Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/business/media/in-sweetener-ads-cargill-focuses-on-truvias-roots.html?ref=media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLWuppp7yIU5R8g2IIv3bCUXe4Jgelalc6&feature=player_detailpage&v=MGQrds3ZyBY

After reading the article, I think Truvia, as a sweetener company, does a great job in positioning its brand in customers’ minds. From what I’ve learned in comm101’s lecture, a successful company should have a strong value proposition, which, in detail, includes both points of parity and points of difference. And I think the concept is well illustrated in Truvia’s case. Truvia, like all of its competitor companies in North America, provide customers with the convenience to substitute orginary sugar with individual packets of  sweeteners to add to coffee, and sprinkle onto deserts. However, points of parity along does not set the company apart from the rest of its kind. It needs something special, and unique, whether it be a belief the company hold true towards, or a characteristic that is exhibited by the company along.

In the case of Truvia, the company advertises its product to be “100% GREEN” with all natural ingredients extracted from the Stevia plant leaves. It also promote its product as having zero calories and different flavour choices. “Natrual” is the major points of difference that distinguishes Truvia from its competitors in the same category. Not many other competitor companies use the same “healthy” ingredients as Truvia does. The word “Natural” is growing to become a strong preference of the majority of consumers nowadays. People value their heath increasingly more as their life standard increases. And smart brands like Truvia knows how utilize that consumer preference, and turn it into the company’s strength in marketing its product.