Boosting the brand Herbapol Lublin

BOOSTING THE BRAND

Herbapol Lublin SA, a Polish manufacturer of fruit and herbal teas, grocery fruit syrups and pharmaceutical herbal products, is introducing a new brand strategy. The PR message, ‘Yours by nature’, was launched at the end of 2012, and even in the first months of 2013, consumers are already seeing major changes in the brand image: a brand with over 60 years of tradition. Piotr Sadowski reports for Industry Europe.

The aim of Herbapol’s new marketing strategy is to add a more universal emotional element to the brand’s image, as well as to reach younger consumers. “We would like Herbapol to be a brand that is even ‘closer’ to people,” says Roman Górny, president of the board at Herbapol. “By ‘closer’ I mean, on the one hand, a metaphorical sense, creating warm emotions and evoking associations with good, lasting values. On the other hand I also mean ‘closer’ in a literal sense, by being always easily accessible, within reach, on a table or a kitchen shelf.”

The key to the ‘Yours by nature’ marketing strategy is the concept of co-existence and similarity of two worlds: nature and mankind. Advertising messages will show people’s behaviour as reflecting natural phenomena. They will stress the most important values such as care, shared experience of the deepest emotions, respect, giving and receiving the support of others. Herbapol wants to remind its customers that these values, despite changes taking place in the world, still remain the most important ones.

Ambitious strategy

“From a marketing point of view, the fact that Herbapol is a widely known brand, respected for generations, evoking associations with nature and health, and recalling childhood memories, should be of great help,” explains Tadeusz Czarniecki, the company’s marketing director. “In reality, creating a brand new communication platform, which nurtures the traditional character of the brand, while at the same time helps to reach young consumers, living in a modern world, has been a significant challenge.”

The representatives of San Markos PR Agency, which has been working on the concept of the ‘Yours by nature’ marketing platform, explain that the format of cooperation with the company has in itself been unique. “The board of Herbapol has been very closely involved in the entire process,” says Karol Gajewski, managing director at San Markos. “Thanks to this we were able to capture those things which are important not only for the brand, but also for the people behind it. I believe that what we have jointly created will translate into a new perception of Herbapol, a brand which we not only respect, but also like. This brand deserves to regain its place in the limelight.”

Herbapol will be introducing its new marketing strategy at many levels, starting with a ‘facelift’ of the logotype, change of packaging labels, through to a TV campaign and other marketing activities. Packaging will be changed in accordance with the second key area of the new strategy, the retro trend which uses folk designs from across the different regions of

Poland, thereby ensuring that the entire design refers to the traditional character of the brand. This change will include all sub-brands, as Owocowa Spiżarnia (Fruit Pantry; syrups), Herbaciany Ogród (Tea Garden; fruit teas) and Zielnik Polski (Polish Herbarium; herbal teas). The first instalment of the campaign, including two 30-second spots, directed by Marek Dawid, was launched on TV in November 2012. This is also when an outdoor campaign was launched, while products in new packaging began gradually appearing in stores. The new marketing strategy, coordinated by the marketing director, Tadeusz Czarniecki, was executed by the Herbapol Lublin team together with the San Markos PR Agency. San Markos was also responsible for preparing the new communication platform and the creation of the campaign. The ‘facelift’ of the logo and new packaging designs were looked after by Art&Craft, whereas the purchase of media was the domain of OMD. The advertising spots were produced by Lemonfilm.

Leader of the market

With a 33 per cent share in the Polish market for grocery fruit syrups, Herbapol Lublin SA is the unquestionable leader in the sector. It is also the strongest player in the herbal teas market (19 per cent share) and the number

two in the market for fruit teas (12.4 per cent share; all data taken from MAT JJ 2012 survey). The company has over 60 years of operational tradition, while since 2001 Herbapol Lublin S.A. products have been presented to the market under a joint brand ‘Herbapol – Essence of Nature’. The Herbapol brand is known to 84 per cent of Poles and includes the before-mentioned sub-brands, Owocowa Spiżarnia (Sweet Home; syrups), Herbaciany Ogród (Nature’s Garden; fruit teas) and Zielnik Polski (Quality Herbs; herbal teas).

Herbapol products are created using only natural plant-based ingredients, by acquiring them directly from nature using its own purchase points – a system that is unique in Europe. The company’s manufacturing processes utilise pharmaceutical expertise and meet the highest standards of food safety, namely certificates such as pharmaceutical GMP, BRC Global Food Standard and the ECO standard focusing on acquiring ecological ingredients. Furthermore, Herbapol operates on a socially responsible basis not only through care for the environment and nature, but also by respecting the principles of fairplay for its employees and trade partners. The company also awards Herbapol – Essence of Nature recognitions to people inspired by nature (the award alumni include well-known Polish personalities such as Adam Wajrak, Prof Piotr Kuna, Kinga Baranowska, Martyna Wojciechowska, Anna Maria Jopek, Beata Pawlikowska, Jerzy Woy-Wojciechowski, Marek Kamiński and Jacek Pałkiewicz). It also supports the best Polish female pole vault athlete, Anna Rogowska, as well the Polpharma Starogard Gdański basketball team.

Awards and recognitions

As one would expect, Herbapol, a company with such a long tradition, has over the years collected a multitude of market and consumer awards. In 2012, from amongst a range of recognitions, it received the Business Gazelle 2011 certificate awarded to the most dynamically-developing companies in Poland by the Business Pulse magazine together with the Coface Poland market research company. It was also awarded the Trustworthy Brand, in the Herbal Preparation category, in the Polish edition of the largest European consumer research – European Trusted Brands – carried out by Reader’s Digest. The products of Herbapol Lublin received two specific recognitions: the Gold Emblem (for the largest number of cast votes) and the Crystal Emblem (for the highest marks awarded by consumers in the categories: quality; value-to-price ration; strong image; understanding client needs; and social responsibility). In 2010 it won the Sial d’OR award for the Green-Up energy drink, non-alcoholic beverages category. At the 8th Americas Food and Beverage show it won the title of Best Energy Drink, again for the Green-Up energy drink. The year 2008 saw it win the title of Best Polish Exporter of the Year at the British Polish Chamber of Commerce annual award ceremony. In addition to market and consumer titles, Herbapol also holds awards for production management, including HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) and ISO 9001:2000 – Integrated Management System. n