/or obscure agricultural products to facilitate more consumer interest in trying the many diverse agricultural products provided by the business. In-store demonstrations for proper preparation of international agriculture will be provided to consumers as part of the interactive, people-centric business model to add further perceptions of total brand value to the company’s many target consumers. Introduction to brand and design of branding strategy Because this is a new market entrant with no history of brand recall in important target markets, the branding strategy must focus on establishing, primarily, brand recognition. To effectively position Fortunate Foods in this industry, the corporate brand must represent the culmination of values and principles held by the organisation and reflect them in brand concept and logo design. The main selling features of Fortunate Foods are corporate social responsibility, customer relationship management, and innovation in procurement for better agricultural consumption value. These are the distinguishing differentiation conceptions that will provide Fortunate Foods with a reputable market position with important revenue-producing target markets. The first conception in branding strategy is to develop a recognisable and comprehended brand personality. This is the basis on which intangibles of the business model are translated to create better consumer perceptions of total company and brand value (Aaker 1996). A worthwhile brand personality must consist of sincerity, competence and excitement if it is to be valuable to consumers (Aaker 1996). “Branding represents one of the core marketing practices that emphasises the connectedness of the firm with its external environment of which customers are important constituents” (Abimbola 2001, p.99). In this case, it will be necessary to illustrate how Fortunate Foods transcends competitive action in corporate social responsibility and then is able to translate this into more brand value on the back of tangible activities that improve customer-centric service delivery. Sainsbury’s, a major competitor, has won many accolades from reputable agencies for its focus on corporate social responsibility. Sainsbury’s values are to provide healthy, safe and fresh food options to consumers using responsible procurement models (Sainsburys 2011). Further, under the campaign of “Feed your family for ?50” at Sainsbury’s, the business encourages healthy eating in youth markets and loyal markets, illustrating that healthy lifestyles can be achieved at reasonable prices for the price-sensitive consumer (Sainsburys 2011). Using a variety of press releases and internal promotions in-store, corporate social responsibility is reinforced to consumers under the protection of a hard-to-replicate brand personality at Sainsbury’s. Fortunate Foods will be adopting certain benchmarks from this branding success story and then incorporating them into the branding strategy since it is a proven model that gains considerable market interest and loyalty. Branding in relation to consumer psychology In order to establish brand recognition, it is necessary to promote the corporate logo in a variety of in-store merchandising efforts and advertisements. Gaining consumer attachments to this brand, which can ultimately lead to long-term loyalty, requires expressing to consumers the perception of self-expansion opportunities (Aron, Aron and Smollan 1992; Muniz and O’Guinn 2001). Self-expansion, in this case, is best defined as using a brand to boost self-concept, improve social lifestyle, or otherwise improve the self. The focus of the corporate social responsibility principles held by leadership at Fortunate Foods provides self-expansion by giving consumers more choice in at-home consumption and preparation whilst also giving consumers much higher quality service through interactive instruction occurring in-store by knowledge experts. These are the intangibles of corporate philosophy that must be expressed in the branding strategy. The ability of the existing procurement model and internal staff competence to provide consumers with opportunities for self-expansion are critical differentiation concepts that sets Fortunate Foods apart from major grocery competitors. Once a consumer has found emotional attachment to a brand that provides self-expansion, especially important when consumer markets gauge reference groups for approval, they will expel more personal resources into defending the brand against negative peer criticism and provide effective word-of-mouth that highlights their positive experiences with the brand (Muniz and O’Guinn 2001). Therefore, the goal of the branding campaign must be to establish the foundations of brand loyalty using creative and integrated marketing communications that express how the brand can assist in developing the consumer to achieve their own personal connotations of self-improvement. Hence, Fortunate Foods becomes a lifestyle advocate. Brand development and justification of brand development decisions As identified, Fortunate Foods must first establish brand recognition in order to promote the values of the business and the type of shopping experience that can be expected at Fortunate Foods. Figure 1 illustrates the brand logo conception that will accompany all preliminary promotional material constructed in this brand strategy. Figure 1: Conceptual brand logo to achieve brand recognition In psychological theory, the colour red represents hunger, excitement and warmth (Logo Tree 2012; Weiten and Lloyd 2005). Impulse buyers typically respond to red-orange combinations (Logo Tree 2012), thus the justification for the logo presentation in a friendly, easy-to-recognise format depicting a happy consumer. The impact of Internet and Advertising on brand development Morrison’s and Tesco are two grocery competitors that have experienced explosive growth in Internet sales on dedicated websites (Thompson 2010). Consumers in the grocery industry are intrigued by new and modern conveniences provided by online shopping, especially with Tesco taking an early market leadership position as innovator in home delivery of in-store merchandise. Fortunate Foods will not, however, adopt this home delivery model, but will utilise the Internet as a promotional tool and knowledge exchange forum for targeted consumers. Nonetheless, the success of a proven online sales model by major competitors illustrates that the business should achieve a significant return on investment when using the Internet to promote the brand in the earliest stages of branding focus for brand recognition. To be successful in using the Internet to promote, Fortunate Foods must be transparent, trustworthy and build positive interpersonal relationships with consumers (Goodson 2011). Social media on the Internet allows the business to carry out what is referred to as movement marketing, an effort that moves away from traditional sales models and attempts to illustrate to consumers the actual values and principles of the brand (Goodson 2011). Rather than focusing simply on what is being offered as procured merchandise options, the focus is to give consumers a positive perception of business direction, intention and organisational culture related to service excellence. The business will be developing an interactive blog to establish a brand community, whereby consumers can report of their positive experiences during in-store shopping experiences. Additionally, exchanging of recipes provided by consumers and Fortunate Foods will allow customers to recognise the extended value of the innovative products offered in the responsible procurement model. This provides more incentive for consumers to explore Fortunate Foods offerings and philosophies of business and service which can increase word-of-mouth effectiveness over the long-term. The Internet will also provide a valuable forum for expressing the different CSR partnerships with local and international growers and how Fortunate Foods manages to improve variety and also lifestyles of many supply chain partners. Illustrating to consumers how the business selects its agriculture, along with testimonials from many independent growers, will provide the positive brand personality sought by Fortunate Foods. In this industry, first movers in an innovation (such as Tesco) have considerable competitive advantages as first movers are often compared to late entrants with unfavourable consumer assessments (Kalyanaram and Gurumurthy 2008). Therefore, loyalties are sometimes established with innovators as consumers perceive risks for defecting to the late mover brand. Farm Food will be the first in streamlining procurement for food consumption to include only agricultural products, in a store design and facilities layout that is comparable to major competitors rather than small-town, low-inventory independent vendors. Under market mover theory, Fortunate Foods should be able to gain rapid loyalty as a first mover with unfavourable comparisons made to any competitor or new market entrant that would attempt to replicate Fortunate Foods branding and procurement strategies. The promotional function in the marketing mix is one of the most fundamental, critical branding conceptions necessary to achieve brand recognition and ultimate brand loyalty. The business will be delivering newspaper advertisements and direct mailing advertisements prior to actual business launch to familiarise consumers about the brand and excite them about its impending presence in the grocery marketplace. All preliminary advertising will consist of prominent brand logo presentation, offering one-time incentives for reduced pricing and special events hosting to create enhanced motivation to visit Fortunate Foods. Local billboards will also be utilised as a medium to ensure that customers are aware of Fortunate Foods and its brand/product concept. Figure 2: Conceptual billboard advertisement for brand recognition establishment Brand damage and brand confusion Fortunate Foods cannot allow brand confusion to occur in profitable markets that leads to dilution of branding strategy developments. In today’s grocery industry, there are many different private label products and name brand merchandise, with multiple promotions occurring regularly. This can create an overwhelming basket of integrated and conflicting messages that confuses the consumer about which brands are the most viable and relevant. To avoid this, Fortunate Foods will continuously seek differentiation strategies, in this case it currently stands at CSR, quality and abundant customer services. Fortunate Foods will, first and foremost as a means of ensuring no brand confusion, not allow any individual or corporate entity to become linked or sponsor Fortunate Foods business model that does not share the same values, principles and reputation on the consumer market. This occurred with Abercrombie & Fitch, a major U.S.-based retailer, where a celebrity used in promotion suddenly gained a negative reputation, which in turn affected sales of this retailer (Weitz 2011). This not only avoids brand damage through external entities and organisations, but also ensures that corporate social responsibility is aligned with tangible business practice. In a competitive market where major competition is continuously attempting to innovate and differentiate through operational restructuring, Fortunate Foods will reduce opportunities for brand confusion by illustrating a concise, succinct brand message that distinguishes the company from all other grocery competitors. Co-branding and its impact on Fortunate Foods Fortunate Foods will not be carrying large, name-brand products commonly found in grocery stores, thus the quality assurance seal of approval represents the Fortunate Foods label of top-notch quality. Since the goal is to establish brand recognition as a primary branding strategy, co-branding will not occur during preliminary promotional efforts. Fortunate Foods must, initially, sell the business as a stand-alone brand that accurately and consistently represents the Fortunate Foods philosophy of responsible business and service excellence. Once it has been determined, both qualitatively and quantitatively, that brand recognition has been achieved, co-branding alliances will be sought as appropriate for meeting strategic goals and profitability expectations. Fortunate Foods will seek partnerships with local and international diet authorities and health-eating celebrities that will add more credibility to the brand. Celebrity endorsements, when they are considered attractive and credible, leads to promotional successes (Pornpitakpan 2003). The business will seek dual branding campaigns with such entities as Weight Watchers International, a well-respected health and dieting company with decades of knowledge in nutrition and innovative foods preparation. Figure 3: Conceptual labelling with co-branding alliances related to quality Upon establishment of co-branding alliances, appropriate labels will be placed on a variety of profitable produce to reinforce quality integrity and further express independent expert assessments approving product reliability. This will have important psycho-social outcomes for certain target consumers that value expert opinion in healthy and innovative foods consumption. This system of identifying and supporting Fortunate Foods quality will continue to drive home a consistent message of total product and service quality unparalleled in the grocery industry. Internationalisation of branding and justification for Fortunate Foods It is too early in the branding process, when attempting to build brand recognition, to strongly consider internationalisation efforts. However, upon finding success in localised target markets, there will be opportunities for expanding the brand presence into new, foreign markets. The business will need to conduct pre-launch marketing research, either questionnaires or surveys, to determine what market preferences exist in new, foreign markets. They may have collectivist values or be price sensitive as major characterisations, which will impact pricing structures, operational components, or even procurement variety. The brand must use integrated messages that are culturally relevant and also lifestyle relevant for consumers that would be the most likely to frequent Fortunate Foods. Culture-specific internationalisation of the brand will be a major success factor in this effort, identified through market research analyses. Internationalisation of this brand will also be dependent on seasonality for foreign agriculture and how this impacts lifestyles of foreign consumers. The business must look at competitive business models in these countries to determine what successes have been found in many elements of the marketing mix and then incorporate these into the Fortunate Foods model. Whether it is lack of price flexibility in key markets or whether attitudes and culturally-based, national pride is a factor, it must be considered and then properly translated into a total brand conception. Value is the main driver for selecting Fortunate Foods in the domestic market, but it might be expertise in a foreign market that makes or breaks sales volumes. A responsible, contingency-based marketing effort consisting of environmental competitive analyses will lay the foundation of what information is required in promotion and incentives-based marketing to maintain competitive edge and positive brand reputation in foreign markets at the time of expansion. Summary Establishing a brand that is relevant and trusted in many different target markets is critical to building a powerful market reputation. Effective presentation of colour, graphics, and communications both print and direct from in-store personnel will build the elements of trust and respect needed. Once consumers understand the total brand personality of Fortunate Foods and how it can deliver value over major competition, the foundations of brand loyalty exist that provide multiple opportunities for co-branding and internationalisation. This branding strategy, as described, will differentiate and position Fortunate Foods effectively for market longevity and profit success. Combining elements of psychographics (the lifestyle segmentation process based on behavioural constructs) with competent support staffing along a responsible procurement model will segregate this brand personality from the brand personalities of major grocery competitors and avoid brand confusion or brand damage that could jeopardize market successes. References Aaker, D.A. (1996). Measuring brand equity across products and markets, California Management Review, 38(Spring), pp.102-119. Abimbola, T. (2001). Branding as a competitive strategy for demand management in SMEs, Journal of Research in Marketing & Entrepreneurship, 3(2). Aron, A., Aron, E.N. and Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in the self-scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(4), pp.596-611. Fairholm, M. (2009). Leadership and organisational strategy, The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 14(1), pp.26-27. Goodson, S. (2011). 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