Prioritized SWOT Analysis

Prioritized SWOT Analysis
Prioritizing the above advantages, disadvantages, favorable, and unfavorable conditions has allowed me to gauge where Clif Bar’s attention needs to be focused in order to better the company. The following chart displays the impact each of the above points has on the company and their practices.

	Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats
9- 8- Critical 7- 6- 5- 4- Need to Leverage 3- 2- 1-	3 5 -1---2-------4------	------------------------	1 2 -----------------	-----------------
1- 2- Need to Address 3- 4- 5- 6- Critical 7- 8- 9-	----------------------	1 5 ---------- 3----------- 2 4	-----------------	2 --1-------------- 3

This day and age just about everyone is eating meals on the go, especially younger white-collar workers, ages 18-34. I represent this age group and lifestyle with the name “Phil.”

Phil does not have the time to create and enjoy a wholesome meal with all the vitamins and minerals he needs. He works hard in order to gain recognition and possible promotion at his job and is often on the go, but he also holds his social life dear. Because of this, he may put his own nutrition aside for the sake of his job or outings with his friends. Phil does consider himself to be health conscious in that he remains active by going to the gym or playing pick-up sports games with friends, but he also enjoys food, even the junky kinds, and recognizes the fact that he does not seek out the healthiest meal alternatives.

Geography

Phil can be found all around the United States, not just in specific cities. Because this age group includes people making their first impacts in the work force, they might not be as willing to relocate from their homes. The younger Phil would want to stay close to home and not necessarily move to a big city, while the older Phil has the experience and the ability to relocate to a city for work, or play. This being said, it is necessary to create advertisements to be placed nationwide in the chosen media vehicles.

This campaign is to be on a pulsing schedule, so that there is continual advertising throughout the year for these busy professionals, but with the heaviest advertising done when the weather begins to warm during the spring and summer. At this time of the year Phil may be participating in more outdoor activities and he may be wearing more revealing clothing, as well, due to the temperature. Phil is not necessarily a self-conscious person, but he is someone who wants to remain fit. Therefore if he has noticed some winter weight gain he would want to change that before bathing suit season is in full swing.

Keeping this information in mind, it is necessary to plan accordingly with all phases of the campaign, including direct marketing, public relations, and sales promotion. These phases of the campaign will also be implemented when the weather begins to warm in the spring and early summer in order to boost sales during the second quarter of the sales year. The chart on page 22 graphically displays this schedule.
Competitors

Energy bars of the past were often described as being “foul tasting fuel sources for jocks.” (Pollack, Cuneo, 1998) Unfortunately, this stigma sometimes holds true. However, the product category has made a large switch to “going the way of granola” and breaking off into other categories such as snack foods and meal replacements for kids, seniors, the health conscience, and athletes. (Pollack, Cuneo, 1998) Even with this switch and the fact that Clif Bar products fit in nicely with their “all-natural” niche, there are two main competitors: PowerBar Inc. and Balance Bar Co. (Pollack, Cuneo, 1998)

Balance Bar products could be considered the “diet bar” considering its roots in dieting plans, despite its successes in the athletic world. Not only was it created to resemble the Zone Diet, popular in the mid-1990s, but it also announced an alliance with Jenny Craig in October 1999. (Walden, 2008) However due to intense competition, Balance Bar Company saw its stock price plummet in late 1999 and has yet to make a strong recovery. (Walden, 2008)

Budget Considerations

It is greatly important to consider marketing communications spending as an investment, rather than a cost, because of the return on investment. Because both percent-of-sales and share-of-voice budgeting do not “take into consideration the quality of the creative messages” of the new campaign, (Duncan, 2005) I feel it would be more beneficial to use a combination of both objective-and-task and return-on-investment budgeting.

By implementing objective-and-task budgeting, we will be able to estimate the cost of each specific marketing communications task we are considering implementing. We can then use this information to work with the company’s ROI budgeting and we will be able to closely estimate “to what extent [Clif Bar] will profit from the dollars allocated” to each section of the campaign. (Duncan, 2005) This way we know roughly how much things will cost and also how much return we will receive and “better [our] chances of arriving at the most cost-effective level of MC spending.” (Duncan, 2005)

Marketing Objectives and Strategies

Increase sales to white-collar adults, ages 18-34, by 30% within the next eight months.

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  Develop a series of :30 television ads referencing the hectic and battle-like environment this demographic works within.
  
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  Develop a series of :30 radio ads also referencing said work environment.
  
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  Develop a series of full-page bleed color magazine ads also referencing said work environment.
  

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  Develop series of direct marketing and sales promotion tactics to entice first time purchasers into the stores or website.
  
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  Push Clif Bar and its products into the news arena as often as possible.
  
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  Entice customers to become involved with the company through Clif Bar’s environmental practices.
  

This advertising campaign will hone in on the toils of the workplace and workweek that our target market deals with. The media vehicles chosen will display common work scenes being compared to war and battle scenes with a specific call to action asking them to prepare themselves. For example, one may display the mad rush of young professionals fighting to get onto the subway or elevator, while another may show them fighting to make a deadline.

By focusing on the battles our target market faces at work, we will actually be able to transform their current idea that Clif Bar is an athlete-only energy bar. It is not just for rock climbers or cyclists anymore, but instead for the fighting workpeople of the world that need the energy and nutrients to stay on top of their game while they spend a great deal of their time fighting for recognition and promotion in the workplace.

Creative Brief

Why are we advertising?
To position Clif Bar energy bars as the best alternative to other energy bars or unhealthy snacks and remind people how much nutrients they need to put into their body.

Who are we talking to?

Men and women, ages 18-34, who are infrequent or nonusers of Clif Bar products. They are health conscious and on the go in white-collar jobs. They recognize the need for vitamins and minerals in their diet but don’t have time to search out the right products.

“Clif Bar products are for outdoorsy people who go rock climbing or biking and need the extra energy. When I’m on the go with my busy schedule I think of quick snack foods, not energy bars.”

“I don’t have time to get all the vitamins and minerals I need but Clif Bar products have it all. They’re quicker, easier, tastier, and better for me than other energy bars or snacks.”

Clif Bar has everything you need, and want, to prepare for the battle-like workweek.

Clif Bar is delicious, easy to eat, and wholesome.

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  :30 TV ad
  
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  :30 radio ad
  
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  Full page bleed color magazine ad
  

The Media

To best advertise towards our prospective targets, it is necessary to utilize the pulse method during the advertising campaign. This way there is continuous advertising throughout the year and extra in the second quarter when our target market is trying to eat healthier due to warming weather. Advertisements for the products will be placed in magazines, on cable television, and on local radio stations.