Get off my land! Leading vs. Poacher Brands (Part 1)

 "Get off my land!" is a phrase shouted by farmers, shotgun in hand, when poachers try to trespass. Leading Brands need to do the same thing when new "Poacher Brands” trespass onto their territory.

In the next 2 posts we’ll look at examples of leading brands trying to repel the threat of new Poacher Brands.In this first post, we introduce some criteria to assess the likely effectiveness of the brand leaders’ reaction, and look at two examples that may have problems: Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure and Red Sky from Walkers/Lays. In the next post we’ll look in detail at a response that may work better, Tropicana’s premium range, and give some conclusions.

The following criteria are used to the likely effectiveness of the leaders’ reaction:
1. Credibility: does the brand have authority?
2. Value proposition: is offering a better price and/or quality?
3. Speed of reaction: how quick does the leader fight back?
4. Business model benefits: any leadership edge to use, such as distribution power?

Low chance of success: Kellogg's Nature's Pleasure vs. Dorset Cereals?
Dorset Cereals premium muesli grew from £4m in 2004 to £30m in 2007. The key to this success has been distinctive packaging, which portrays the image of a small, family-run company in the country. [In reality, it was grown by a private equity company before being sold last year ;-) ] The product is also distinctive, thanks to the addition of little flakes that add some nice crunch.

Kellogg's response is "Kellogg's Nature's Pleasure".

1. Credibility: The Kellogg's branding drags it back into the mainstream, and the cute cartoons feel a bit forced. There's no stand-alone website, but rather a sub-section of the Kellogg's one (4/10)

2.Value proposition: in quality terms, feels like a poor copy of Dorset, lacking the premium quality cues and authenticity. The Nature's Pleasure branding feels like its slapped on the top of the pack. And its priced in line with Dorset (4/10)
3. Speed of response: this response comes late in the day, after Dorset have been able to create a loyal base of consumers who buy into the brand (3/10)
4. Business model: Kellogg’s does have huge scale, which should help with costs. But I don’t see much in the way of advantage. Food service perhaps, to kick Dorset out of hotels? (5/10)
Total: 16/40

Medium chance of success: Red Sky (Walkers/Lays) vs. Kettle Chips
Kettle Chips is another example of a small business that has grown through distinctive packaging, great product and premium pricing. With no advertising it has become one of the UK's top 100 grocery brands, with sales of £60million only £3million behind Pringles! These potato chips are hand cooked, and have interesting, foodie flavours such as “Sea Salt and Black Peppercorn”.

Walkers, the UK’s leading brand of potato chips, responded in 2009 with the launch of a new brand, Red Sky. In contrast to Kellogg’s approach, there is no use of the leading brand name.

1. Credibility: This feels a bit more more credible, and is helped by the lack of any visible Walkers branding. The “sky” device evokes rural roots. But, this is a brand new brand that will have to earn credibility. Can't find a website, which is a shame (6/10)
2.Value proposition: product/pack is OK, but doesn’t really offer any added value versus Kettle Chips, or other more authentic premium brands like Tyrells and Burts. Also, the pricing is 10% above Kettle according to The Grocer, with a 40g bag costing 59p compared with Kettle's 53p. Ouch, this feels a big ask (4/10)
3. Speed of response: again, this response comes late in the day. 22 years late in fact. Kettle were launched in the UK in 1987, and have built a strong fan base through word of mouth. And Tyrells has been bought by the same private equity company that invested in Dorset (3/10)
4. Business model: here is where Walkers might have an edge. They can draw on Pepsico’s distribution muscle to get Red Sky into supermarkets, and out of home channels. Visiting Leeds Castle with my family last week, I saw that Red Sky was the only brand on sale (6/10)
Total: 19/40

Watch out for the next post for our final Leading Brand's effort, Tropica, and the conclusions.

Comments

[David Taylor (brandgym)]

Nev,
I think you maybe right when saying that big brands almost try too hard to create packaging. It then has to jump through the many corporate loops of testing.

Interesting that Dorset was created by a private-equity fund backed team... would love to know who was in this team. Ex big brand people freed up? Or small start-up dudes?
David

[Nev]

Great post. I couldn't agree more about the dreadful response to Dorset Cereals, which frankly is a hard act to follow. I can't believe how Kellogg's have rather blatantly chosen to rip-off the Dorset Cereals children's charity Edible Playgrounds. http://www.edibleplaygrounds.co.uk 0/10 for that Kelloggs!

I also can't believe how weak the Red Sky packaging is compared to Kettle. Why can't these large companies get it right? Is it because they insist on using research to determine what the customer "wants" perhaps? (rather than following their gut instincts which is where the smaller brands seem to steal the show).