During my first 2 weeks of marketing I had to watch a series of bizarre commercials on You-Tube of baby carrots packaged in junk food wrapping (Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhq_NL6jL0). The purpose was to discuss the effectiveness of advertising. Advertising is just one aspect of marketing as marketing is a long process involving the creation of a product; the communication of the product to consumers; the delivery of the product; and finally establishing long lasting consumer relationships for the long term. The baby carrots ads, I believe, is only one aspect of marketing; it is the promotional step, the communication of value to the consumer. And how this is done as well as whom the target audience comprises really matters.
When I first saw how baby carrots were packaged in a junk food wrapping I became skeptical. Who were these farmers fooling? Anyone can see these were just baby carrots! You can wrap them in napkins without changing the fact. To answer the question, the target market is likely young individuals who are easily impressionable. Take this example: Do you remember when you were a toddler watching commercials? Chances are, you believed everything you saw, taking everything at face value for fact. But as we age and become more experienced, we also become more critical. And if you’re like me, you’re likely more critical of advertising. But back to the point: the baby carrots ads were likely aimed at teenagers who shopped in the junk food aisle. The teenager would probably spot the fancy wrapping and conveniently grab a bag-if he’s dumb. But adults are very unlikely to fall for it; common sense tells us (adults) to shop around various super markets and buy carrots in bulk. This could be done efficiently by reading grocery flyers online or in the mail beforehand. My savvy grocery shopping mom certainly does it.
Carrots are carrots; in other words, they are a homogeneous product. Many farmers can grow carrots and farming isn’t a big secret; there could be many suppliers breaking into this market. Has “BunchofCarrotFarmers” created a sustainable competitive advantage? I don’t think so. First, advertising the product could be replicated to a certain extent. Commercials containing similar props and silly acting could be done. Although Chip and Abdul are “celebrities” promoting this product, one could argue that they are irreplaceable and are uniquely attributed to this product. As well, anyone can wrap up carrots in silly packaging. Second, the promoters have not differentiated their product. My instructor Tamar defined the product as wrapping + carrots. As a critical consumer, I defined the product to be just the carrots-free from other crap. So in my mind, the carrots were still carrots regardless of the wrapping. To differentiate these carrots, I suggested to my neighbor Alexander that the farmers could possibly create a secret recipe to flavor these carrots; that way, the product could not be easily reproduced. At present, I don’t believe the promoters have created a monopoly.
After Tamar mentioned how many X-million (?!) dollars were spent on this advertising campaign I was shocked; however, if I were in the farmer’s shoes, I wouldn’t be able to suggest anything better. Trying to break into the junk food market or compete with it using “healthy food” is just plain bizarre. Have those market analysts come to the conclusion that categorizing carrots as junk food is plausible? I’m skeptical. I’m going to investigate and follow the results of this campaign. For their sake, I hope I’m wrong and that “BunchofCarrotFarmers” didn’t waste their X-million dollars on this novel idea.
Finally, I don’t find baby carrots sexy at all, no matter how many times I watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbZHasnugts&NR=1
I thought size did matter? Maybe not to her..