Marketing Communication Plan For a New Snack Bar

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Introduction

The United Kingdom (UK) organic industry is riding a trend where many customers are choosing to buy organic foods, as opposed to processed foods (Holmes 2015; Depoe 2014; Barone et al. 2015). As such, there is an emerging market offering that can create a new pool of customers for Unilever (the company does not have a dominant organic food product in the snacks market) (Klostermann & Tukker 2013). There is an increase in the number of companies operating in the organic food sector; thus, it is important for Unilever to differentiate its products from the competitors. Creating a good marketing strategy is not enough to catapult Unilever’s products to the top of the market; there needs to be a serious marketing communications plan to support it.

The purpose of this report is to create the effective marketing communications plan that would enhance the success of Unilever’s Nudie snack. The plan would have a consistent message that would resonate with other elements of the company’s marketing mix. The report explains the steps that would be followed in creating this marketing plan and outlines an analysis of how the internal and external environments would influence it. It also shows how the scheduling and budgeting plan would influence this strategy. Lastly, we will show an evaluation strategy to interrogate the success of the communications plan because success is not only measured by sales numbers, but also by other metrics, such as customer loyalty, brand image and the likes.

Product and Brand Strategy

The Product

The proposed market offering is an organic snack bar that people could consume in-between meals, or as a substitute meal. The snack bar is mostly designed to appeal to young men.

Product Composition Justification

Both genders have different nutritional requirements because of hormonal differences and physical requirements. Generally, men require 2,500 kcal (compared to women’s 2,000 kcal), 55g of protein per day (compared to women’s 45g), 300g of carbohydrates per day (compared to women’s 230g), and 120g of sugar (compared to 90g of sugar to women) (Food and Drink Federation 2016; Lee & Johnson 2013). The Nudie snack bar was made with these nutritional requirements in mind. There are five levels of the product as described below

Table 1: Levels of Product – Nudie

Levels of Product	Key
Core product	Organic nutritional snack bar
Generic Product	High in vitamins, energy, proteins, calories, and sugars
Expected product	Practical, reasonably priced and good quality
Augmented product	The product is designed to meet the specific nutritional needs of males
Potential Product	Different flavours and product modifications

The Brand

As mentioned in this report, Nudie would be a sub-brand of Unilever’s products.

Why Unilever?

Unilever is among the world’s most iconic global brands. The company has more than 400 food brands, which rake in more than one billion shillings in annual revenues for the company (Parboteeah & Cullen 2013). With a market presence in hundreds of countries around the world, the company not only has the experience of launching and marketing new products, but also the financial muscle and the technical expertise to do so.

What is in it For Unilever?

Unilever’s products are mainly categorized into four sections – refreshments, home care, personal care and foods (Parboteeah & Cullen 2013). Although the Nudie snack bar would generally fall under the foods category, Unilever would add an organic foods segment to this portfolio, thereby allowing it to exploit the trend towards organic food consumption in the UK and around the world. This value would fit into the competence section of Aaker’s model (Shin 2013; Shrimp 2010). The diagram below explains this positioning in the wider context of brand personality.

Figure 1: Brand personality according to Aaker’s model

As highlighted in the diagram above, launching the Nudie snack bar would create excitement in the food sector.

Definition of Campaign Objectives

To create objectives for the marketing communications plan, we will use the hierarchy of communications model, which aims to build brand awareness through encouraging customers to make sound purchase decisions, developing customer conviction, developing a preference for Nudie, developing a liking for the product, amassing knowledge about the product, and, lastly, creating awareness about it (Mooij 2013). We will also use the DRIP model to formulate our objectives. This model focuses on persuasion, informing customers about the product, reinforcement, and differentiation (Mooij 2013). Based on this model, the SMART objectives are as follows:

Create brand awareness for Nudie by being able to reach at least 50% of this market in the first year
Create a strong brand loyalty in at least 20% of the market by the end of the first year of launching the new product

Environmental Analysis

Macro Environment Analysis

Our situation analysis would commence through a generic analysis of the microenvironment in the UK organic food market. To do so, we will employ the PESTEL tool of analysis. The table below represents a PESTEL analysis of the UK.

Table 2: PESTEL Analysis for the UK

Political	Stable political environment Low corruption Constitutional monarchy Unknown implications of “Brexit” on the economy
Economic	Inflation rate of 2% GDP per capita of 37,300 Unemployment of 7.8% Increasing the financial stability of consumers
Social	Urban population of 80% Consumers are highly price-sensitive A lot of focus on ethics and corporate social responsibility Third highest level of obesity in western Europe
Technological	90% of internet users Advanced technological infrastructure
Environmental	A lot of attention placed on environmental issues Most of the energy is imported
Legal	Foods are subjected to foods standard agency regulations Strict requirements for organic products Nutrition panel will now mandatorily consist of energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt Organic products should at least be 95% organic Information provided per 100g/ml

The most important factor to consider from our PESTEL analysis is the political implications of operating in the UK. Concerns about “Brexit” are also important to consider in our analysis. There are other vital things to consider about the legal implications of operating in the country as well because we expect stricter health and nutritional regulations on organic products in the next five years.

Microenvironment Auditing

Our microenvironment analysis will mostly focus on understanding the organic food industry in the UK. To do so, we will use the porter’s five-force analysis tool. First, we analyse the industry. The organic foods market has witnessed a steady growth in the total volume of products purchased in the sector. According to Cottle (2016), the industry reports a 4% increase in value every year. This is a good performance considering the overall food and drink industry grows by -1% annually. The following chart shows this trend:

Figure 2: Growth of Organic Foods Industry

The UK snack bar market is estimated to be worth $821 million (Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada 2014). The market share for organic snack bars in the UK is as shown below.

An analysis of this industry using the porter’s five-force analysis reveals the following findings.

Internal Analysis

This section of the report will explore the internal environment of Unilever and the unique dynamics of the Nudie product. The goal is to explore the company’s internal dynamics and product’s characteristics that would merge with the external environmental dynamics to provide a perfect platform for the launch of the marketing communication plan for the Nudie snack bar (Blythe 2008; Jaffari 2015). We use the SWOT analysis described in the appendix section to show how we would exploit the strengths and opportunities to overcome the threats and weaknesses.

Target Market Analysis

The table below shows our segmentation criterion:

Table 3: Target Market

Segmentation Basis	Description
Demographic Attributes
Age	15 years-35 years
Gender	Males (representing 49% of the UK population)
Socioeconomic Factors
Occupation	Students and employed persons
Income	Middle income segment
Psychographic Qualities
Values and Benefits	Healthy and nutritious
Situational
Occasion	Meal Substitution, on-the-go-, energy supplement, and a dietic solution
Frequency of use	Frequent usage (on-the-go) and occasional use (as a nutritional supplement)

Positioning

The purpose of the positioning strategy is to exploit the existing market opportunities in the UK organic food segment and to fulfil the product needs of the consumers (Lane et al. 2008). Our positing strategy would be based on the VRIN model as shown below.

Table 4: Positioning according to VRIN model

V	In terms of value, Nudiewould give young men a whole meal packed in one snack
R	Rarity will be communicated by providing young people with a product that is suited for them
I	Immitability refers to the ability of competitors to develop the same product. Imitation is possible because competitors could get access to the formula used to prepare the product, but through registration of intellectual property, this problem could be mitigated.
N	Non-sustainability is not possible because there is no such product under the Unilever brand. However, indirect substitutes could pose a threat to the brand’s sustainability.

The Campaign

Creative Strategy

The communications strategy would premise on an understanding that the product is low-involvement. As such, the product design and packaging would be instrumental in creating awareness about the product. The overall campaign slogan for the brand would be “Nudie, a man’s best Bet!”

Visuals – The marketing plan would be communicated via billboards and digital marketing platforms, such as social media sites.

Messaging – The main message communicated to the customers would be that of health and fitness. This is why we have used the “best bet” slogan because the target market would be made to believe that Nudie would be the best bet for all their nutritional needs (Barone et al. 2015).

Customer Profile

According to De Pelsmacker et al. (2007), it is important to know the customer profile of the target audience to successfully launch a product that would address their unique needs. To do so, we will use the VALS 2 model, which helps us to identify the target market as health-conscious and young males. As highlighted in this paper, the typical customer would possibly be between 15 years and 35 years. He would most likely be a student or in his first or second job. We also estimate that this type of customer would be smart, educated and able to understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

Media Strategy and Tactics

We would use the scheduling strategy to meet the needs of the type of customer mentioned above. The overall media strategy would be as follows:

Digital Advertising

The digital media strategy would hinge on three key platforms, social media networking sites, YouTube, and website development. The website would be the main platform because the plan is to set up an independent website for Nudie. The primary purpose of this website would be to develop customer relations, where customers could give their feedback about Nudie and the company could respond accordingly (Ryan & Jones 2012). Social media would also be a key tenet of the digital advertisement strategy because the target market is a young demographic, which is dominant on social media (Picton & Broderick 2005). Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat would be the preferable social networking sites for the marketing communication plan. YouTube adverts would also help to strengthen this strategy because the company would create online videos that would pop up as adverts.

Place Advertisement

Billboard: Billboards would be placed at selective spots near entertainment hubs where young people frequent and near institutions of learning. The goal is to reach the widest target market possible.

Transit Media: Adverts would be placed on vehicles, buses and on trains to reach a diverse pool of customers. Millions of people use these transport modes daily. More than 50% of them are aged 18-35 (British Parliament 2013). The logic is that this advertisement strategy would reach young customers who would not be exposed to billboards.

Schedule and Budget

In the scheduling strategy, advertisements would be booming the whole year for all the media channels, except for billboards and transit media. Three months out of 12 would be used to change the billboard strategy because we believe billboards could get monotonous if they run throughout the year. Transit media would be used for 7 months only because it is expensive. Thus, the scheduling strategy would contain a blend of flighting and continuous media strategies (Fill 2009).

Table 5: Scheduling Strategy

Media

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Youtube

Facebook

Twitter

Snapchat

Instagram

Billboard

Transit Media

Post-Campaign Evaluation

Table 6: Post-campaign evaluation

Objectives	How to Evaluate
Create brand awareness for Nudieby being able to reach at least 50% of the target market	Enquiry tests (questionnaires) Recall tests Recognition tests
Create a strong brand loyalty in at least 20% of the market

Conclusion

This market communication plan is important for the successful launch of the Nudie Snack bar. This report has shown that the plan involves a combination of several steps that involve the analysis of the external and internal environments of Unilever and the product. The growing trend supporting the rise of organic food industry is the main market opportunity and a driver for the launch of Nudie. We deduce that the strong financial position of Unilever and its wide market outreach present opportunities for launching the product. For example, the market outreach would be instrumental in providing a strong distribution plan for Nudie because Unilever has such an existing network for its existing brands. The target market would be young customers. The selected media communications strategies would hinge on a digital marketing and billboard advertisement strategy. The goal of choosing these communication channels is to create strong brand awareness about Nudie, increase brand loyalty and create a strong bond with customers.

Reference List

Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada 2014, Consumer trends snack bars in the United Kingdom, Web.

Barone, C, Bolzoni, L, Caruso, G, Montanari, A, Parisi, S & Steinka, I 2015, Food packaging hygiene, Springer, New York.

Blythe, J 2008, Essentials of marketing communications, 4th edn, Financial Times Press, London, UK.

British Parliament 2013, Transport and accessibility to public services: Third report of session 2013-14, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence, The Stationery Office, London.

Cottle, F 2016, UK organic market, Web.

De Pelsmacker, P, Geunes, M & Van Den Bergh, J 2007, Marketing communications: A European perspective, 3rd edn, Financial Times Press, London, UK.

Depoe, S 2014, Voice and environmental communication, Springer, New York.

Fill, C 2009, Marketing communication: Interactivity, community and content, 5th edn, Financial Times Press, London, UK.

Food and Drink Federation 2016, Guideline daily amounts, Web.

Holmes, L 2015, Supercharged food: Eat clean, green and vegetarian: 100 vegetable recipes to heal and nourish, Allen & Unwin, New York.

Jaffari, O 2015, Raw: 150 dairy-free and gluten-free vegan recipes, Allen & Unwin, New York.

Klostermann, J & Tukker, A 2013, Product innovation and eco-efficiency: Twenty-two industry efforts to reach the factor 4, Springer Science & Business Media, New York.

Lane, W.R, King, K & Russel, T 2008, Kleppner’s advertising procedure, 17th edn, Pearson Higher Education, London, UK.

Lee, M & Johnson, C 2013, Principles of advertising: A global perspective, Second Edition, Routledge, London.

Mooij, M 2013, Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes, SAGE Publications, London.

Parboteeah, P & Cullen, J 2013, Business ethics, Routledge, London.

Picton, D & Broderick, A 2005, Integrated marketing communications, 2nd edn, Financial Times Press, London, UK.

Ryan, D & Jones, C 2012, Understanding digital marketing: Marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation, Kogan Page Publishers, New York.

Shin, K 2013, The executor of integrated marketing communications strategy: Marcom manager’s working model, Springer Science & Business Media, New York.

Shrimp, T 2010, Integrated marketing communications in advertising and promotion, South Western, London.

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