Packaged Seafood
Chicken of the Sea (4)
Bumble Bee (1)
Crown Prince (3)
Starkist (2)
Natural Personal Care
Dr. Bronner’s (4)
Rare Natural Care (3)
Organic Essence (2)
S C Johnson & Son, Inc. (1)
Surf Apparel
Hobie by Hurley International (4)
Quicksilver, Roxy (1)
Billabong (2)
Patagonia (3)
1. Given the market sectors and the 4 companies that you chose within each sector, what client needs can you identify to justify each project? What benefit to consumers would be gained by pursuing the project? Provide at least one direct quote from this week’s readings or videos with a citation to relate your answer to the research assignments.
Chicken of the Sea needs a new brand, a new name and an updated delivery method to compete in today’s packaged seafood market. The mermaid logo is dated. The name makes no sense. The packaging blends in with its competitors’ packaging and is too limited. Today’s consumer is socially conscious. The company is committed to operating a socially and environmentally responsible business from when the seafood is caught, to processing, packaging and delivery. The company’s brand needs to make this apparent. The brand needs to be simplified. The company also needs to explore other methods of packaging and delivering their product, such as frozen and vacuum packed. They currently do some frozen and vacuum packaging, but should expand.
Dr. Bronner’s brand really needs simplification. Natural personal care products have become a lot more mainstream recently than they were when Dr. Bronner’s first came out. It was first marketed to hippies. The brand needs to change, and they need to change the way it is marketed and distributed to be more available to the mainstream population. It would benefit the consumer because the products are good clean natural products that are being presented in a very unappealing way that turns a lot of people away. The general feel is clinical and analytical rather than having emotional appeal. It would be more appealing to a larger number of people if the brand were also clean and natural looking with a healthy emotional appeal.
Hobie was revolutionary in the surf industry. And the brand is recognizable, but has failed to compete with the legions of new surf companies that have flooded the market in recent years. Hobie has joined with Hurley International to develop a line of surf clothing that would appeal to the more mature surf crowd. They need a new clean logo and image that takes the iconic old school image that the company has and combines it with the current trends toward retro. The older surfer consumer would benefit from a line that is geared toward them.
“The thing when we did muzak was this simplification from the whole name down to a single symbol. As they went forward, it wasn’t just a matter of, gee, how do we change their identity that way? How we change the way we communicate about them? Simpler, stronger messages as you go through, not overly complicated things.” (Hinrichs 2013)
2. Considering the competitive landscape in each sector, why would it be important to go beyond a redesign of the current brand identity of your selected companies? Provide at least one direct quote from this week’s readings or videos with a citation to relate your answer to the research assignments.
The competitive landscape has changed and evolved a lot since each of the selected companies was started. They have all been successful, but they have not evolved their images and brands as time has gone by. Companies today need to know their consumers and to build relationships with them. A fresh new brand would be an exciting starting point to take each of these companies into the new environment, along with the attitude that each company needs to continue to live and grow and change with their consumers into the future.
“According to Michael Porter, a world-renowned strategy guru, a business can differentiate itself from competitors based on the following: (1) the core product or service, (2) price, and (3) the total relationship and customer experience. Companies are finding that the first two are difficult in today’s competitive environment, and are focusing on the importance of developing strong customer relationships. Relationship marketing, or one-to-one marketing, requires that an organization be committed to the development of a customer relationship.” (Levens 2013)
3. What are some of the more obvious features or services that are shared between the competing companies in each sector? What are some potential strategies for differentiating your selected company’s brand from the others?
Packaged Seafoods are a pantry and freezer staple for many households. All of the represented competing companies have very dated and bland brands. Chicken of the Sea could capitalize on a new brand that is fresh, clean and new. They could rework the mermaid into modern, appealing character that could have presence. The character could be made into an animated movie and attract a new generation of followers.
Companies in the Natural Personal Care sector are environmentally aware. They produce products that are environmentally friendly. Their general feel is friendly, transparent, and approachable. They are available in drugstores, natural food stores, and online through their web stores. Dr. Bronner’s has a spiritual element in its brand. The new-age associations of Dr. Bronner’s “all-one” philosophy initially attracted folks. Keeping the spiritual element that they already have in their brand, and expanding on it could differentiate them.
All of the Surf Apparel companies are competing to be hip, edgy and attractive to teenage surfers. Hobie by Hurley could differentiate its brand by designing clothing for the older crowd of surfers who would appreciate a cool line of clothing that is technologically sound and well made, for them.
“And we’re really, we’re the voice, at that moment, of letting people know how it’s changed. We don’t change the company. They changed the company. We just help them make it clear to the audience they want to talk to.” (Hinricks 2013)
References:
Levens, Michael. 2013. Marketing, 1/e Vitalsource eBook for Full Sail University. Pearson Learning Solutions. VitalBook file.
Neumeier, Marty. The Designful Company: How to build a culture of nonstop innovation for Full Sail University. 2013. Pearson Learning Solutions. VitalBook file.
Coming Clean Campaign. Organic Consumers Association. 2013. http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm
Hinrichs, Kit. 2013. Retrieved from http://www.lynda.com/search?q=Kit+Hinrichs
GoodGuide (2013) Retrieved 12/2013 from http://companies.goodguide.com/d/d/Personal-Care
Ranker (2013) Retrieved 12/2013 from http://www.ranker.com/list/top-surf-brands/we