PART 6 | BRAND POSITIONING
6.4 POP AND POD EVALUATION
The ‘Brand as Symbol’ highly pertains to Brand World 3. On one have you have the chemical and artificial associations and on the other you have the natural and pureness. They are indeed opposites and it is crucial to be consistent in not using elements in the brand position that would signal artificial. As stated in the literature review by Grunert et al (2011), people who are health conscious are more likely to interpret claims as risky, and further “Our senses are more attuned to danger detection than expectations of sensory delight” (Lindström 2 2005, p84). This supports the fact that it is important to eradicate all signals that may help the consumer on its way to interpret symbols in a negative light. Stipulating where the sweetener can be purcahsed is also a way to send a signal of the validity of stevias natural heritage, since e.g. (health) specialty stores conceptually only carry pure and healthy goods. If the natural is to be believable, it is argued that the packaging must differentiate from the looks of the artificial sweeteners and refelct the whole, CSR friendly and natural background of NP Sweet like e.g. Tate & Lyle’s packaging. The use of symbols is also a chance for NP Sweet to differentaite themselves from the competitors, as well as ascertaining their position in the sweetener category which makes these brand identity elements fit for both POP and POD.
deliverable POD characteristics so far would be the packaging design, since so far no competitors in the Danish market have differentiated themselves that much from the packaging of the artificial sweeteners and also the main part of purchase decisions are made in‐store (cf. Lindström in Literature Review).
The brand mantra and core brand associations are nearly impossible to determine when no more PODs are present to choose from. Indeed, naturalness, purity and health seem to be components that must be included in the development of brand mantra and brand associations. A viable identification of these requires further research and a re‐distribution of emphasis, so that both Nordzucker and PureCircle are included in the branding and communications platform.
RECOMMENDATIONS & FUTURE OUTLOOK
Most of the proposals for change have already been submitted, but overall recommendation in terms of next step initiatives will be stipulated here. On a short ending note, the future outlook will be delineated.
The NP Sweet must issue a complete brand audit for Nordzucker and NP Sweet so that the brand elements represent a more united and balanced front. This is seen to give NP Sweet more solid PODs. In terms of Product it is recommended that the stevia product will not only have the sugar blends but also natural sweetener blends, for instance with erythritol since the resemblance to sugar taste should be high. If naturalness is to be believable, the image and identity in all elements possible from the supply chain, through the value chain, the product and the brand must exude naturalness. Further, consumer research is proposed – not only for the TAs in this report but also for the middle‐aged and older segments. Exploring how the best way to target them would be desirable for NP Sweet since the size, the health concerns and the purchase power of these groups are immense and even bigger than the target groups assessed in this report. This should be a part of the brand expansion strategy formulation. Being more open‐minded in terms of competition is important, because having a predominant focus on sugar and related segments may not be enough. Stevia seems to be categorized as a HIS by the public and the TAs, and so not considering HIS brands as potential threats (even though NP Sweet may only make sugar blends) is seen as risky and not preemptive enough. Research methods used when understanding consumers and their preferences should be more experimental or observational because it is seen to provide more deeply processed answers and perhaps more valuable answers. In terms of brand positioning the next step would be to determining the POD to a more full extent and perhaps create two category hierarchies – one for stevia tabletop and one for stevia/sugar tabletop so that the POPs will be sharp for each product type.
Increased competition and more international players are prone to move into the Danish sweetener market. Cheaper suppliers will surface and the introduction of stevia may pave way for other new natural sweeteners. The market will be getting more intense and getting a share of the consumers’ pockets will be
more difficult. Alliances with established brands could give the edge for less established but quality‐
conscious companies like NP Sweet, while hesitant and cautious market approach will probably give anything else than an advantage. To be bought, one must be seen and thus initiatives to stand out of the crowd is crucial, even more when the market seems to be revitalizing. If you do not brand yourself, which in other words would be distinguish yourself from the rest of the products and if you do not give the consumer a reason to buy your product – you will most likely go unnoticed and this will affect the bottom line. Branding is a useful tool to say ‘this is what I have to offer and these are the reasons why it would add value to your life’. What NP Sweet should focus on when branding stevia is naturalness, quality and sincerity considering the preferences of the TA. The already established image of the sweetener category as something negative and artificial leaves NP Sweet with a need for differentiating the product from these. A specific recommendation is to create a brand that shows naturalness both in material, color and logo.
Whether NP Sweet will be able to use the leaf of the stevia plant is unknown since it is still debated, but showing the ingredient would be favorable as opposed to just writing ‘stevia’ on the packaging. NP Sweet could use the history of the stevia plant and make the consumer think about the local farmers in South America when they buy the product – or something similar that awakens interest with the right consumer.
This would at least stand out in the crowded market of artificial sweeteners, and since Tate & Lyle was deemed as the most interesting brand, benchmarking can be done to some degree. Finally, the message with stevia as a wonder product and as the solution to all health problems should according to the TA not be the focus ‐ it should be taken down at a level, where Danes would find it trustworthy. Many health conscious consumers are skeptical, and therefore they both need facts and a story that appeals to their interests and personality.
CONCLUSION
The Danish health debate seems to be perpetual, but the concept of health is adapting as society and the concept of self‐progresses. One way of being healthy is to manage calories by consuming HIS, since most of them contain zero calories. HIS seem to be a stigmatized food category and difficult to brand – in fact the level of branding activity of sweeteners in Denmark is quite difficult to detect. Stevia has now entered the market and may enable higher level of branding activity.
The company, NP Sweet, is a JV between PureCircle (stevia market leading producer/seller) Nordzucker (sugar producer/seller). NP Sweet sells pure stevia and stevia/sugar blend. Contractually, PureCircle can only use Nordzucker as a supplier on the B2B market – but not for B2C. The benefit for PureCircle is gaining access to Nordzucker’s established distribution channels. On the other hand Nordzucker purchases stevia at
a low market price from PureCircle as well as reaping the benefits of PureCircle’s good name, performance and top quality supply chain.
As a product stevia seem to have desirable attrivutes – natural with no calories – but the category stigma as well as the slow and skeptical approval process and market entry, might make consumers wonder whether stevia is too good to be true? Thus far, the product claims seem to hold up and the health scares remain as speculative.
Stevia seems to have a positive perception, positive innate qualities and an increasing amount of suppliers are showing up in the competitive field. Both within supermarket and natural sweeteners, Multisød was seen as one of the biggest threats due to its natural, affordable and good tasting profile. Also Hermesetas has a known brand, and now also a stevia product, and so it may point. Of stevia sweeteners internationally, Truvia and Pure Via would be the significant threats while Tate & Lyle would probably be the most direct threat since they also offer the sugar/stevia blend and keeps a very natural differentiated look to its brand and packaging. Of local stevia providers, it is difficult to identify the biggest threat.
Multisød seems to be of biggest competition with its low price and natural and calorie free product.
Hermesetas Stevia may be the most liked brand in Denmark, but its heritage is comprised by artificial products. Then you have the specialty store products like Sukrin, some of which are on price levels beyond comprehension. Given their small scale production, they are not considered significant threats.
A brand position model that embraces all brand worlds – the physical, the psychological and the social is chosen. Also the model(s) has to be applicable, have a strategic overview as well as the tactical instruments. Keller provides the strategic overview of branding, identity, image and positioning, while Aaker brings the tactical brand identity element detector. Both models embrace the 3 brand worlds.
Research methods are both descriptive and explorative through the use of an online survey published on facebook and a focus group of 7 women within the age of 20‐34. The data of the online survey is processed through SPSS. The output primarily reveals which brand attributes from the 3 Brand worlds are ranked the highest overall through Wilcoxon tests. These show that the Physical Brand World 1 is rated the highest followed by the Social and lastly the Psychological:
RANKING ORDER BRAND ATTRIBUTES ALL WORLDS
1. High Quality (PH) 6. Nutritionally healthy (PH) & 6. Zero Calories (PH)
2. Price (PH) 7. Positive Media (S)
3. Available in Supermarkets (PH) 8. Info on Packaging (S) & 8. Positive Perception (PS)
4. Sweet taste (PH) 9. Easy Info Access (S)
5. Natural Product (PH) & 5.Positive WOM (S) 10. No Guilt (PS)
11. Family Uses It (S)
Through a Mann‐Witney U test test five consumer profiles are identified: the ‘Natural’, the ‘Artificial’ the
‘Never’, the ‘Healthy’ and the ‘Unhealthy’. The last group yielded no clear preferences, but the rest of the groups had a list of attribute preferences:
Turning to the results of the focus group, the data from this group is primarily used to profile the target audience and this is executed when assessing the consumers in context. The context is defined by performing a CDA of the Danish health discourse. The discourses are found by analyzing 4 texts and the discourses found are Go All Out but Eat Less, Hygge, Sugar is a NO‐NO, Physical Activity Equals Health, Mindfulness, and Back to Basics. The analysis also showed that women feel like they have to be a superwoman and live up to many different expectations. Two TAs were defined from this Analysis: the
‘Weight‐Conscious Superwoman’ and the ‘Spiritual Superwoman’ where the former has primary focus on the weight and calorie counting, while the Spiritual Superwoman seem to have mindfulness as primary focus.
The brand image and identity were subsequently detected with the aim of building the brand position.
Two elements were to be determined – POPs and PODs. The POPs were very much linked to all the attributes that PureCircle could bring to the table, such as the valuable supply chain, CSR aspects, trust mark, industry leading product and so forth. Several distributors have PureCircle as supplier and in the B2C market, Nordzucker and PureCircle’s exclusivity contract is no valid. This means that other companies with PureCircle has supplier can enter the Danish B2C market and thus the NP Sweet cannot use PureCircle’s attributes as a POD. NP Sweet should dig deeper into the capabilities and attributes of Nordzucker and the JV NP Sweet and use those characteristics as POD. The PODs that are possible to detect establish are the ones related to Brand‐as‐Person, since they are based on the consumer analyzed, which were attributes
Natural Artificial Never Healthy Unhealthy
People who prefer to use natural sweeteners.
Goal of calorie reduction, but prefer to do it the natural way.
Prefers: naturalness, healthy, liquid, granulate, diet help, information ‐ especially on packaging
People who use artificial sweeteners and do not seem to care what kind they use.
Primary goal is calorie reduction.
Prefers: sweet taste, avail. in supermarkets, tablets, zero cal, natural prod, feel better about body, no guilt, satisfies like sugar, diet help, social approval, fam and friends use it
People who never use sweeteners, whether they are caloric or not.
Prefers: nutrionally healthy, high wuality, cooking and baking, avail. in supermarkets, convenient, diet help, satisfies like sugar, friends and family use it, info on packaging
People who in general lead a healthy lifestyle
Prefers: cooking and baking, natural packaging, feel better about body, diet help, less sugar ceaving, no guilt, seems convenient, good past experience, easy info acces, positive WOM and media
People who in general lead an unhealthy lifestyle
Prefers: (Nutritionally healthy, granulate, natural packaging, opinion of friends and family) This group does not have any consistent preferences
such as weight‐conscious, spiritual, balanced in body and mind, sporty, happy super woman. These PODs are very TA specific and it is Important to note that they are in no way final PODs since the consumers also need further exploration both in terms of the two TAs found but also in terms of other segments identified.
Since there are no absolute PODs defined, it was not possible to capture a brand mantra and core brand associations. For recommendations, NP Sweet should assess the value chain and perform a brand audit on Nordzucker and NP sweet so that they can find some characteristics that can help that start building a strong brand that is differentiated, favorable and can hold its strength both in the sweetener and sugar market. NP Sweet must saddle up for the increased stevia competition, increased number of suppliers, and the probable entry of new natural sweeteners. Is branding seen as the holy grail to company and brand success? – no, but it is surely seen as a necessary tool to get attention and increase awareness in the consumer market place crowded with information, an instrument to deal with the stigma in the sweetener industry, and to gain market share, because people trust and favor your brand over the rest of the products.
EVALUATION OF REPORT
The intent of the report was to create a position for stevia on the Danish market. It showed to be more difficult to obtain information about customers as well as the market and the competition. This led to analysis of the market and the customers that does not take all aspects into account and that is deficient in some ways. Nevertheless, it was possible to get an idea of the major important players in the market and to create a picture of the dynamics that play a role.
According to the research, one of the most important things was to fully understand the sweetener consumer and his/her preferences. The execution of the questionnaire survey could have been better since it both showed to be too long, but also the questions should have been made more analysis friendly.
Further, there were two foci in the survey: Profiling of consumer and brand assessment. It would have been more structured with only one focus. Thus, the analysis of the output resulted to be complicated, and as a result, it was not possible to do the planned Chi‐Squared tests with significant results, nor was it possible to compare different populations against each other.
The interesting thing was to see which groups prefer the different attributes. The validity of the results can be discussed since both the representation was limited, and also the construction of the groups in the analysis of the Mann‐Whitney U outputs can be discussed, but it did give an indication of preferences within the groups. The results are clearly affected by the methods used.
On the other hand, the focus group was a convenient and relevant way of obtaining relevant data, which would have been more relevant if done more times. In general, the methods used could have been
different and could have provided more relevant data. As mentioned in the conclusion, more experimental methods could have been used, i.e. ethnography, observations, or similar. This would give a more in‐depth view of the consumer and their preferences.
Regarding the literature, it was assumed that all literature was not scanned. This resulted in the later finding of literature from Percy, who includes the social aspect into branding. Thus, there is more theory out there including social and contextual aspects, which maybe could have been more relevant for the report, but the theory used still showed to be fit for the purpose.
According to the CDA, another opportunity would have been to use cultural analysis, which is close to CDA.
This would have given the analysis a broader and perspective, not focusing on specific language parts so much. There are also other types of discourse analysis that could have been used, but since the goal was to find the hegemonic discourses and trends, the CDA was found most relevant amongst these.
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