Saputo Inc. is one of the most popular Canadian dairy companies, and it owns such a brand of cheese as Armstrong. Saputo was founded in Canada in 1954, and Armstrong cheddar presented in cheese blocks is one of the first company’s brands which became recognized widely. Saputo positions itself as the company to support the people’s healthy lifestyle. That is why, the company responds to the environmental issues while proposing the energy-efficient products.
Furthermore, the company follows the Canadian programs to reduce carbon emissions and to train employees in relation to their ecological consciousness. In addition, the company sponsors the community’s initiatives associated with the promotion of the healthy lifestyle principles proposed by such organizations as FitSpirit and the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie (Pederson, 2004, p. 363; Saputo, 2014). To discuss the company’s marketing strategy in relation to the promotion of Armstrong cheese blocks, it is necessary to focus on the analysis of the environmental scan, consumer behavior, and target market.
Environmental Scan
The dairy industry in which Saputo operates is influenced by social, economic, technological, competitive, and regulatory environmental forces significantly, and these forces also impact the marketing strategy to promote Armstrong cheese blocks. However, social, economic, and competitive forces can be discussed as the most influential and requiring Saputo’s certain reaction.
Social force
The increased eco-consciousness is the recent trend in the sphere, and Saputo addresses this trend while demonstrating in advertisements and promotion campaigns how cheeses are made using the eco-friendly methods and how animals are appropriately treated to provide the high-quality milk.
Economic force
Saputo highly depends on the development of the dairy and cattle industry because any changes in the industry can cause the changes in Armstrong cheese blocks’ costs and prices. As a result, the company should follow the protection strategy to predict changes in the discussed industries (Saputo 2010 annual report, 2011).
Competitive force
The cheese market is highly competitive in Canada and worldwide, and dairy companies should focus significantly on improving their strategies to win the competitive position (Romain, 2001, p. 337). Saputo’s strategy is based on supporting the tradition and brand recognition as well as on the emphasis on producing the natural high-quality Armstrong cheddars. Armstrong cheese blocks are promoted as the traditional Canadian cheddars with the history in many decades.
Consumer Behavior
The consumer behavior and loyalty can be influenced by a range of psychological and socio-cultural factors. To influence the consumers’ buying behavior in relation to Armstrong cheese blocks, such psychological factors as values, learning, and lifestyle play the most significant role. Saputo responds to the consumers’ needs and expectations while focusing on the fact that the company uses only traditional recipes and natural products (Armstrong Cheese, 2014). Furthermore, the company’s products are promoted with the help of television cooking shows to stimulate learning. The fact that the company supports the principles of the healthy lifestyle is also reflected in the advertisements and brochures.
Family and culture can be discussed in this case as influential socio-cultural factors. Consumers are inclined to buy Armstrong cheese blocks actively because in many Canadian families, cheddar is the part of the traditional food. Furthermore, the culture of eating the Canadian cheddar is actively supported with references to the traditional recipes found in the Canadian restaurant menus. That is why, Saputo pays much attention to accentuate that its Armstrong cheddar is the most natural and widely recognized variant of the Canadian cheddar (Saputo, 2014).
Target Market
Saputo divides its broad target market into several markets while segmenting the market according to geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioural principles.
- Geographic segmentation. Armstrong cheddar is promoted in Canada in other countries with the help of different marketing strategies which are based on the family values and worldwide brand recognition.
- Demographic segmentation. Saputo orients both to the middle-age and young males and females who belong to the middle and upper-middle social categories.
- Psychographic segmentation. Armstrong cheddar is proposed to those males and females who value traditions and follow the principles of the healthy lifestyle.
- Behavioural segmentation. Following this criterion, the target audience of Armstrong cheese blocks is those persons who know much about cheddar and prefer the high-quality cheese and those young males and females who value the excellent taste qualities (Saputo, 2014).
As a result, the ideal consumer of Armstrong cheese blocks is the middle-aged or young person who follows traditions and chooses Saputo’s product because of its high quality.
Conclusion
Saputo’s marketing strategy used to promote Armstrong cheese blocks is based on the principles of the brand recognition and consumer loyalty dependent on the emphasis on tradition and values. The other approach to support the competitive position in the market is the focus on promoting the principles of the healthy lifestyle while accentuating the quality of the natural products and the company’s approach to the social responsibility issues.
Recommendations
- To focus more on the product’s response to the global trends without references to the tradition while broadening the target market.
- To concentrate on reducing the negative impacts of economic factors.
References
Armstrong Cheese. (2014). Web.
Pederson, J. (2004). International directory of company histories: Volume 59. USA: Gale Publisher. Web.
Romain, R. (2001). The future of the dairy industry in Canada. Advances in Dairy Technology, 13(1), 337-353. Web.
Saputo. (2014). Web.
Saputo 2010 annual report. (2011). Web.