Brand Turnaround

ISSUE

$130M condiment brand in crisis

SITUATIONicon_asses

The brand had no Brand Plan for the current year, and Brand Plans for the coming year had not yet been initiated, and were six weeks behind schedule. There were only ten weeks until sales force sell-in, and the main competitor was spending $60M in advertising alone, with an overall budget more than 10x that of the brand in question.

Assessment

  • Gathered experienced cross functional team to quickly develop SWOT
  • Identified ailing brand’s core strengths and unique assets
  • Met one-on-one with all key players to better understand business and to identify
    needs
  • Reviewed business situation data and all existing brand research
  • Assessed existing marketing elements for efficiency, effectiveness and fit with the brand

ACTIONS icon_act

  • Identified brand’s three core strengths
  • Narrowed consumer target to subset of existing users
  • Decided to “staunch the hemorrhaging” of consumers in Year One, with goal of pursuing new consumers after business stabilized
  • Developed strategy based on the core category usage, which was not being utilized by competitors
  • Worked with the finance team, to identify realistic optimal spending levels based on overall company priorities and capabilities.
  • Brought strategy to life by maximizing all brand elements
    • Value-added in-packs
    • Strategic partnerships
    • Local market PR campaign
    • Re-vamped website
  • Strategic decision to lock up Catalina for full year 2006
    • The brand’s most efficient vehicle
    • Untapped by competition
    • Plan to leverage Catalina’s category exclusivity and right of first refusal
  • Wrote RFP, held “shoot-out” and hired agencies appropriate to brand’s size and needs.

SOLUTIONS icon_sol

  • Developed and delivered complete brand plan in 10 weeks
  • GM of Europe said that it was the best plan for the brand that she’d seen in the 5 years she’d been at the company.
  • Strength of programs succeeded in preventing sku discontinuation at Wal-Mart
  • Sales force reported that business began to stabilize after plan implementation