Task 2!
- 1. Marketing & PR techniques used in example Alan Smith
- 2. When looking into this recent example in the media, you can see various methods and techniques looked at in the previous task. The business: ASDA, the marketing methods: Brand Promotion, the campaign being led by a celebrity chef (Jamie Oliver). Having such a well known name leading the idea behind the misshaped food to be sold in their store is giving ASDA an extra selling point and with this publicity people will choose this store over competitors that may not offer discount fruit and veg. This is in relation with Positive publicity. The imagery used also includes Tinie Tempah (A well known celebrity) to help promote the campaign. The Market Research aspect of this comes from channel 4’s ‘Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast’ (Image below) In this show, the pair met farmers that said they were unable to sell ‘thousands of tonnes’ of fresh vegetables because the food was thought of as ‘imperfect’. The advertising side behind the product has already been created through the television show, therefore ASDA do not have to advertise for it. The ‘Ugly’ food will now face a small in-store trial to test whether or not consumers actually care. Further Market research: 2/3s of customers are open to the idea, while ¾’s would buy misshapen food if cheaper.
- 3. The damage limitation aspect is one not to worry those at the PR sector of ASDA. Having a trial period means that should the fruit not sell or they have complaints, they are not contractually obliged to keep them in the store and can easier stop. This is an advantage as well due to if becoming a success it will mean more publicity for the store and more customers. Due to being a cheap price compared to fruit that is not ‘ugly’ will give ASDA the edge over other competing stores. The new range, launching in selected stores from the 26th January (with a view to being rolled out nationally), has been called ‘Beautiful on the Inside’ and will be sold for 30% less than better-looking counterparts. This provides the store with a USP (Unique Selling point) and can attract possible new customers. Jamie Oliver: “If most Brits had half an idea of the amount going to waste, they’d be snapping up ugly veg by the trolley load. There’s no difference whatsoever in taste or nutritional value. This is perfectly good food that could and should be eaten by humans. When half a million people in the UK are relying on food banks, this waste isn’t just bonkers – it’s bordering on criminal.” When managing the message in how this new set of fruit and veg will be portrayed it is important for the PR behind ASDA to focus on that quote and the point made about being no different whatsoever. The message getting out to the public is that of, not throwing away food and giving you a better deal in a financial sense. The term Lobbying can be linked in with a variety of elements, however here with this product you can see small aspects that show similarity with the term. Both the show ‘Friday Night Feast’ and the supermarket ASDA have formed a partnership that enhances both their reputations and is using a product that attempts to entice the audience. By enhances reputations I mean that this is a great way for ASDA to look good at a time when other supermarkets have been getting all the attention. This is also a good way to promote the new show. Not only does this provide benefits for these two, but for consumers and farmers too. The show and store get more food to sell which would normally be thrown away. The customers get a cheaper alternative and the farmers are given the chance to earn more money for food that is no different to ‘Normal shaped’ ones.
- 4. According to the Guardians article: The retailer – the UK’s second largest supermarket – said long-standing consumer resistance was about price and quality, but its research showed that 65% of its customers were now open to the idea of buying oddly shaped fresh produce, while 75% would definitely buy “wonky” if it was cheaper. This shows a good use of Market research. Asking their actual customers if they would purchase the product. The idea of Lobbying is seen again in parts. The move is supported by the government's food waste reduction advisory body WRAP, which has said that loss and waste in the fresh produce supply chain averaged out at less than 10% but could be as high as 25% for apples, onions and potatoes. WRAP- (Waste & Resources Action Programme) WRAP is an independent not-for-profit organisation in the UK. It works with businesses, individuals and communities to achieve a circular economy through helping them reduce waste, develop sustainable products and use resources in an efficient way. (wikipedia.org) The managing of the message is enhances further by Ian Harrison, produce technical director at Asda: “Even if fruit and veg have some knobbles and blemishes, this doesn’t affect the quality or taste. “Anything that doesn’t make the grade gets chucked. It’s a massive waste for farmers. Where ‘A’ grade carrots sell for £800 a tonne, they practically give the ugly ones away for animal feed for just £10.” This quote was from Jimmy Doherty. He is a Suffolk based farmer and television presenter formerly for the BBC and now for Channel 4. In the show ‘Friday Night Feast’ of which he is taking part in now he explains his frustration further. The Public Relations are now more of the focus with the marketing of the brand being taken care of through the show and the media reporting the trial. Many customers have taken to the idea, however there needs to be room for those who are against it. Supermarkets have blamed consumers for being obsessed with perfection for years and it is important to get the message out in the right way.
- 5. When researching into the ‘Wonky’ veg and looking into ASDA’s website they provided a good report on what was happening and how they were approaching it. This can be seen as the Marketing Strategy. your.asda.com: Labelled ‘Beautiful on the Inside’ the new range features crooked carrots, knobbly pears, wonky spuds and more, all sold reduced rates in their own dedicated in-store fixture. The trial will begin at five stores on January 26. This idea of calling the labelled food ‘Beautiful on the inside’ makes the food that much appealing and attempts to entice the audience. This strategy can look at the marketing mix in order to be more successful. The 4 P’s (Place, Promotion, Product and Price) It is from this where ASDA can see if they are successful. Do each one of the 4 P’s entice the audience more than other produce. Place: The five stores trialling wonky veg will be: Grantham, Coventry, Dagenham, Bedminster (Bristol) and Wallington (Croydon) Promotion: The product is being promoted on television already through well known Chef Jamie Olivier. This adds large amounts of public publicity. Product: The product and idea itself is unique. Other large supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have relaxed their specifications to sell some ugly and imperfect produce, but this is the first initiative to clearly identify and separate them from the mainstream alternative. Price: The price is very competitive. This has to be a great deal cheaper than those of a ‘normal’ look because they need to sell and even for a small fraction of the usual fruit and veg selling price, the farmers and the store will be making money. The price will be the number one attraction for the customer. After being reassured that there is no difference they will want the cheapest alterative. Price comes across as a real consideration for many and positioning ugly fruit and vegetables as a tasty, low-cost option should help to reach this group.” (Kiti Soininen, head of UK food and drink research at the market research company Mintel)
- 6. Thoughts on the campaign Asda produce technical director, Ian Harrison, said the campaign hopes to make ‘ugly’ food more accessible for shoppers and families. “The first step in this project was to look at how we could extend use by dates on produce. This can be a big cause of waste in customers’ homes due to confusion over when produce needs to be used by,” he said. Harrison added: “Our ‘Beautiful On The Inside’ range, which would have either gone to waste or been used for further processing, will now be celebrated for its freshness, value and quality in stores. “This campaign is the latest in a series of initiatives by us to show our commitment as a business to help reduce waste throughout our supply chain and in our shopper’s homes. “We hope customers get behind our wonky fruit and veg campaign and if it’s a success, there could be an opportunity to expand the trial across other fresh produce lines, offering customers more choice and value with the wonky range.” This whole idea of being ‘more accessible for shoppers’ and ‘shows our commitment as a business to help reduce waste’ is all to do with managing that message towards the audience. The Market analysis taken from the new, cheaper alternative shows that this would be targeted towards a more working class demographic. The more wealthier customers will keep purchasing the usual fruit and veg. This approach to the new ‘Beautiful inside range’ segments the market to the consumers who focus on saving money. When searching social media sites for promotional activity from ASDA it was clear that they had used this recent advertisement from Jamie Oliver to their advantage. Creating Hashtags to interact with the consumers and bring much more people aware to the trial for ‘wonky veg’. Having that Hashtag allowed the store and their PR department to ‘retweet’ people who had purchased them with the intension to make more do so. It is from this where the public can see that they do not change in taste or nutritious value. Using social media is a great way of advertising as it is cheap, requires very little effort and you can get to know the people individually. For example here, ASDA could look into ‘Aleks Ugarow’ and see his age and where he is from. This can give a small indication on who will be buying the product. This is good because in future if the trial period is a success the store will know which segment within the market to target.
- 7. Interacting with the consumer is important any business, more so for ASDA. Using social media sites is one of if not the best ways in getting the message out to people of the demographic targeted towards. By explaining where the ‘wonky’ veg will be located is giving the audience important information and shows that honesty behind the store. By the frequent use of the hashtag, it allows ASDA and their PR department to look at what the audience thinks about the product. These will be honest, reliable opinions due to being online and the customers twitter accounts. The hashtag FridayNightFeast is a good way to get the audience together collectively. This way, people who had been watching the show know that ASDA had shared their possible opinions on the huge amount of waste and done something about it. Brand Promotion is huge within the food industry. Stores advertise heavily due to the large amount of businesses. Stores always offer something new to the customer in order for them to choose one store over an other. Repetition is vital within advertising and brand awareness. Research shows it takes more than 5 times for a message to stick in the minds of an average adult. It is from this where constant reminding of the brand is important. If not for attracting new customers but to keep the ones you have loyal. By giving them offers and discounts keeps them happy and leads to them keeping with that store over another. On your.asda.com it offers the chance for feedback and opinions towards the new trial. Again, more interaction with the audience. With multiple newspapers running the story on the wonky veg, this is another way of advertising the product and receiving Positive Publicity while doing so. With all the readers of the papers such as the Guardian there lies more people who have seen the product and all possible new customers.
- 8. When looking at the comments on the website it is clear most customers are happy with the idea of new, cheaper veg even if itis ‘wonky’. This can help ASDA’s Marketing and PR department when looking at their customers thoughts on the idea. The point made second to bottom is one the business will be aiming towards. “About time, Our Co-Op is closing and being replaced with an ASDA, so I will be doing my main shopping there”. People who have wanted this to happen for some time will now come to ASDA for that purpose. Something so small and insignificant in terms of produce can entice a whole new segment of the audience, perhaps one the store was not targeting. The comments of ‘Please bring this to Leicestershire’ is one the store can look at in the future should sales be at a good enough standard in the trial that begins on the 26th of January. Another Hashtag in relation to social media and Twitter is that of the ‘LoveFoodHateWaste’. This is one seen on the image topright. This hashtag is one seen globally and therefore ASDA is advertising to a large amount of people by using yet another common hyperlink hashtag within their marketing department.