Hsm/260 Week 3 Slogan Analysis

Product

My brand name is Mery Macarons. It’s an alliteration (with both words beginning with an m) which I thought would be more easier to remember. My brand logo is Carlos the Christmas wreath which is the brand’s mascot. I want to promote the brand as a seasonal cereal. Since wreaths are commonly associated with Christmas, the customer can assume it is a Christmas themed cereal. I chose “Sweet to the core, You’ll Want More” as my slogan. My slogan rhymes hence it could be remembered easily. Also, the first part of the slogan “Sweet to the core” contributes to the fact that it’s a dessert cereal.

Price

The price that Merry Macarons will be sold is $3.50. For most brands of cereal, they tend to cost around $3-$6. With that price range, the product is priced around the middle of said range. Also, my cereal basically comprises of little macarons. In general, macarons cost about $0.20 to make at home. By pricing the cereal higher than the price of macaron

production, it will allow the brand to buy ingredients for the cereal while sustaining a decent profit.

Promotion
The product can be advertised as though the product brings a little joy to your Christmas season.

Merry Macarons will advertise it through the means of TV commercials during peak watching hours, radio jingles, and through internet ads. By having the commercials aired during the breaks of popular TV programs, it will be viewed by a wider amount of people compared to not being aired at peak times. It will also stick with the viewer as the commercials will be short yet memorable at the best. Quick radio jingles will sit well with driver if the delivery is good. Since more and more people are more technology based now, that leaves a wide range of people to advertise to on the internet. The brand will create short commercials (similar to the TV commercials) to advertise on the web. In terms of sales promotion, free samples at various stores and a special promotion will occur. The special promotion would be redeeming box tops of Merry Macarons for 2 free movie tickets at any participating movie

theater.

Place
It would be sold in stores, particularly supermarkets like No Frill’s, However, it could also be sold at superstores such as Walmart. Other stores Merry Macarons will be sold at are Fortinos, Fresh Co, Food Basics, and Sobeys. Personally, the cereal does not really have the potential to sell it worldwide. Although the concept is quite unique, it is simply a cereal that is best sold during a particular period in time, which happens to be Christmas. The thought of Merry Macarons being sold around the world could differ if it wasn’t entirely season-based.

Consumer
Although Merry Macarons could appeal to any demographic over the age of 5, it is more suited for children. In particular, this cereal brand is targeted to children/teenagers around the ages of 7-13. It applies to either gender; The cereal is not intended to be for solely one gender. With psychographics, the cereal entertains to an extremely jolly and enthusiastic audience. They are mostly children who love the Christmas season and probably still believe Santa actually exists.

Competition
My three direct competitors are Candy Corn Pops, Count Chocula, and Christmas Crunch. These are my direct competitors because they are seasonal-based cereals which are marketed to children. These cereal brands are doing quite decent in the product cycle. When Halloween comes to mind, Candy Corn Pops doesn’t really come to mind as it isn’t iconic in any way. Since it has been sold since 2001, you could say the cereal may have lost its touch causing it fall under the decline stage. According to Quakes, Christmas Crunch typically makes 13%-18% of the company's total profit. It falls under the maturity stage. During majority of the year, the sales are quite decent. However, the profits double during the Halloween season. Hence, it would in between the growth and maturity spectrum. My indirect competitor is Little Debbie’s Cosmic Brownies since it is not exactly a seasonal food but could market towards the same demographic as Merry Macarons. With Cosmic Brownies, they are in between the growth and maturity stages since they are making constant profit and is relatively popular.
As Merry Macarons is competing with other cereal brands, the brand is striving for an overall superb design with the cereal box. That will attract more customers based off its visual presentation. Speaking of which, the cereal must be in really good quality in order for the customers to keep purchasing it. If the box that the customers first buy is horrible, then it will be highly doubted they’ll buy another one. Although the lowest price will be more pleasing to customers and drag attention away from competition, the price has to be reasonable in order to guarantee profits. Additionally, customers love a free deal hence a cereal brand should try to promote with free giveaways or special offers.