Annie’s doesn’t receive any government help per se, as there aren’t subsidies that work with companies or anything. It does get regulated by the FDA and USDA and displays their seals of approval. This provides their products with a sense of credibility, so consumers can have faith in what they’re buying. This also contributes to the price increase since the Federal government does not subsidize organic farming, so they have to pay full price for premium ingredients. (Dimitri, C. "EU and US Organic Markets Face Strong Demand Under Different Policies.")
Annie’s does use marketing to its full advantages. Ann used to do the marketing herself, a very low key approach by simply writing letters on the back of the food boxes and even responding to customer messages personally. The company’s clearly grown since then and she can’t do that anymore – in fact, they recently hired a marketing firm, TDA. Many of their marketing approaches, like the color, mascot, grassroots approach, “telling it like it is” – all work together so that they are perceived as genuine. They even do market research to gather consumer input and check that their strategies are working. According to Laurie Demeritt, president of The Hartman Group, a consumer-research firm, “Organic is not really enough anymore--it's the baseline of what you need, you have to do more to tell the rich emotional story behind it.” Withey's tales, told from the back of macaroni and cheese boxes, build emotional connections with consumers. People feel as if they know this manufacturer - and therefore can trust its brand and products ("From organic goods to sustainable ones: a saturated market for organic packaged goods has sprouted a new demand: sustainability." CRM Magazine).
Annie’s does use marketing to its full advantages. Ann used to do the marketing herself, a very low key approach by simply writing letters on the back of the food boxes and even responding to customer messages personally. The company’s clearly grown since then and she can’t do that anymore – in fact, they recently hired a marketing firm, TDA. Many of their marketing approaches, like the color, mascot, grassroots approach, “telling it like it is” – all work together so that they are perceived as genuine. They even do market research to gather consumer input and check that their strategies are working. According to Laurie Demeritt, president of The Hartman Group, a consumer-research firm, “Organic is not really enough anymore--it's the baseline of what you need, you have to do more to tell the rich emotional story behind it.” Withey's tales, told from the back of macaroni and cheese boxes, build emotional connections with consumers. People feel as if they know this manufacturer - and therefore can trust its brand and products ("From organic goods to sustainable ones: a saturated market for organic packaged goods has sprouted a new demand: sustainability." CRM Magazine).
I find this approach to marketing to be much better than in-your-face commercials and fake models smiling from their very pores. I can definitely see this approach working wonders on their target audiences - mothers and college students. They are the most in need of convenience type foods, are concerned with health and the contents of their food, and would be most likely to agree with the company’s principles.
See, this is how business should still be done. She actually wrote personal letters back to customers? I mean, the idea of anyone writing letters to ANYONE these days seems pretty unusual, but that's just mind-blowing. It's interesting that companies spend so much time trying to figure out how to market their products and build "bonds" with their customers, when the solution seems pretty obvious: Bring a "human" element into the business. As in, appoint a human being to actually represent the company, and actually treat customers like human beings. And voila! People feel much more loyalty to the company. This must be a lot easier said than done, though, because few companies have done it as well as Annie's.
ReplyDelete