Disney faced criticism for contributing to childhood obesity through its food products. It saw an opportunity to market healthier foods to kids. Disney conducted research and found a gap between what kids wanted and what parents bought. It developed guidelines to make food products healthier by 2008. Disney partnered with Imagination Farms to develop exclusive and value-added produce varieties. It saw competition from Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and Warner Bros. in the healthy kids food space. Disney believed it could beat competitors through its brand magic and characters. Successfully marketing healthier foods while differentiating from competitors and maintaining profitability would be a challenge.
34. In winter 2004, DCP conducted research to size the food
business opportunity and to discover if Disney’s brand equity
would transfer to a line of children’s food products.
Sent Moms on shopping trips to see the difference between
what they bought and what kids wanted.
35. DCP discovered there was a gap between the
foods children requested and the foods their
mothers were willing to buy for them
36. “Peer pressure and advertising
strongly influence kids’ preferences,”
- Reid Leslie, director of food and beverage
37. “We knew that Moms’ brand loyalty
was strong, but we wanted to know
if that would translate to food, and it
did. ” - Reid Leslie, director of food and beverage
38. The products need to make them feel
special and must be non-patronizing
and
Mom-approved
39. “Kids want
fun graphics
and shapes,
good taste,
and great
fun,”
- Reid Leslie,
director of food and beverage
40. determined that key product categories were
Water
fresh food
frozen foods
juice
Pasta
soup
cereal
baked goods
dairy/milk.
41. A quality range of
Disney integrated
foods that answers
children’s daily needs
in an entertaining
way—in short, good
food, great fun
44. The company
planned to have all
its products
brought into
compliance or
phased out by 2008
45. “We know that to be appealing to
children, the products need to
integrate their favorite characters
and the aura and magic of Disney
into the package design. All together,
these elements can encourage
children to try the products,”
-Embola Ndi,
Vice president for
product development
56. As the top rated U.S. basic cable network
since 1996, Nickelodeon was seen by
89 million households
“We believe that what is good for kids is good for business. Because the
rising obesity issue is important in kids’ lives, we chose to opt in, and be a
part of the solution”.
-Sherice Torres,
licensing vice president at Nickelodeon.
57. $3 billion U. S. manufacturer of branded and
private label canned vegetables and fruit,
announced that it had signed a licensing deal
with Sesame Workshop
“If anyone can encourage children to eat their fruits and vegetables…it’s
Elmo, along with his friends Cookie Monster and Grover”
- Apu Mody,
managing director for Del Monte
58. Ready Pac, a produce company that packaged washed,
cut and ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables for
supermarkets and food service, signed a licensing
agreement with Warner Bros.
“Healthier snack alternative” and “the original kid pleasing’,
mom-loving’ dippity delicious snack!”
59. “We expect competition, but we believe we can
beat the competition because even if they develop
and match our nutritional standards, they cannot
access Disney magic.”
-Embola Ndi,
Vice president for product development
60.
61. More than 14,000 new food and
beverage products entered the U.S.
marketplace each year.
62. But less than 6% were successful; the
remaining 94% failed due to one or more
factors.
63.
64. 1. PRICING AND VALUE
“For the products, affordable equals value, not price. We have to deliver quality to represent our brand well.”
-Mooney
CEO,DCP
To go out with lower pricing,
is a marketing challenge for us.
65. 2. Legacy
“It isn’t useful to ask where are we are today—that’s based on decisions made many years in the past. Now
we are focused on developing ‘better for you’ products and how we’re going to get there,”
-Mooney.
Would consumers embrace the
new food products,
is a marketing challenge for us.
66. 3. Differentiation & Competition
“We expect competition and channel friction, but we believe we can beat the competition because even if they
develop and match our nutritional standards, they cannot access Disney magic,”
- Ndi.
To prove oneself better over others,
is a marketing challenge for us.
67. 4. Growth and distribution
Other retailers won’t turn our products down because of the Kroger relationship. We need to find exclusives for
them, too. Their chief concern and ours is that our products are profitable for them”.
-Mooney.
Differentiate using characters,
brand and price,
is a marketing challenge for us.