Page 31 - FoodFocusThailand No.145_April 2018

SPECIAL FOCUS

Find out Where You Are in the Product Do All of the Above
Life Cycle Simply put, if you’re not asking the right questions, how can you find the right answers?
Are you developing new product launch, a Not everyone has the insight of a Steve Jobs. The vast majority need to conduct at least some
relaunch, a seasoned product, or are you the informal market research with the most important people in their world, their customers.
one brand trusted for generations? You can Food entrepreneurs can learn from their customers because people love to give their
position each one of these as a positive brand opinions. Social media makes it easy to ask about your package design, price points,
advantage. promotions, your products’ taste, ad campaigns before you go to market. It’s called “marketing
Maximize Your Best Distribution Channels insurance.” Save yourself a lot of anxiety (and expense) by learning about consumer
If you’re selling a single-serve, on-the-go, preferences before you embark on that costly new packaging, point-of-purchase display, and
youth-oriented product, then you don’t want to ad campaign.
overlook convenience stores. Conversely, if your
product lends itself to bulk sales, be sure to
approach warehouse club stores. Remember,
given e-retailing, traditional supermarkets now
account for less than half of all food product
sales.
Define Your Strategy to Grow Market
Share
Virtually no one owns a single product
category, even the most dominant players. There
is always room to grow. However, the size of the
pie is finite. The only way to get more of the pie
is to take it away from someone else.
So, how will you get your “unfair” share of
the pie? You can do it through line extensions
(e.g., more items, more SKU’s), you can do it by
expanding into more sales channels, or, you can
grow your market share by joint venturing with
a compatible, non-competitive player. This
enables you to grow your volume. For example,
if you sell peanut butter, work out a joint
promotion with a maker of jellies and jams.
Determine If You Have Brand
Awareness and Brand Preference
with the Trade
Food and beverage products at retail require
developing winning retail sales pitch because
retailers are the gatekeepers to the shelf. You
can join your retailer’s or wholesaler’s trade
associations and serve on committees, attend
or exhibit at the trade shows, refer other food
entrepreneurs to the retailer, and author guest
columns for the trade press.

Think about What You Have
Committed to Long-term Brand
Building
It’s easy to fall into the trap of just promoting the
deal of the week. In the end, it keeps you on the
shelves but it doesn’t build your brand.
Consumers are fickle and will switch brands to
get the sale price and then switch back. To build
loyalty, you need to continuously advertise and
promote your brand’s attributes, both the
physical ones and the intangible ones.
Engaging in cause-related marketing helps
this effort. Consumers will always support the
brand they believe supports their ideals, their
lifestyle, and their values. Demonstrate that you
really care and customers will continue to
purchase from you and recommend your brand.
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