Product

“healthy” carob (chocolate substitute) bars

Persona

Sarah, 32

DEMOGRAPHICS

Location: The persona lives in a mid-sized single-family home in a suburban neighborhood

Marital Status: The persona is married with no children

Occupation and Income: The persona's occupation is Marketing Manager. Their income level is upper-middle class ($100,000) which would allow expendable income for maintaining active lifestyle with healthier, more expensive, shopping habits.

Education Level: They are college educated. Marketing Manager usually requires a bachelor's degree in business. Being college educated also increases chance of having a higher income to satisfy healthy lifestyle choices.

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

Hobbies and Interests: Hobbies and interests revolve around maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle. This may involve activities like hitting the gym, outdoor running, fitness classes, and outdoor weekend adventures.

Wants and Preferences: Wants and preferences include something delicious and filling. If they have a sweet tooth then this could be a healthy alternative to other chocolate bars. It needs to be natural ingredients with nutrition in mind. The persona prefers low sugar and high fiber and protein to stay full while staying active. And the bars should be convenient and portable to keep up with an active lifestyle of running and heading to the gym while also aligning with their values of ethically sources ingredients.

Personal and Professional Goals: Personal goals include maintaining physical health and fitness, living a sustainable lifestyle, and reducing sugar intake to improve health. Professional goals are excelling in marketing career and maintaining a positive work-life balance.

Shopping Habits and Preferences: Shopping habits include trips to farmers marketing, where they can interact with the vendors about ingredients or production methods. They also read blogs and social media posts about health & wellness, with healthy recipes. May order healthy snacks online from time to time.

Lifestyle: They prioritize an active and healthy lifestyle. This includes regularly going to the gym, enjoying outdoor runs, and trying new fitness trends. They also read health blogs and follow fitness influencers on social media.

Promotion

First Marketing Channel

Description of first marketing channel: The first marketing channel will be social media, specifically Instagram. The target audience frequently uses instagram to connect with friends and family as well as searching for health and fitness advice. This is a great way to reach the target demographic and we could use influencer marketing through their social media to further reach and add market value through an expert in the field.

Why this channel is appropriate for this persona: This is an appropriate channel based on the target demographics age and browsing habits. According to Gitnux, 73% of millennials follow brands on social to discover new products and 72% use Instagram as their main form of social media (Gitnux, 2023). They frequently use social media to conduct research into new health and fitness news and tips. They also gain brand trust through peers and experts in the health field. We can use influencers in the fitness space to add this trust and value to the product.

Second Marketing Channel

Description of second marketing channel: The second channel should be email. This is a reliable, low cost channel that we can rely on for reach and sales. Our target demographic is online and email will be a great way to reach them and introduce new products.

Why this channel is appropriate for this persona: This channel is appropriate for this persona because she is an age that frequently uses the internet for news and updates. She also regularly turns to the internet to get ideas for new health and fitness news.

Price

Pricing Factor: Competitor pricing

Competitor pricing: Competitor pricing is where businesses set their prices based on what similar businesses are charging. They do this because customers often compare options before buying and businesses need to be priced competitively to attract new customers. Companies might choose to charge lower than competitors to win over economy buyers, or they might charge more if their products are higher quality (Fisher, M., 2023).

How pricing factor is used to determine pricing: Using this pricing factor we can set our products prices at a competitive price point compared to competitors pricing. Our persona regularly uses reviews, blogs, and social media posts to compare and learn about new products in the health industry. Because of this, they will be highly knowledgable on the pricing economy of similar products and may not choose to buy our product if it doesn't offer a benefit that competitors don't offer.

Pricing Strategy: penetration

General advantages and drawbacks of penetration pricing strategy: Penetration pricing focuses on gaining customers quickly by first offering a lower price than competitors. Using this strategy builds market share and brand awareness. A possible challenge could be customers always expecting low prices and creating difficulties in raising prices later to show value and raise profit margins.

Specific advantages and drawbacks of penetration pricing strategy: A penetration pricing strategy for healthy carob bars could attract Sarah, the persona, by offering a lower price which would make the product more easily accessible and tempting to try. This could subside her initial hesitation about a new product and allow her to try the taste and health benefits first. The risk is that the lower price might be perceived as a sign of lower quality compared to traditional chocolate bars. Studies have shown that consumers can associate lower introductory prices with lower quality, particularly when there is a familiar, higher-priced alternative (Steinhoff & Palmatier, 2014). Sarah might also wait for future discounts if the first low price becomes the standard.

Place

Changes in the Marketplace

Change in the marketplace: The impact of weight loss drugs like Ozempic on the snack food industry, particularly in relation to potential decreases in overall snack consumption due to curbed appetites (Seo Y. G., 2021).

How the change addresses the distribution of products to my persona: As consumers using weight loss drugs like Ozempic could reduce overall snacking, healthy carob bars could see a shift in distribution channels (Less snacking, more satisfaction, 2023). While Sarah, the persona, might still visit health food stores, a heavier focus on online sales and subscriptions could increase the chances that the product reaches her directly, focusing on the convenience factor and potentially offering bundled deals to encourage repeat purchases.

Distribution Channel

Potential distribution channel and why it is appropriate for my product and persona: An ideal distribution channel for healthy carob bars would be online retailers specializing in healthy and organic products. This channel fits perfectly with Sarah, my persona, for several reasons. She already shops online for healthy snacks, showing a comfort with this buying method. Online retailers usually have a wider selection of healthy options compared to brick and mortar grocery stores and is the fastest growing form of shopping (Wagner, Schramm-Klein, & Steinmann, 2020). And finally, these online retailers frequently offer subscription services, which would appeal to Sarah's busy lifestyle and ensure she has a convenient, reliable source for her carob bars. I believe all of these reasons make focusing on online sales that most viable and reliable channel for our marketing efforts.

Product

How product should be marketed in relation to meeting the needs and wants of my persona: Marketing healthy carob bars to Sarah should focus on how they meet her needs for a delicious and guiltless snack. We can highlight the natural ingredients and low sugar to meet her need for healthy choices. We can showcase the great taste and potential benefits like fiber to show how the bars can curb her sweet tooth without disprupting her health goals.  Social media promotion by health and fitness influencers Sarah trusts can also connect with her and show the product's fit into an active lifestyle.  

How bringing this product to the marketplace helps support and build the Chocolate Bliss brand: Launching a new product, especially in the Midwestern US, can really push the Chocolate Bliss brand.  By offering healthy carob bars along with their existing chocolates, Chocolate Bliss can expand further to health focused consumers without sacrificing their core chocolate expertise. This new product uses their existing brand recognition while gaining the attention of a fast growing market segment, promoting public awareness by showcasing their new health conscious products and their commitment to offering a wider range of delicious foods.  

Evaluation

How to evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing plan: First we could track sales data to understand overall performance, analyze regional variations, and monitor online sales behavior. Brand awareness could be assessed through pre-launch and post-launch surveys, social media engagement metrics, and search term monitoring. To gauge competitive influence, we could track market share, analyze competitor strategies, and gather consumer feedback through surveys and online reviews. General marketing performance will be measured through website traffic sources, conversion rates, social media engagement on various platforms, and the effectiveness of targeted social media ads.  And lastly, media coverage and brand sentiment in news outlets and social media would be monitored.  As noted in Wong, Radel, & Ramsaran-Fowdar (2011), by establishing benchmarks, utilizing marketing analytics tools, and regularly reporting on these metrics, Chocolate Bliss can identify areas for improvement, adapt the marketing plan as needed, and ensure a successful carob bar launch.

Two quantitative data collection tools I could use to evaluate the marketing plan:

The first quantitative data collection tool could be Google Analytics for tracking and analyzing website visitors behavior. By analyzing website traffic sources we can understand how visitors are finding the Chocolate Bliss website. This allows us to see if marketing efforts are driving traffic to the desired landing pages. By tracking the conversion rates we can further gauge the marketing campaign's effectiveness in driving sales.

The second tool would be tracking social media analytics for engagement measurement. Kunkel et al. (2023) highlights how the growing prevalence of social media platforms, their increasing intricacy, and the broader functionalities they offer create a fertile ground for quantitative research by providing a vast amount of data for researchers to analyze. Tracking follower growth on platforms like Facebook and Instagram can reveal the campaign's effectiveness in attracting our target audience. Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares on carob bar-related posts would provide insights into how well the content is resonating with our consumers.

Two qualitative data collection tools I could use to evaluate the marketing plan:

The first qualitative tool we could use would be in the form of in-depth interviews. As pointed out by Gibson and Brown (2009), by listening directly to the consumer's feedback, we can tailor our marketing messages to resonate better with our target audience. Interviews  can help us identify the parts of the carob bars that are most appealing to consumers and craft our messaging that emphasizes those features.

The second tool would be through focus groups. Listening to group discussions can help us identify areas where the carob bars themselves or the marketing materials could be improved to better meet the expectations of our customers.

REFERENCES

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Fisher, M., Gallino, S., & Li, J. (2023). A step-by-step guide to real-time pricing. Harvard Business Review, 101(6), 92-101.

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Gitnux. (2023, December 23). Millennials on social media statistics. Gitnux: https://gitnux.org/millennials-on-social-media-statistics/

Kunkel, T., Kennedy, H., Baker, B. J., & Doyle, J. P. (2023). The State of Quantitative Research and a Proposed Research Framework in Social Media. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(3), 344–351. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1123/ijsc.2023-0123

Less snacking, more satisfaction: Some foods boost levels of an Ozempic-like hormone. (2023, October 30). NPR. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1208883691

Olson, S. (2022). Snack, Nutrition and Performance Bars. (2022). Mintel Group Ltd. https://reports-mintel-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/display/1099393/

Seo Y. G. (2021). Side Effects Associated with Liraglutide Treatment for Obesity as Well as Diabetes. Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome, 30(1), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.7570/jomes20059‌

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Wong, H. Y., Radel, K., & Ramsaran-Fowdar, R. (2011). Building a marketing plan. [electronic resource] : a complete guide (1st ed.). Business Expert Press.

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