Sweet Bits Branding Strategy
Because of the increased competition on the market of chocolate products, the Sweet Bits Company (SBC) should develop a unique brand strategy for its products that will set it apart from the competitors. To set the brand apart from the competitors the company should put focus on the high quality of the product rather than the quantity of its production.
SBC should be a brand associated with the chocolate of extremely high quality with an appealing but simple aesthetic, the logo should be simple but recognizable – a combination of clear font and contrasting colors of white and orange. The slogan is also of high importance in the branding strategy, so the proposed slogan is “The Sweet Bits Company – We only make quality”. One of the most potentially successful brand extensions for the company is the own ice cream made with high-quality dark chocolate.
Marketing Strategy
The Sweet Bits Company chocolate bars will be available in a large variety of flavors and types with the use of high-quality cocoa ethically harvested in countries like Columbia and Ecuador. The unique technique used in the production of the chocolate will make the taste exceptional from the regular chocolate bars from the supermarket. The trend for organic ethically grown and harvested products will be popular among the ‘millennials’ demographic that regularly visits coffee shops and brasseries. The Sweet Bits Company should look into selling its chocolate bars in such ‘trendy’ places.
Also, because the target demographic includes people that use social media every ten minutes of their lives, a bulk of Sweet Bits chocolate advertisements should be placed on social media rather than on TV or billboards. The strategies such as interest targeting, custom targeting, and connection targeting can become instrumental in expanding the presence of the brand online (Ganguly, 2015, para. 8).
The most appropriate timetable for plan implementation should be four months so that the chocolate bars will be sold at many coffee shops by the Christmas season. Two months is a period that will take the management to develop all necessary branding components such as logo, slogan, the design of the chocolate bar wrapper. It will take a couple of months to effectively spread awareness of the brand online. By cooperating with bloggers, photographers, models, and other Internet personalities the product will gain much more attention from the target audience.
Sweet Bits Brand Positioning Statement and Perceptual Map
A brand positioning statement for the Sweet Bits Company chocolate bars should represent what the brand envisions its product to be for the target audience (Humphreys, 2015, para. 1). Therefore, the positioning statement will include the target segment, the frame of reference, the benefits promise, and the reasons to believe the promise
- Target segment: the connoisseurs of high-quality chocolate that value the exquisite taste and the ethical attitude towards cocoa harvesting.
- The frame of reference: the Sweet Bits Company is the brand of exceptional quality chocolate.
- Benefit promise: Chocolate will melt in your mouth and become a great company to the cup of high-quality coffee.
- Reasons to believe: use 100% healthy, natural organic ingredients, harvested by fairly-paid hard-working people at exotic cocoa plantations, does not contain sugar and any artificial flavorings.
Designing a perceptual map for brand positioning will give a better understanding of customer segments as well as competitive brands that will be of interest to the segments (Iacobucci, 2013, p. 53). The map below shows the positioning of the Sweet Bits Company chocolate bars against the competitors:
As seen from the perceptual map, Lindt offers luxurious and high-priced chocolate for a specific consumer segment while Hershey’s caters to another consumer segment; therefore, these brands do not compete. Sweet Bits is in between brands like Nestle, Mondelez International, and Lindt, which contributes to a highly competitive environment on the market of chocolate bars and candy. However, compared with Nestle and Modelez, Sweet Bits provides better quality chocolate, and compared with Lindt, Sweet Bits products are of lower cost.
Consumer Behavior of the Target Audience
The high-quality chocolate bars produced by the Sweet Bits Company will be targeted at the audience of either medium income that values the outstanding quality of products or the generation of millennials that loves going to coffee shops and buy organic chocolates from stores like Whole Foods. According to the Forbes article by Dan Schawbel (2015), the generation of millennials presents $200 billion buying power annually (para. 1).
Also, many companies nowadays struggle to connect with this segment of customers because traditional methods of advertisement are rarely proven to be effective. Decisions on whether to buy a particular product to a great extent rely on the reviews from friends, budgeting, the value of the products, the product’s presence on social media, and any innovative or unique characteristics (Murdough, 2016, para. 10).
Therefore, the Sweet Bits Company’s brand segmentation should account for many aspects of the consumer behavior for the chocolate bar becoming successful in the segment of high-quality chocolate. The company’s management should make it easy for customers to share opinions about the product, exhibit its value, invest in effective social media advertisement, and make decisions on how the product can be innovative.
The chosen brand name, logo, and slogan will be appealing to the target audience because they offer value – high quality, reasonable pricing, simple but recognizable logo as well as a catchy brand name that is different from any other. The positioning statement of the brand caters to consumers that make sound buying decisions based on quality and ethics rather than just on the recognizable packaging or low prices.
Mission Statement
The mission statement of a particular brand is instrumental in describing the reason why the company exists. It is predominantly used for guiding the management’s decisions on the responsibilities, actions, or brand’s priorities (Hull, 2013, para. 1). The proposed mission statement for the Sweet Bits Company chocolate bars is the following: “Sweet Bits chocolate bars: making sure that quality chocolate is not only tasty but also ethical.”
The target audience of the product makes purchase decisions based on quality as well as ways in which the product was manufactured. Organic and ethically harvested ingredients offer greater value and satisfaction. It is important to highlight the feature of quality and simplicity and contrast with the main competitors. Luxurious quality and the relatively low price is what will set the Sweet Bits chocolate bars apart from the competition like Nestle or Lindt because it is positioned in the middle and can cater to the needs and requirements of both Lindt and Nestle potential and existing customers.
Sweet Bits Company Unique Selling Proposition
Sweet Bits Company is a unique brand that specialized in crafting high-quality chocolate produced from organic cocoa beans that have been ethically grown and harvested in the most exotic locations around the globe. The chocolate bars sold by the Sweet Bits Company are different from their competitors in the perfect combination of value and high quality.
While chocolate brands like Lindt and Godiva target only customers that can afford luxurious products without paying any attention to the price tag, Nestle is appealing to those that can compromise on quality for the affordable price. However, the Sweet Bits Company chocolate is not about compromise; it is an incomparable merge of high quality and affordable prices that will capture the attention of both market sectors. As seen from the Sweet Bits Company perceptual map, the brand stands perfectly in the middle of the industry, catering to a large audience of potential customers.
The AIDA Advertising Formula
According to Terri Langhans (2016), the AIDA principle is one of the most effective and persuasive methods of advertising (para. 1). Whether a brand wants potential customers to buy, call, refer, or just remember the message, the principle consists of four components; namely: attention, interest, desire, and action.
To capture the attention of potential customers, Sweet Bits Company chocolate advertisement will focus on how the cocoa beans are collected (photos or videos of plantation workers), produced and packaged (shots of the manufacturing plants), and how customers enjoy the product (videos of consumers eating). This sequence will show that people are key in creating chocolate of exquisite quality.
To keep the interest, the commercial will focus on the slogan “The Sweet Bits Company – We only make quality”. Any feedback on social media will be welcomed to engage customers into a conversation with the brand so that the interest is kept “alive and growing”.
The combination of the affordable price and exquisite quality is what will make the chocolate bars by The Sweet Bits Company desirable. The organic origin of the ingredients will also capture the attention of customers that care about their health.
To encourage action on the part of consumers, the advertisement will ask the question “what makes high-quality to you?” Customers will buy chocolate bars and give feedback on their experience with social media so that the perception of the brand will be associated with close interactions among consumers and the company.
Advertising Variations
Although it is crucial to vary advertisements for different media platforms, the main slogan “The Sweet Bits Company – We only make quality” will be present across all platforms. The TV commercial will show picturesque views of the cocoa plantations, the innovative equipment at manufacturing plants, and happy customers that enjoy eating the chocolate bars in parks, in college, at home, or in coffee shops with a cup of coffee. The social media ads will look like banners depicting the shots from the commercial with a slogan in bold writing placed over the photos.
The photos will act as a background while the slogan will play the role of the ad’s focal point. For maximum coverage, the advertisement will be predominantly placed on social media using platforms like Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook. The brand can collaborate with famous ‘food bloggers’ with a large audience. They will post recipes of deserts using the Sweet Bits Company Chocolate or recommend the bars as a healthy alternative to full of preservatives chocolates.
References
Ganguly, S. (2015). Why social media advertising is set to explode in the next 3 years. Web.
Hull, P. (2013). Answer 4 questions to get a great mission statement. Web.
Humphreys, K. (2015). 6 Secrets to writing a better brand positioning statement. Web.
Iacobucci, D. (2013). MM4: Marketing management. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Langhans, T. (2016). The AIDA principle: Four things your message must do if you want results.
Murdough, C. (2016). How millennials make purchase decisions today.
Schawbel, D. (2015). 10 New findings about the millennial consumer. Web.