coroceligueta

[coroceligueta]

Optional Reading - Performance tends to improve when there is less pressure

After reading the article "Reversing the Placebo: Performance-Branded Experiences Can Undermine Consumer Performance", which suggests that high-performance-branded enhancement experiences can actually hinder effectiveness, I can't stop thinking about playing tennis.

Let me explain: I enjoy playing tennis on weekends with my friends. I have a racket that I bought when I was 15 years old, which was good quality at the time, but it has been heavily used and is not in the best condition anymore. If I were to play tennis in a casual setting with my racket, I would be in the control group of the experiment mentioned in the article. I tend to play decently - not the best player, but I win some games.

Occasionally, a friend with a high-quality Head racket joins us, and I use his racket. The racket would act as a performance-enhancing product, serving as a placebo effect. In this informal setting, I tend to play much better with the high-quality racket. In this case, I would be in the group that uses performance-enhancing products in the experiment. In this group, people tend to perform better because they believe they are using a product that will improve their performance.

However, when I play in a formal environment, such as in a tournament with my friends where there is a prize, my performance is vastly different from when I play in a casual setting where we don't even keep score, regardless of the racket I use. I play better in a casual setting due to the lower pressure. I believe this last situation is similar to the group in the experiment that uses performance-enhancing experiences, where brands take on a dominant role and where people tend to perform worse due to a high pressure environment/service.

In summary, this example illustrates the concept proposed in the article that high-performance-branded enhancement experiences can reduce efficacy by placing excessive demands on consumers that interfere with their effective performance.

[coroceligueta]

Week 5 - An analogy between a trench coat and a plant-based burger

I had never thought that a trench coat and a plant-based burger could have things in common. Although the products are not similar at all, I believe that there are several commonalities between Burberry and Impossble Foods. Burberry had seen its sales and quality eroded due to a massive licensing of its products. Moreover, the lack of disciplined had left Burberry in a position in which only a very specific segment of the population - mainly older people - were willing to buy the more than 100,000 SKUs that the company had in the market. Other decisions such as selling through wholesalers that sold to unauthorized distributors were making it hard for Burberry to consolidate as a brand.

Rose Marie Bravo was able to reinvent the brand, not only by properly understanding new customer segments, such as younger people, but also by changing the "message" of the brand: Burberry offers accessible luxury that is also functional. It also made very popular campaigns with famous people such as Mario Testino and also created a high-end brand called Prorsum.

Drawing parallels to Impossible Foods, it appears that the company is facing a similar situation. I believe that Impossible Foods is not targeting the right customer segment and that customers are starting to question the quality of its products. While Impossible Foods is aiming to appeal to individuals who are concerned about the environment, it has neglected to target vegetarian individuals and those who seek healthier options. Moreover, rumors there are rumors that Impossible Foods products may not be healthy.

To address these concerns, I would suggests that Impossible Foods conduct a proper market analysis using tools such as ethnography, surveys, and focus groups. This would enable the company to identify additional customer segments it could target, much like Burberry did with younger people. In addition, I would recommend that Impossible Foods consider rebranding its products to better communicate the quality of its plant-based meat offerings. Finally, the company could replicate Burberry's successful campaigns with photographers and models by partnering with nutritionists to educate potential customers about the benefits of consuming Impossible Foods products. Impossible Foods has the opportunity to find its "sweat-spot" in the market - in the same way as Burberry did - and to reinvent the plant-based products industry. Impossible Foods will only succeed if it has enough discipline to understand the customer needs and communicates successfully the benefits of its products.

[coroceligueta]

Week 4 - Why does Impossible Foods have an adoption gap?

After reading "Note on Innovation Diffusion: Rogers' Five Factors" by John T. Gourville, I want to make an analysis of the adoption of Impossible Foods (IF), the brand my group is analyzing for the Branding Lab. IF sells plant-based products that aim to replace the traditional meat, including beef, chicken and pork among others. So far, the IF's advertising is focused on the environmental impact and leaves behind other aspects consumers usually look for from a “plant-based” diet, such as a healthier diet. More information about IF can be found here.

The five product-based characteristics defined by Rogers will help understand why there is a gap of adoption that IF is finding difficult to overcome.

-Relative advantage. Currently there is not a perceptible benefit from consuming IF products. IF targets the products by explaining that they are much more sustainable from an environmental perspective. However, I believe that most of the potential consumers want to know more about the impact on their health, rather than on the environment. Indeed, IF could convince potential consumers by saying that it is better to reduce the meat consumption and include plant-based products in your diet. Moreover, there is not an economic benefit, as IF prices most of the products the in the same price range or more expensive than the traditional meat products it replaces.

Compatibility. There is not a clear degree of compatibility. On the one hand, vegetarians, which are potential IF customers, don’t want to eat meat. However, IF announces which meat type replaces each product (e.g. chicken, beef etc.). I believe that this fact does not convince vegetarians to buy IF products, since they want to avoid consuming meat or any other product that reminds them to meet.

On the other hand, non-vegetarians will aim to eat “real” meat, and therefore, they will buy meat instead of IF. An idea for IF would be to rebrand the products and advertise them by the product type: burgers, balls, filets etc., or by the degree of taste: mild, medium, strong etc.

Complexity. One of the complexities of IF products is to know how to cook them. IF could do online workshops to show how to prepare the products or provide recipes/cooking instructions.

Trialability. IF sells the products in some of the biggest retail chains, such as Target or Walmart. However, unless someone proactively decides to buy the products – because either the person is curious about trying them or heard about IF in the media or from friends - it is probable that nobody will purchase IF given the great innovation that they represent in the food space. A good idea for IF would be to provide free samples to potential customers.

Observability. In general, the degree of observability is low as other customers will not see that you have bought IF in a supermarket. A proposal for IF would be to create a community of IF lovers and share recipes in social media (Instagram, TikTok etc.).

Overall, preliminary analysis shows that IF has many challenges to overcome in terms of adoption, and should sell the products by targeting them not as a more sustainable replacement of meat, but as a healthier option.

[coroceligueta]

Week 3 - A Story of 'Premiumization'

When it comes to choosing a wine brand, the quality of the wine is the one of the main driving factors behind a consumer's decision. Unless you are specifically buying wine for cooking or mixing in a sangria (particularly if you are from Spain), you will be looking for a wine that is of good quality and has a certain status associated with it. While wines from the New World have been increasing in popularity and market share, it takes years to establish a strong brand for wines coming from countries like Chile and Argentina. Indeed, building a strong brand perception takes time and is particularly important in the wine industry.

Despite the potential to target a low price range and mass produce their wine, Concha y Toro recognized the opportunity for growth in the premium and super premium wine categories. In 2005, their shares in these categories were only 25.0% and 1.2% respectively (compared to 34% and 10% in the US). Consumers tend to be more sophisticated and prefer brands that offer memorable experiences, especially in markets where wine consumption is growing such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan. Moreover, building a strong brand perception takes time and is particularly important in the wine industry.

Concha y Toro could pursue a premium strategy by launching a limited edition of an existing super premium brand such as 'Marques de Casa Concha'. Another option would be to create a limited edition of a sustainable or organic wine. By offering limited editions of existing brands, Concha y Toro could test the market and see if the premium, super premium, and ultra premium categories are successful. In fact, Concha y Toro has already been working on premiumizing its wines over the last 5 years, and the data shows that they are seeing great results.

Data Source: https://www.meiningers-international.com/wine/styles-regions/concha-y-toros-premium-wine-strategy

[coroceligueta]

Week 2 - Should Tatte expand in NYC?

On Saturday, I enjoyed a delicious Shakshuka at Tatte in the Seaport area. I am a big fan of Tatte not only because of their great food for both breakfast and lunch, but also because of their cozy atmosphere and affordable prices. While dining, I wondered why Tatte has not yet opened a restaurant in Manhattan. Given the interest in healthy and tasty food in cozy cafes, I believe a Tatte location in Manhattan would be very successful. I am moving to New York in August, so I would definitely a potential customer.

To determine the viability of opening a Tatte cafe in Manhattan, the company should conduct a multi-step market research process. This could involve using various methodologies outlined in the HBS document "Market Research".

First, Tatte should gather secondary data on customer behavior. Both internal and external data would be extremely useful in understanding the potential market in Manhattan. Internal data could be obtained by comparing metrics from existing Tatte locations that are most similar to the potential Manhattan market, such as analyzing data from the Tatte location in Boston Commons. External data from sources such as Nielsen could also help to understand trends in New Yorkers' spending habits and food preferences.

Second, Tatte should gather non-experimental qualitative and quantitative data. For qualitative data, focus groups could be conducted with a variety of people living in New York and engaging in different groups such as students or young workers. Quantitative data could be obtained from a large enough sample of people, with questions such as "Would you visit a Tatte location in Manhattan?", "Would you eat Tatte's food?", and "Which neighborhoods would you be most interested in visiting a Tatte location in Manhattan?".

While this is just a preliminary approach to Tatte's potential market research, a more comprehensive research effort would likely require considerable time and effort, particularly for the gathering of quantitative data.

[coroceligueta]

Week 1 - Achieving market leadership in the US imported beer market with Corona

In the US beer market, where overall beer consumption was slowing down, the consumption of imported beer, both in total and per capita, was increasing. This presented an opportunity for Corona to become the top imported beer in the market, surpassing Heineken.

To gain the US imported beer market, Grupo Modelo should focus on regional campaigns in areas with high beer consumption but low imported beer consumption, such as the South Atlantic Division and East North Central. For instance, the South Atlantic Division consumes the highest amount of beer (476.39 millions of 2.25-gallon cases), while the consumption of imported beer is only 22.5. The same happens in East North Central, with a total beer consumption of 443.22 and imported beer consumption of 21.56. Therefore, both Barton and Gambrinus have a duty to promote off-premise sales in this regions.

Moreover, Grupo Modelo should perform a dive deep analysis/surveys to understand in which regions they could penetrate more based on Corona's share out of the total imported beers market. They should also consider other attributes such as price, packaging etc. and perceptions from customers.

Grupo Modelo should also consider increasing the marketing budge ($5.1M), as it is the one with the smallest budget in comparison to Heineken and Anheuser-Busch ($15.1 and $192M) respectively. Grupo Modelo could start advertising experiences on top of their "themes" such as "Fun, Sun, Beach". For example, they were selling "experiences" in their ads in the US in 2020:

Overall, Grupo Modelo had a great opportunity to grow to become #1 beer importer in the US by targeting specific regions, analyzing the each region's preferences and increasing the marketing budget. As it can be seen in Statista, Grupo Modelo was able to become #1 beer importer by 2022, exceeding Heineken.