Kerrys cheestrings flavoured debuts: marketing news analysis - Essay Example

The term is derived from the root word, which referred to the literal process of going to the market, taking goods or services to the market for selling or shopping (Kotler and Armstrong, 1996). However, this definition is evidently insufficient but its scope is widened by Philip Kotler, who defines marketing as a practice that goes beyond all other business functions that have to do deal with the customer (Kotler, 2002). This paper will present an analysis of a market news story that was authored by Julia Glotz, and posted on the website of “The Grocer” website, on the 21st of February of 2013.

The marketing news talked about Kerry’s Cheesestrings, which are debuted for different customer segments, using a flavour-based differentiation. The product was debuted under the new flavours, with the aim of developing a new line, which the company anticipates to become as successful as the Cheesstrings spaghetti line, which was launched in July 2010 (Glotz, 2013). The questions to be answered through this news analysis include the following: What is the marketing new story all about? What are the marketing strategies used by the company?

What is the wider implication that yields from the positioning of the marketing in the market? The last question will enquire what relations can be made with the definition of Kotler. The marketing is mainly targeted at parents, particularly mothers, who have been the target of the lunchbox market, which is already worth € 185 million. The parents, especially mothers are the main targets of the marketing campaign, because they are the ones who are crying for healthier lunchbox snacks for their children, where the promise is that the new flavours will serve this need (Glotz, 2013).

During the campaign, Joao Felix, the marketing manager stated that children and parents, alike, are craving for fun formats and variety – a need to be served by the new flavours of the cheestrings product line and brand. He goes ahead to note that innovation around flavour was the force driving product growth in different snacking categories for children. He gives the examples of the crisp snacks and yoghurt, where he makes the emphasis that Kerry needed to take advantage of the trend with the new flavour lines.

Through the campaign, he emphasizes the company’s insistence on the healthy nature of their products, due to the constant need from their main consumer groups (mothers) to offer their children healthier lunchbox snacks. This emphasis demonstrates the essence of promoting good and natural growth among children, which offers Kerry’s, the opportunity to serve that area of need. The solution is offered through combining imagination and nutrition, where the Kerry Company projects the trends in flavour preferences, and the need for nutritious products, which allows it a line of opportunity (Glotz, 2013).

Through the renewal of the products, the products are identified with healthy foods, namely cheese and onions, to make it look healthier and natural. The strategic positioning of the new brand lines demonstrates the need to understand marketing, not from the traditional sense of – taking good to the market and selling – but from the sense of satisfying present and the future needs of the customer. From the marketing news, it is depicted that a marketing strategy is ordinarily focused around the conception that the main goal of marketing is increasing customer satisfaction (Kotler and Armstrong, 1996).

From Kerry’s case, the introduction of new flavours offers an effective marketing strategy, because the flavour variants attract children, and at the same time, they are natural in nature, which offers the parents the confidence that they are healthy for their children. The new flavours are not only positioned like