Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

I think you're focusing too much on the "charity" aspect and not enough on the taste/local ingredients story.

If it were up to me, and I had no reliable consumer research to guide me, I'd bury the "charity" story in small type at the bottom somewhere so people didn't have to think about the disabled homeless people who make the soup when they read the "real" copy.

Let DELICIOUS be your positioning benefit, with local/fresh ingredients as the reason why. Or go for an emotional benefit (e.g., "Your family will know you love them ..."), again supported by taste/local ingredients.

The "good deed" (i.e., what you do for disabled homeless people) should be your secret, not a disguised guilt trip for your consumers. People like to pick their charitable causes, not have them dictated to them when all they really want is good soup.

Thank you for your input.

We have actually had a group of Masters Business Students do some market research for us and found that in our community the charity aspect works really well. It also gives us a differentiating idea in an area where delicious, fresh, local food is already flooding the market place. Also, the program was started by Porchlight to help show that our clients can be productive members of society so I know that my bosses will want that part to be at the forefront.

Silly me. I thought the idea was to sell soup and make money, so the program would actually BE successful. < /sarcasm >

Knowing that (a) some students did some market research, and (b) the real objective is to make your bosses feel better, doesn't really change my own point of view, but I now understand the constraints better.

First, you should probably question the research design and analysis, because the findings are considerably different than what others have found in a similar situation. Whenever research results are different from what you'd expect, you should question the research.

Second, where are you planning to sell this soup? Is it going to be on the shelf in supermarkets throughout the area? Right next to major brands that are positioned on a taste platform? Are there any examples of "charity" brands in other product categories? What have they done? How effective is their marketing?

I applaud your overall effort, but I'd still urge that you approach this as a marketing project with a goal of selling stuff and making money. That's what will enable you to keep the project going and really benefit the disabled homeless people you are trying to help. You're letting them down if you take your eye off the ball when it comes to effective positioning of the product they're working so hard to produce.

P.S. It's common in a market research situation for consumers to SAY they would support a worthwhile cause/charity, but not do so when they're faced with a brand choice at the point of purchase.

If you ask people what criteria they use to decide which brand of soup they should buy, I'm guessing the "charity" reason would be way down at the bottom of the list ... behind taste, fresh ingredients, healthy, nice label, nutritional info, etc.

We actually don't sell soup. We make jams, jellies, sauerkraut, pasta sauce, applesauce, cranberry sauce, pickled vegetables and some baking mixes.

The products are sold at stores that are interested in the charity aspect and are placed in their own area in the store or café, etc. We put them out with brochures about the program.

At this point everything about the program has been geared toward selling the fact that we can get disabled homeless people to make really good food.

I think we are a little more like the boy scout popcorn, little league candy bars, and girl scout cookies that people buy because of who's selling it and then they luck out because the stuff they bought is also really good.

I also know that our charitable aspect is the one thing that makes us really different. Everyone else is trying to sell that they are the tastiest and the freshest. There is also a lot of people on the "local" ladder. Isn't it good to use the charitable difference to distinguish us?

Sorry about the assumption that the product is soup. Don't know where I got that idea. Of course, the comments would apply to any of the products you mention. Thanks for correcting me on that.

My view changes a little bit when I understand that your products are sold in a separate section -- the "charity ward." I've had some experience with that when a client of mine (food product) agreed to produce a private label product for a not-for-profit company that had secured special selling space in selected supermarkets. Of course, he continued to sell his regular product in its usual location in the store at the same time.

Results of that effort: Standard branded product on the shelf outsold the "charity ward" product by about 35:1. The private label product was eventually returned or discounted just to get it off the shelf. Market share (in the category) was insignificant -- less than 1% -- while the branded product was about 25% and unaffected by the new "competitor."

So, to answer your question: I do not think the novelty of the "charity" positioning will be enough to offset the lack of focus on the main benefit consumers seek when they buy the product -- especially true in food categories where taste and freshness are the price of admission.

How have I been swayed in my thinking? If the only way you can get distribution in these supermarkets is by playing the "charity" card, then I guess that's better than not having distribution at all. But the more you can position yourself as providing the benefits people really seek in the category, the better off you will be.

I guess I am at a loss now. I am not in marketing. I have a culinary background. The cooking, job training, and the product development is my thing.

In some ways my hands are tied. The logo was designed to have a similar feel as the larger organizations logo. It shows a hand holding a piece of wheat. You can see it at www.porchlightinc.org. I also am dealing with a boss who spent $80,000 before I was hired to have some consultants set up this idea of promoting the abilities of the disabled.

How do I use your advice and do what you are saying without upsetting a very large and very expensive apple cart? Do you have any examples of what that copy might look like?

My main goal is to make this program work and I really believe in the people I am working with. I am also tremendously proud of the work they do. Our food is very good and I would be willing to put it up against most any other brand.

I don't mean to seem stubborn, but getting told this far into things that it is all wrong is overwhelming for someone who is not in the marketing field.

Since the train has essentially left the station on this program, let me try a rewrite of your copy ... which is what you requested in the first place.

The food in this package is made entirely with local ingredients and prepared by dedicated Wisconsin residents. People who try it for the first time are blown away by the flavor and obvious quality and almost all of them become loyal long-term customers. Try it yourself and let us know what you think: comments@porchlightinc.org

I suspect others on this forum can build on this and make it even stronger.

Here's a different pass at a similar thought:

This product is made with delicious Wisconsin ingredients – and an extra dose of care and pride. Porchlight Products gives disabled homeless people a path to a better future through work experience and job experience. Why keep buying the same old things, when you can choose great-tasting food that does good?

Follow up to my last post -- I meant "work experience and job training" -- oops... need an editor :-)

Recommend using both foregoing suggestions, except change the last line: Try our great-tasting good and let us know what you think: comments@porchlight.org!

This eliminates the negativity about the competition "...same old things" while encouraging even more feedback (aka 'research')

Good luck
jag
MarketBase

I appreciate this help. I certainly is getting us in a different direction.

A suggestion a co-worker made in response to the idea that we need to get away from the guilt trip while satisfying my bosses feeling about keeping our employee's in focus was to use a more direct and shocking approach. SOmething along the line of:

Buy this product becuase it's really good food.
Don't buy it becuase you feel bad for the disabled and homeless or because you want to help the local farmers. What's important is that it tastes good. And we promise that it does.
(Mind you this is ver rough)

Any opinions about that?

Jennifer

This is a good idea with one problem, our limited budget. We are a non-profit organization and I can't invest a lot of money in having multiple labels to test an idea.

Jennifer

Thank you for all of the helpful responses. I will get back to you as soon as I have our final copy.