Ideal Key Issues presentation
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Gray's Cookies is a family-owned brand known for its healthy, low-calorie cookies. While it has found success among health-conscious "proactive preventers", its awareness and sales among mainstream consumers remains low. This document outlines Gray's key issues, including the need to transition from a product-led to idea-led brand in order to connect more deeply with consumers and dominate the growing "good for you" cookie segment. It analyzes drivers like Gray's tasty products and brand health among early adopters, as well as inhibitors like weak advertising holding back awareness growth. The main challenge is how to increase Gray's appeal beyond its niche and lead its category.
Ideal Key Issues presentation
- 1. We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Case Study, using fictional “Gray’s Cookies” brand to complete a key issues presentation, which is the second stage of our overall Beloved Brands planning process. Key Issues Format
- 2. We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Define the Brand Think Strategically Big Idea At Beloved Brands, we use a branding approach Vision Analysis Key Issues Strategies Execution • Advertising • In-Store • Innovation • Consumers • Category • Channels • Competitors • Brand Values, Goals • Experience Brand Plan Create Brand Plans Inspire creative execution Analyze performance Sm art Creative Ideas
- 3. We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 2 4 31 Strategic questions to help frame the key issues 5 Drivers and inhibitors currently facing brand. Risks and opportunities for future. Deep dive review looks at every potential area of the brand • Market: Macro view, economic indicators, consumer behavior, technology, political • Consumer: Target, buying habits, trends, consumer enemies, key insights • Channels: growth channels, major customers, available tools and programs • Competitors: Performance, positioning, innovation, pricing, distribution, perceptions. • Brand: Funnel, reputation, tracking results, pricing, distribution, financial analysis. Drivers Inhibitors Factors of strength or inertia that accelerate your brand’s growth. Weaknesses or friction slows brand down, leak to fixi Opportunities Threats Changing consumer needs, technologies, channels, legal, Competitor launch, trade barriers, customer preference. What is the core strength your brand can win on? How engaged are consumers? What is your current competitive position? How tightly connected is your consumer to your brand? What is the current business situation your brand faces? 3 1 5 4 We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 1. Where could we be? 2. Where are we? 3. Why are we here? 4. How can we get there? 5. What do we need to do? Before getting started on your Brand Plan, map out your strategic thinking by asking 5 simple strategic questions Vision/Purpose/Goals Situation Analysis Key Issues Strategies Execute & Measure Questions to ask Planning elements 1 2 3 4 5 6 Use “where are we” questions to uncover answers that frame the overall brand plan. Lay out elements of the Brand Plan, on one page and in a formal presentation Brand Plan 2 The Annual “Brand Plan On a Page” Analysis Issues and Strategies Executional Plans P&L forecast • Sales $30,385 • Gross Margin $17,148 • GM % 56% • Marketing Budget $8,850 • Contribution Margin $6,949 • CM% 23% Drivers • Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to Purchase • Strong Listings in Food Channels • Exceptional brand health scores among Early Adopters. Highly Beloved Brand among niche. Inhibitors • Low familiar yet to turn our sales into loyalty • Awareness held back due to weak Advertising • Low distribution at specialty stores. Poor coverage. • Low Purchase Frequency even among most loyal. Threats • Launch of Mainstream cookie brands (Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco). • De-listing 2 weakest skus weaken in-store presence • Legal Challenge to tastes claims Opportunities • R&D has 5 new flavors in development. • Sales Broker create gains at Specialty Stores • Explore social media to convert loyal following. Key Issues 1. What’s the priority choice for growth: find new users or drive usage frequency among loyalists? 2. Where should the investment/resources focus and deployment be to drive our awareness and share needs for Gray’s? 3. How will we defend Gray’s against the proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’ launches from Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco? Strategies 1. Continue to attract new users to Gray’s 2. Focus investment on driving awareness and trial with new consumers and building a presence at retail. 3. Build defense plan against new entrants that defends with consumers and at store level. Goals • Increase penetration from 10% to 12%, specifically up from 15% to 20% with the core target. Monitor usage frequency among the most loyal to ensure it stays steady. • Increase awareness from 33% to 42%, specifically up from 45% to 50% within the core target. Drive trial from 15% to 20%. Focus for sales is to close distribution gaps going from 62% to 72%. • Hold dollar share during competitive launches and continue to grow 11% post launch gaining up to 1.2% share. Target zero losses at shelf. Advertising • Use awareness to drive trial of the new Grays. Target “Proactive Preventers”. Suburban working women, 35-40.Main Message of “great tasting cookie without the guilt, so you can stay in control of your health”. Media includes 15 second TV, specialty health magazines, event signage, digital and social media Sampling • Drive trial with In-store sampling at grocery, Costco, health food stores and event sampling at fitness, yoga, women’s networking, new moms. Distribution • Support Q4 retail blitz with message focused on holding shelf space during the competitive launches. Q2 specialty blitz to grow distribution at key specialty stores. Innovation • Launch two new flavours in Q4/15 & Q4/16. Explore new diet claims, motivating and own- able. Competitive Defense Plan • Pre Launch sales blitz to shore up all distribution gaps. At launch, heavy merchandising, locking up key ad dates, BOGO. TV, print, coupons, in-store sampling. • Use sales story that any new “healthy” cookies should displace under-performing and declining unhealthy cookies. Brand Vision: To be the first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate the craving, popularity and sales of a mainstream cookie. $100 Million brand by 2020. Forecast Analysis Brand Vision Strategies Execution Key Issues Goals 1 5 4 3 2 6 5 Leading the Brand Planning process
- 4. Case Study: Gray’s Cookies Gray’s Cookies is based on a 40-year-old family recipe that had been used for years in a local coffee shop in Stowe Vermont. Gray’s was a local favorite and even among tourists, famous for it’s Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter flavors. No one realized it was also a healthy treat—low fat, low calories. With the growing health trend in the 1990’s, the Gray family decided to capitalize and launched Gray’s on a regional basis in New England and received moderate success. In 2005, one of Boston’s internationally known diet experts came out with a glowing review of Gray’s. Other dieticians backed Gray’s. The brand was now receiving national attention and demand. Robert Gray, grandson of the original founder took Gray’s national. Using the regional sales results, Gray’s was able to gain a national listing at Whole Foods in 2006. Other food retailers took notice and Gray’s secured listings at Safeway, Super-Valu, Kroger, Tops and A&P. Gray has a strong listing base at food, but limited in other channels. Gray’s launched one new product every second year, with Oatmeal in 2007, Peanut Butter in 2009 and Cranberry in 2011. Only Peanut Butter is meeting current sales thresholds. Gray’s success came from “proactive preventers” consumers, who claim to work out 3+ times per week and ‘read labels before eating’. Gray’s is loved among the very tight niche, but has yet to be embraced by mainstream consumers. The brand’s awareness is soft, trial is fair, and conversion to purchase is very strong because of the taste. Gray’s recently conducted a blind taste study shows Gray’s is as good as the market leaders. On top of that, watching what Special K was doing, they did a study that showed if you used Gray’s as a Desert replacement, consumers could lose 5lbs over 12 weeks. The current customer value proposition is targeting Healthy Proactive Preventers. Arguably, Gray’s is a beloved brand already among that niche target. Where else can they go, in order to get a broader mainstream audience? Main benefit is balance of taste and health. Emotional connection is the guilt-free zone; allowing consumers to cheat, yet stay in control of their diet. Reason to believe is one backing up of the taste and the other the health. Natural ingredient is a bit of a throw away re-enforcement, maybe for the packaging. The big question for Gray’s is how do you gain a broader audience for Gray’s? Or do we try to get current users to use more. How do we use Advertising to drive more awareness? What role does gaining a broader distribution play? And while there’s been mixed success using innovation, what’s the plan going forward?
- 5. 2017 Key Issues This is an example of an Ideal Brand Plan presentation to follow as a potential format or tips at each part of the plan.
- 6. Key Issues Gray’s Cookies Business Review summary • Consumer: New consumers attracted to Gray’s “guilt free” positioning, but conversion to loyalty is due to the great taste. • Category: As America’s eating habits are changing the cookie category is shrinking, while the good-for-you segment thrives. • Channels: Gray’s has many distribution gaps, but needs to be mindful of choices, to maintain investment in driving consumer demand. • Competitors: Grays has an opportunity to dominate the good for you competitors before traditional brands enter segment. • Brand: Growth has come from product quality, but new “guilt free” position will connect deeper and fuel demand It is time to transition Gray’s from a product-led brand into an idea-led brand by connecting with consumers by owning the idea of “guilt free” snacking, rather than just selling a great tasting cookie. Begin to dominate and lead the “good for you” cookie segment. Themes each section from the review Major Brand Challenge Analysis
- 7. Key Issues Gray’s Cookies summary analysis Drivers Inhibitors • Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to Purchase (65% vs. norm of 50%). • Strong Listings has driven strong Distribution in Food Channels (95%) • Exceptional brand health scores among Early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”) making it a highly Beloved Brand among the niche. • Awareness among mainstream target (20%) held back due to weak Advertising scores. Low Attention scores and Brand Link scores. • Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%. Poor sales coverage. • Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes/yr vs. 7.3 norm) even among most loyal early adopters. Opportunities Threats • R&D has 5 new flavors in development. Could launch Peanut Butter in Q4 of 2013 (top 15% in testing), Chocolate Chunks in Q2 of 2014 (top 50%) • Sales broker could specifically target specialty stores, which are in high growth (+15%/year) • Explore social media to convert strong loyal following into more mainstream mass appeal • Awareness among mainstream target (20%) held back due to weak Advertising scores. Low Attention scores and Brand Link scores. • Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%. Poor sales coverage. • Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes per year vs. norm of 7.3) even among the most loyal early adopters. Analysis
- 8. Key Issues Brand Health and Wealth Internal Health: Divided team on whether to go after new users or drive frequency among core users. Advertising programs has not created awareness. Channel strength has not reached beyond Food. Innovation has not been consistent. Health: Gray’s is a beloved brand among a core niche (“Preventers”) but relatively indifferent and unknown among broader audience. Even among loyalists, frequency is very weak and Gray’s is considered a special treat rather than a usual brand. Internal Wealth: Gray’s has a unique recipe. With marketing investment, profit margins have fallen from 12% to 9%, without seeing the growth ROI from the programs. Debate on whether Gray’s should focus on channel growth vs. marketing led programs. External Wealth: Gray’s has a strong growth rate at +20% CAGR. Sales of $25Million with a 48% gross margins, above category norm of 42%. Gray’s has achieved a 3.3% share at grocery but only 0.4% in the other channels. Internal Brand Wealth External Brand Health
- 9. Key Issues Brand Vision To be the first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate the craving, popularity and sales of a mainstream cookie. Make Gray’s a $100 Million brand by 2020. 2016 Goals Gray’s Cookies Vision and Goals for 2016 Goals 2015 2016 Comments Sales $27.5M $30.38M 11% growth rate Share 0.8% 1.2% New triple chocolate 0.5% share Distribution 62% 72% Increase coming mainly from fixing specialty. Awareness 33% 42% Below norm, 80% among niche, < 20% overall Purchase 10% 12% Brand promise & sampling helps drive trial. Repeat 4% 5% High quality Taste converts high repeat
- 10. Key Issues Drivers • Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to Purchase (65% vs. norm of 50%). • Strong Listings has driven strong Distribution in Food Channels (95%) • Exceptional brand health scores among Early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”) making it a highly Beloved Brand among the niche. Inhibitors • Brand Funnel scores show that we are still a niche player (low familiar), but have yet to turn our sales into strong following (low loyalty) • Awareness among mainstream target (20%) held back due to weak Advertising scores. Low Attention scores and Brand Link scores. • Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%. Poor sales coverage. • Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes per year vs. norm of 7.3) even among the most loyal early adopters. Gray’s Cookies Drivers and Inhibitors
- 11. Business Review Gray’s taste is well liked by consumers. Taste drives a high conversion of trial to purchase (65% versus a norm of 50%). • In a blind taste test, Gray’s performed equal to the consumer’s regular cookie. When Consumers found out it was a low fat, low calorie option, they said they would make it their regular cookie. • In the market, Gray’s has a very high conversion to purchase beating the norm (65% to 50%) and considerably higher than the other two ‘healthy’ cookies (Dad’s and Sarah’s) • Gray’s taste helps drive a high repeat %, beating norm 40% to 25%. Continue to drive trial, with the high conversion to purchase. Repeat % Conversion % to Purchase Sarah’s Dad’s Norm Gray’s Sarah’s Dad’s Norm Gray’s Driver #1
- 12. Business Review Need to maintain strength at Food, even while looking at new distribution points. • In the food channels, Gray’s has 90% distribution compared to 60% to Dad’s, our nearest ‘healthy’ cookie competitor. However, Gray’s has an over-reliance on the Food channel, with 73% of the business coming from the Food channel, compared with 40% of Dad’s, who have a much more balanced distribution. The category norm is 38%. Strong Listings has driven strong distribution in Food Channels (90%) Gray's Dad's Driver #2
- 13. Business Review Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”) making it highly beloved among the niche. • Gray’s is very healthy among “Preventers” with strong awareness at 80% and all related Brand Funnel scores significantly above norm. However, that strength has not carried over to the overall market, where Gray’s is significantly under-developed in the overall market. Explore ways to leverage Love from Preventers, as early adopters, to influence the rest of the market. Preventers Overall Norm Brand Funnel Scores Preventers vs. Overall Driver #3
- 14. Key Issues Brand Funnel scores show a niche player (low familiar), yet to turn our sales into strong following (low loyalty) • Skinny Brand Funnel shows a lot of gaps, pointing to the lack of marketing success in generating awareness, • Year 6, Gray’s still has very low Brand Awareness (33% vs. 60% norm). • Poor Ad tracking shows low Attention (30% vs. norm of 50%) and poor Brand Link ratio (.32 vs. .55 norm) Both ends of funnel need fixing. Need to choose between either building awareness or driving loyalty. Inhibitor #1
- 15. Key Issues Awareness among target (20%) held back due to weak advertising scores. Low attention and brand link scores. • The latest Ad (“Back Home Again”) failed to break through (Aided Recall of only 38% vs. 62% norm). • The Brand Link was considerably off at only 33% vs. 50% norm. • On the positive, the brand appears highly unique suggesting the concept is strong. • For those who are engaged, the purchase intention scores in line with norms. Need better execution of Advertising. Focus on driving stronger recall and brand link to push awareness. Tracking!Results! Gray’s! Norm! Aided Recall 38 62 Unaided Recall 30 46 Brand Recogni on 10 23 Brand Link .33 .50 Main Message 64 60 Uniqueness 38 22 Purchase Intent 10 9 Ad!Tracking! Inhibitor #2 Ad Tracking
- 16. Key Issues • While Gray’s is exceptionally strong in Food, it is equally weak in the Specialty channels, with only 16% distribution compared to Dad’s at 72%. • In Specialty, Gray’s focuses on national listings but there are very few national accounts. Dad’s uses 210 part time merchandisers to reach the Specialty channel. Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%. Poor sales coverage. Explore options to reach the specialty market, which could add incremental sales volume. Inhibitor #3 Distribution % by channel
- 17. Key Issues • Gray’s is under-developed on usage frequency, vs. the category norm and vs. Dad’s the nearest competitor. If we could match the norm, we could triple our business. Even amongst the most loyal consumers, most use it as a treat (4x per year) rather than a usual brand. Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes per year vs. norm of 7.3) even among the most loyal early adopters. Usage Frequency weekly monthly 4x per year 1x per year Frequency among Loyalists Leverage Brand love among loyalists to drive frequency. Achieving category norm would triple the business. Inhibitor #4
- 18. Key Issues Risks • Mainstream cookie brands could enter the ‘health’ segment through R&D or Acquisition. Rumors that Pepperidge Farms will launch in Q1 2014, and Nabisco Q3 2014. • De-listing of our 2 weakest skus (Oatmeal and Cranberry) because of POS thresholds, could weaken our in-store presence down to 3 skus. • Legal Challenge to “tastes as good as your favorite cookie”. Opportunities • R&D has 5 new flavors in development. Could launch Peanut Butter in Q4 of 2013 (top 15% in testing), Chocolate Chunks in Q2 of 2014 (top 50%) • Specialty Sales Broker could specifically target Specialty Stores, which are in high growth mode (+15% per year) • Explore social media options as a vehicle for converting strong loyal following into a more mainstream mass appeal. Gray’s Cookies Risks and Opportunities
- 19. Key Issues 1. What’s the priority for growth—find new users or drive usage frequency among loyalists? 2. Where should the investment/resources focus and deployment be to drive our awareness and share needs for Gray’s? 3. How will we defend Gray’s against the proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’ launches from Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco? Gray’s Cookies Key Issues
- 20. Key Issues Key Issue #1: What’s the priority for growth—find new users or drive usage frequency among loyalists? • Analysis shows there is more opportunity to drive trial in first two years, and then move to frequency strategy in year three. • Most motivated target is 35-40 female, proactive preventers, who work out 3x a week. • “Guilt free treat” is most motivating message and own-able for Gray’s. • Advertising helps drive awareness in the most efficient manner, but needs sampling to re-enforce trial. • Raise concern and re-look strategy if the frequency among the most loyal does not increase.
- 21. Key Issues Key Issue #2: Where should the investment/resources focus and deployment be to drive our awareness and share needs for Gray’s? • Recommend a balanced marketing mix of advertising to drive positioning and sampling to drive trial. • Focus for sales is to close distribution gaps at specialty stores • R&D should focus on driving annual innovation to create an optimized portfolio mix. • Watch outs: trying to do too many activities, working/non-working marketing spend.
- 22. Key Issues Key Issue #3: How will we defend Gray’s against the proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’ launches from Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco? • Pre-launch (Q4) the sales team to shore up all distribution gaps. Leverage category data to close deals. • At launch defense plan includes heavy merchandising, locking up key ad dates and BOGO. • Marketing support includes 15s TV ads to muddy airwaves, couponing and in-store sampling. • Watch out is to stay aware of exact timing to ensure focused defense plan lines up.