Part A – Company Analysis History and Overview Ganong Bros. Limited is Canada's oldest candy company. The company is a familyowned business, founded in 1873, with an international reputation for quality products. The history of Ganong began with two brothers names James and Gilbert Ganong, who had opened a small retail and grocery business in the town of St.Stephan, New Brunswick. Originally, selling candy was just a minor component of their business. However, the brothers soon realized in order to achieve a competitive advantage from their competitors, they had to specialize in certain products. They decided to expand into the candy business when they saw great potential in that market. In 1884, they turned their grocery business into the candy company that is known today as Ganong Bros. Limited (Guest, L., Notman, D., & Wilson, J. 2007). Ganong Bros.’s heart is made of chocolate, not gold. The company produces and sells some of the finest packaged chocolate and non-chocolate candies around the world. Today, they still purchase their ingredients such as, sugar, cocoas and nuts from different countries around the world to ensure high quality Ganong chocolates for their customers. The company’s current product line consists of popular delicacies for example, Delecto, Chicken Bones and Fruitfull jellies. In 1885, Ganong originated its specialty product, Chicken bones; it has a spicy cinnamon flavored candy filled with bitter–sweet chocolate (Ganong, 2014). The company decided to package their best-known assorted boxed chocolate under the name, Delecto. Over the years, they launched a series of different Delecto flavored chocolates. In 2013, they made a decision to go with natural fruit flavors for their Ganong Fruitfull jellies. The flavors of fruitfull jellies consist of, blueberry, Peach, Orange, Raspberry, Lemon and Strawberry. They advertise these
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unique products and make them prominent throughout the seasons to make them available for the customers. The company itself and its personality is a family-oriented business for five generations, which portrays a strong bond within the company and long-term relationship with customers. After doubling in its sales volume in the years between 2000 to 2004 Ganong Bros was demolished by the change in the Canadian currency in 2005, and as a result it lost a significant amount of its stateside business (Strategy Online, 2007). As a result of this, they were enforced to make significant changes in their business strategy and revaluate how they will maintain their share in the market place, and keep the customers engaged for them to purchase Ganong products. Also, Ganong dealt with two consecutive years of financial loss, Canada had four major multinational chocolate bar companies co-existing in the same market. As a company it was challenging for Ganong to develop a distinctive growth plan to increase company’s revenues by 50%. Consumers find it important to purchase from a family run company. The challenge is bringing its genuine personality to life behind the concept of a family brand image. In the marketplace, Ganong has strengthened their brand by getting involved with the community.
Current Customer Engagement Analysis Ganong Bros. was the first company to introduce heart-shaped boxes for chocolate packaging. After introducing their brand in New Brunswick, they decided to expand their market in places like Asia, Japan, US and the Pacific Rim. In today’s world Ganong is struggling to find shelf space in the super market. With the rapid changing world, and the amount of overwhelming competition, Ganong is still struggling to attain their customer’s attention. The chief executive David Ganong proposed that, “What’s
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important is making sure we stay true to our core brand� (Financial Post, 2014). This will reassure the customers that their brand values their loyal customers and will continue to maintain their brand image. The main focus on rebuilding their brand strategy was to focus on implementing their core strengths, which includes strong community and family involvement in the business. Interacting with consumers is a crucial part of the company’s identity. Ganong as a family-oriented company interacts with their consumers in many different ways such as, reaching to customers through web communities such as Chatelaine.com and LOULOU.com. They also partnered up with Canadian Breast Cancer foundation to show support and tell the customers that Ganong as a family company cares about their consumers. In todays, fast changing world, marketers and businesses are striving to keep the customers attention with media campaigns, billboards, television, radio and magazines. However, that does not comply with Ganong. The company admits to taking a different approach in engaging with their customers and advertising their products. These mediums are too expensive for a company like this. One of the main ways they keep their customers interested is through the packaging of the products. Each package has inserts inside, that they will be able to use as a vehicle to draw back the customers to the website, along with website contests. Using print and web as a leverage as opposed to buying banner ads is a big money saver for the company. Hoping that their customer would participate with significant factors, they try to stay within their brand image as a loyal family business that loves giving to the community. Most of the customer interaction is derived from the holiday’s seasons where the company expects most of their sales to be achieved. Some of the products made such as the famous Delecto boxed chocolates and Fruitfull jellies, are primarily gift giving options for the Christmas seasons. A lot of the products that they market are seasonal and consumers are not use to seeing them around
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all the time. By making the products available for a limited time only, the customers feel as if though they are getting specialty products. This pushes the design aspects of their packages to be exceptional, which are the main drivers of attracting customer’s attention. Thus, the company benefitted from the holiday season sales. Another one of their successful campaigns was partnering up with magazines such as LOULOU and Chatelaine. They sent out virtual chocolates with the magazine and people would pay a certain amount for the chocolate that would be donated to CBCF. The campaign response was very positive and favorable.
Tools/resources/assets the company is currently using The tools that the company is currently using are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, however they are not properly utilizing them. YouTube as a video channel has no interaction. There is only one video posted about Ganongs 140th anniversary celebration. However, the last upload was more then 11 months ago. This shows inactivity and lack of communication. However, their twitter page is most interactive and innovative. They post about the latest updates, newest products and engage with the customers on daily basis. Facebook has similar posts in relation with Twitter and the pictures and media being put up, encourages the customers to comment and engage. The feedback is positive and with many active customers commenting on the posts and giving positive feedback to the company. As a family-owned company, Ganong focuses their attention on creating products that are memorable and unique to the customer, but likewise never seen before. The recourses they are using are the contract pack businesses it helps them bulk up and reduce the one unit cost, by buying materials in a competitive way such as rails of sugar and glucose as oppose to smaller quantities.
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Evaluate the effectiveness of their social media program to date One of the ways that Ganong is using their social media market is using the mass market while positioning itself as a quality brand. “To tell its story the company is embracing social media, promoting itself through food bloggers and encouraging longtime customers to tell their tales on Facebook (Globe and Mail, 2014). They use their social media to update customers on their involvement and engagement throughout the community. Wining a trip for a family of four to New Brunswick is one of the ways they interact on social media and it shows relationship between the customers and the boxed chocolates. In addition, sponsoring community held games such as basketball tournaments each year for high schools and work with the hockey teams and other youth groups in the community. The websites and the social media are mainly used for the company to receive feedback from the consumers. They ask the customers to go onto the websites and tell them what they like about the chocolates and what they would prefer or which ones they would like to see more of. In addition, the company attains some social media activeness, by talking to the customers with regards to contest and reward programs showing them loyalty and consistency.
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Part B – Competitor Analysis Market Competitors According to the article, “Where to find the best chocolate in Canada” by Rheanna Kish and The Test Kitchen for Canadian Living, Purdy’s Chocolatier is one of the top competitors in the chocolate market (Kish R. & Kitchen T., n.d.). They are considered as one Ganong Bros.’ direct competitors as they were also established in Canada. Moreover, direct competitors also include Laura Secord and Rheo Thompson, both founded in Canada, and Godiva, as it holds a considerable share in the Canadian market. On a national scale, Rheo Thompson seems to have the highest popularity based on Google Trends, followed by Purdy’s, Laura Secord, and finally Ganong Bros1. When Godiva was introduced to the search, a huge gap in trend was observed seeing that it is originally an international brand2. Apart from Ganong Bros.’ direct competitors, Hershey’s, Ferrero, and Lindt are considered to be indirect competitors. Although some of these brands are perceived to be of higher quality in comparison to others, they are still considered to sell high-end commodity products. Their price point differentiates them from their competitors in the commodity sector of the market, but the ease at which their products can be found in regular grocery stores is the argument behind their market position. Moreover, another main reason differentiating the highend chocolatiers from their indirect competitors is the perceived quality and value behind the product. Similarly, this can be observed in the visuals that aren’t as vivid or captivating as those of the prestigious brands. Nevertheless, their high presence in the market is the result of the easy accessibility and affordability of their products3.
1 Figure 1 – Google Trends on a National Scale (Direct Competitors) 2 Figure 2 – Google Trends including International Competitor (Direct Competitors) 3 Figure 3 – Google Trends in Comparison to Indirect Competitors 6
Overall, while some companies may expand their presence through other social media platforms, most companies including Ganong are active on Facebook and Twitter. Most companies are sure to create a high engaging environment for their customers, using different methods that reflect the company’s personality. For instance, Rheo Thompson has a more classical approach. This is conveyed through their cover photo advertising their mustache shaped chocolates for Movember (Rheo Thompson Candies, n.d.). On the contrary, Godiva has a more generalized approach as it targets a wider audience base, mostly advertising their chocolates while tying them in with general themes such as Halloween and fall (GODIVA, n.d.). Furthermore Hershey’s reaches a lot bigger customer base as their product meets a lot of customers’ wants especially that they are more affordable than other supreme brands. They play on the aspect of Hershey’s being there in various different situations of one’s daily life and so they take a different approach as it seems that they are relating to customers through product involvement (HERSHEY’S, n.d.). Direct Competitor – Purdy’s Chocolatier Purdy’s is considered to be one of Ganong Bros.’ primary competitors. The company was founded more recently in 1907 but has flourished greatly since then becoming one of Canada’s leading chocolatiers (“About Us”, n.d.). As part of the company’s persona, they have upheld their traditions and passion for chocolate through all aspects of their brand. This is exhibited throughout their social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and WordPress, which are all synced with Purdy’s official website. Therefore they posed as the perfect competitor as they expressed an involvement that was not apparent in Ganong Bros.’ brand.
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Purdy’s Chocolatier Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/PurdysChocolatier Purdy’s Chocolatier has the biggest fan base on Facebook with 80,831 likes. They ensure continuous posts that are highly engaging, with approximately 9 posts per week. As a result Facebook has the highest post engagement of approximately 1,469 only during the period of November 1st, 2014 to November 7th, 20144 (Purdys, n.d.). This was a result of their campaigns playing around the hedonic value of their product. For instance, on November 3rd and 5th Purdy’s changed their page’s profile and cover photo respectively, to an image that conveyed their cultural roots as it depicted the remembrance of the fallen soldiers. In addition, the Halloween pictures they posted reflected how close the employees are within the company, acting as a family. These examples tied in with the company’s brand image and personality, which is perceived as a family-oriented traditional confectionery, something every customer can relate to. Moreover, Purdy’s has ensured that customer participation was a part of all their marketing campaigns. From interacting with customers by asking questions, to posting daily tips and events they have been involved in, Purdy’s is sure to create a high involvement environment. As customers start to respond, they start to feel a sense of belonging fulfilling their belongingness needs under Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This plays a significant role in allowing customers to reach their ideal state that may overtime lead to brand loyalty. Consequently, in terms of the business this is crucial part of the reviews they receive, which may influence one’s emotional contagion. Nonetheless, Purdy’s has been performing really well with customers being highly active. This is verified in the social media statistics that determine the company has received 1,178 post likes, 120 post comments and 171 post shares during the first week of
4 Figure 4 – Facebook Insights: General Figures 8
November, in reply to the company’s 9 original posts 5. Sequentially, this resulted in a 3.66% increase in Facebook page likes6 (Purdys, n.d.).
Purdy’s Chocolatier Twitter Page https://twitter.com/PurdysChocolate According to Rival IQ, Twitter is the next in line in terms of engaging social media platforms with 18,741 followers7. Due to the nature of the tweets, the company has an average of 38.63 tweets per day (Purdys, n.d.)8. The tweets mostly go hand in hand with the other posts on different social media platforms. Nonetheless, Twitter always for a more engaging environment as both the company and users get the chance to retweet and favourite posts. So far this has given Purdy’s the chance to interact more with customers as they live tweet event updates, answer customer questions and concerns, and share with the customers their memorable experiences and products. #PurdysIsGreen has also been circulating as Purdy’s tries to uphold their commitment to the environment, tying in with their overall personality and image. The company tends to incorporate images and videos in the majority of their tweets to captivate their audiences’ attention with the vivid colours and Purdy’s distinctive purple colour. Moreover, Purdy’s has almost created an asynchronous interaction base with their customers, as they ensure they that they are quickly replying to, retweeting, or favouring their tweets. For instance, they once retweeted a customer who shared a recipe that incorporated Purdy’s products9. This has resulted in enthusiastic customers who are constantly interacting with
5 Figure 5 – Facebook Insights: Customer Engagement 6 Figure 6 – Facebook Insights: % Change in Facebook Likes 7 Figure 7 – Twitter Insights: General Figures 8 Figure 8 – Twitter Insights: Average Posts per Day 9 Figure 9 – Twitter Recipe Example 9
the brand, and increasing the number of followers by 1.73% in comparison to last month 10 (Purdys, n.d.). In addition, having the company engaging with customers creates a reciprocity in actions as customers are more likely to retweet someone who has retweeted them before. This is reflected in the company’s statistics showing that they have had 172 retweets and 453 favourites of company tweets during the period of November 1st, 2014 to Nov. 8th, 201411 (Purdys, n.d.).
Purdy’s Chocolatier - YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/PurdysChocolates1/playlists Purdy’s Chocolatier YouTube channel was created in 2009, they have 142 videos uploaded,
204
subscribers
and
110,915
video
views
in
total.
(http://socialblade.com/youtube/user/purdyschocolates1) The video channel is categorized by playlists, for example ‘Real People, Real Purdy’s Moments’ is a playlist of videos with actual customers talking about their experience and feelings with Purdy’s chocolates. This playlist has the most videos and most views compared to others. They have a playlist dedicated to educational videos related to sustainable cocoa farming, as they are a member of World Cocoa Foundation (WCF). Other than audiences, they upload company event videos for their employees. Other playlists include chocolate recipes, Purdy’s commercials, Q&A videos, etc. Purdy’s has an active YouTube channel. From April to November 2014, Purdy’s YouTube channel has an increasing number of total views every month (Fig. x). They have gained 35 subscribers within the six months. The estimated monthly earnings are about $8. The most popular video on Purdy’s YouTube channel is Science of Chocolate. It is a 3-minute video that gained 36Kviews. It is estimated that they earned $144 from this video. Purdy’s other top video 10 Figure 10 – Twitter Insights: % Change in Twitter Followers 11 Figure 11 – Twitter Insights: Customer Engagement 10
is
How
to
Make
Truffles,
which
has
(http://socialblade.com/youtube/user/purdyschocolates1/videos/mostviewed).
18.3K
views Purdy’s
Chocolatier YouTube channel is a very engaging channel. The content of the videos are fun, creative and educational. They are up to date with the trend, for example they showed that they participated the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which was a viral movement on social media in 2014. Other than responding to customers’ questions, they provide with them recipes and interesting facts about chocolate. With all kinds of engaging videos, Purdy’s has widened their target audiences through YouTube.
Purdy’s Chocolatier - Instagram account http://instagram.com/purdyschocolatier Purdy’s has posted 408 images on Instagram, with 2,374 followers and following 607 other users. Purdy’s is very active on Instagram, with most of their posts revolving around events, chocolates and candies, festive updates and press interviews. The Head Chocolatier Gary Mitchell is popular on Purdy’s Instagram; there are multiple photos of him featured on Global TV, magazines and commercials. From observing Purdy’s Instagram account, they post many images of chocolates with captions related to lifestyle. These images are related to de-stressing, relaxing, having a sweet tooth, recipes and gifts, which attracts many of the female audiences. This is a good example of consumer behavior analysis, as female audiences tend to associate chocolate with their feelings and emotions. Purdy’s understand their audiences’ need and desires. Purdy’s also post very frequently, constantly commenting and creating hashtags. From the analysis, they have a good understanding of how to fully utilize Instagram.
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Purdy’s Chocolatier - The Chocolate Kitchen Wordpress Blog http://blog.purdys.com/ Purdy’s Chocolatier has a blog on Wordpress called The Chocolate Kitchen. The blog is updated and synced with Purdy’s other social media accounts, including Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. A Facebook icon is shown on the webpage, however it is not linked to the website correctly. It appears that there are many broken links and transcripted language on their blog posts. According
to
Site-analyzer
(http://www.site-
analyzer.com/en/audit/http://blog.purdys.com/#report-page-1), their website has been shared on Twitter 386 times. They have 392 pages indexed in Google’s search results. According to who.is analysis (http://who.is/website-information/purdys.com), the blog receives 3.3 page views per month. The number of views per month is not high, it indicates that 95.76% of users reached the blog through Purdy’s official website. In terms of the design of the blog webpage, they don’t have meta tags set up which affects its probability showing up when users search for their blog. The webpage has one image that is a broken link. These observations show that the website is not fully utilized. Most of the blog posts are marketing campaigns, for example Easter lucky draws, Canada Day contest, Instagram and Twitter contests and giveaways. The blog has everything that is on their official website, many are interlinked and repeated.
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Part C - Recommendations and Strategy Social Media Platforms and Activity As mentioned previously, Ganong Bros. has a lot of different competitors including Purdy’s Chocolatier. Taking that extra step beyond just putting an image to the company by interacting with consumers, especially through social media, can help a business grow and profit. Ganong Bros. is currently on three social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – but are not very active or consistent with their posts. Running different platforms is very beneficial to a company as you can target various types of consumers based on their preference in user experience, however it is crucial to maintain regular activity or else you will loose the interest of users. Also, it is important to understand how each platform works and what users are looking for when using them. The last, and only, post made on Ganong’s YouTube channel was 11 months ago. Having an extra platform that is not active is useless. Ganong should either delete their channel or begin posting again. They may consider starting up a cookbook or recipe blog, which can be done on YouTube, but may contemplate the use of a blogging platform, like Wordpress, and eliminating YouTube since videos can also be posted on blogs if necessary. In the blog, the company can share events, contests, reveal campaigns and new products, and have all these posts connected to the company’s other social media platforms. In addition, Ganong had started a simple and fun posting method to capture their followers’ attention, with “Fun Fact Friday’s”. Although this is a great start to promoting their name, they should design scheduled postings more frequently as their posts are random and not often. Furthermore, Ganong should create accounts on other popular social media pages, like Instagram or Pinterest, to attract various customers from different market segments. The company’s error is that they use social media mainly for receiving feedback, when in truth, they can use it for much more. With the use
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of viral marketing, a company can encourage individuals to pass on a message, or post, to others via email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and blogs, to grow the exposure and influence of the message through likes and shares. Finally, Ganong must make a commitment to posting frequently on their pages, while being cautious of not posting too directly, frequently, and forcible, loosing their users forever. Ganong should look to where their competitors lack in excellence and perform better, for example, in their blog or website. For instance, they should advertise their blog more freaquently on all social media pages, so that people are aware of it and they receives more views. Moreover, Ganong can also receive more likes, shares, re-blogs or re posts on various platforms by doing this. They blog should not be dull, by having only posts about contest, although this should not be eliminated – and post interesting facts or weekly chocolate recipes. Finally, they should have proper meta tags for their website, so that they are easier to track on search platforms. Cost Efficient Promotional Campaigns As mentioned earlier, in Part A, marketing attempts to capture customers attention, such as with media campaigns, billboards, television, radio and magazines, are expensive mediums for a company like Ganong to pursue, so they focus on innovative ways of packaging their products. However, packaging is not the most effective way of marketing their product, therefore, Ganong should look to cost efficient, or costless, ways of promoting their brand other than just the package. One inexpensive campaign that will grab the attention of many mothers or families is starting a blog where the company can post recipes for various chocolaty dishes, and news about the company, including new product releases or events. Moreover, they can also reveal contests and “Best Chocolate Recipe” campaigns to get consumers involved and participating. This campaign may even include a star guest chef, presenting a “how to” video on a specialty sweet
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dish using Ganong chocolate. Another campaign they can try is an in-store holiday promotion. For instance, “Ganong customers will receive a free gift with every purchase of $35 or more at Ganong�. This will not only get their attention and spike curiosity, but will also compel them to come to the actual store location rather than purchase from a supermarket. It is vital that the company knows what and who they need to reach their business goals as it will help discover their target market, where the social marketing efforts can be received positively, and when promotions can be appropriately introduced. Store location Ganong is widely known all over Canada, however, only has one store location in New Brunswick. Once they create a larger buzz about their brand through social media, it might be a good idea to try and open up a new store location in a different province. There are various ways Ganong can determine where to open a new store. Because they have an online store on their website, they can record the orders being made and choose a location based on where chocolate is being shipped most frequently. Another method Ganong may use is recording postal codes of their customers that shop in store, or postal code of supermarkets that receive and go through the most Ganong inventory, to determine exactly at which location they will receive customers and be most successful. Furthermore, they should be quite careful with how many stores they open at a time as this may also result in a huge loss within the company. Ganong especially should start off slow with only one store opening, and if it works out, try it again after a few years. Product Many products marketed by Ganong Bros. are seasonal or limited time, and although they may make consumers feel special for attaining such a unique product, they also make it
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difficult for consumers to stay loyal to the brand and recognize it in the market. Ganong should have more standard “Ganong chocolates�, which are memorable and become people’s favourites.
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References About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://www.purdys.com/About-Purdys.aspx Ganong. (2014). Our Sweet Story Retrieved November 7, 2014, from https://ganong.com/ GODIVA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/Godiva Guest, L., Notman, D., & Wilson, J. (2007). Production. In The World of Business Student Edition (5th ed., p. 154). HERSHEY'S. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/hersheyscanada Kish, R., & Kitchen, T. (n.d.). Where to find the best chocolate in Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://www.canadianliving.com/food/cooking_school/where_to_find_the_best_chocolate _in_canada.php Purdys. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from https://www.rivaliq.com/company/32038 RhĂŠo Thompson Candies. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/RheoThompsonCandies
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Appendix Figure 1 - Google Trends on a National Scale (Direct Competitors)
Figure 2 – Google Trends including International Competitor (Direct Competitors)
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Figure 3 – Google Trends in Comparison to Indirect Competitors
Figure 4 – Facebook Insights: General Figures
Figure 5 – Facebook Insights: Customer Engagement
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Figure 6 – Facebook Insights: % Change in Facebook Likes
Figure 7 – Twitter Insights: General Figures
Figure 8 – Twitter Insights: Average Posts per Day
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Figure 9 – Twitter Recipe Example
Figure 10 – Twitter Insights: % Change in Twitter Followers
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Figure 11 – Twitter Insights: Customer Engagement
Survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MJG58WW
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