Skyr

1. What is your product and what is the consumer problem that your produce will solve? In other words, why does someone need it?
Siggi’s skyr is a thick and tangy, protein-rich, fermented skimmed milk product originally from Iceland. In the US, it is sold and eaten as a strained yogurt but in actuality, is a fresh, soft, acid-set cheese. Prior to the introduction of Greek yogurt and Skyr into the US, the yogurt market was saturated with sugar-laden, artificially-filled yogurts that no longer really tasted like yogurt. Consumers needed a natural and healthy alternative. When Siggi’s skyr entered the market officially in 2006, it provided consumers with the answer to their yogurt needs. Skyr stands out from the rest of the pack because it’s
thicker and more protein-packed per gram than the already high-protein Greek-style, and more importantly, is free of additives and fillers. 2. Who is your target audience?
The target audience is the urban, upper-middle class, health conscious professionals. Siggi’s skyr is considerably more expensive than other yogurts. (Traditional yogurt marketing has touted yogurt’s convenience and health benefits and has been aimed at women, the leading consumers. Skyr, because of its protein-rich and fat-free attributes, attracts health conscious individuals of both genders – women who want to lose weight as well as physically active males who want convenient, easily assessable, no-prep-required protein to bulk up.) 3. Identify 4 types of media you would select and tell me why you selected each one.
The marketing strategy will combine 4 types of media including television (Food Network), print media (Fitness/Health magazines), online newspaper advertisements (NYTimes Health section), and social media (Facebook). Television commercials, particularly on the Food Network, would provide the greatest reach to get potential customers to become aware of the product. The newest trend for young, urban, professionals is to be “foodies”, people who have a passion for food and as a result, may be more inclined to be watching the Food Network. Having advertisements in print media such as health and fitness magazines and in online media such as the New York Times Health section would also reach the health conscious professionals. As the HBS note on IMC mentioned, magazine ads have the longest life of any media outlet and have pass-along readership, this is especially true for health and fitness magazines that can be found in gyms and doctor’s offices. Social media channels such as Facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, would allow Siggi’s skyr to interact somewhat directly with its consumers (the consumers may recommend the brand by “liking” the Siggi’s Facebook page and be indirectly advertising to friends). The Siggi’s website will pull directly from its social media presence and incorporate quotes from consumers. An active and dynamic web presence, especially being engaged with the consumers, is incredibly important. Sponsorship of local food festivals such as the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival or the Boston Local Food Festival is also another media outlet that may be beneficial. Sponsorship (and maybe having exhibit and sampling booths) at festivals like these will bring Siggi’s skyr in contact with even more potential customers. People who attend these festivals enjoy food, and most likely the high-quality, organic, local, healthy variety. Sponsorship allows the Siggi’s brand name to be acknowledged on the festival website, booklets, any materials printed for the festivals that will be distributed to festival participants (aka future Siggi’s consumers). 4. Will you use any promotion to promote your product or service? Describe why you selected each of them or why you chose not to use promotions?
One way to promote Siggi’s skyr is through a promotional tour bus, essentially a sampling tour in cooperation with Foursquare (so people can check-in and get points) and twitter (so Siggi’s SkyrBus can tweet its locations).
The SkyrBus will bring skyr directly to consumers who have never tried it before (Chobani – the Greek yogurt king, if you will – has been very successful with this type of promotion using its CHOmobile). Rather than the customers going to get skyr themselves, the Skyrbus will bring the skyr to the consumers. Another promotion could be a new flavor contest (like the FritoLay Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Contest), where people suggest a new yogurt flavor to join the Siggi’s family. People can vote and the person with the winning flavor gets a tour of the office and yogurt productions facility, and of course free yogurt in their winning flavor for a year. These kinds of contests create buzz for the company and if people hear about it, may want to see or “taste” what it’s all about. Whole Foods was the first national supermarket to stock Siggi’s skyr. Another potential promotion would be to have Whole Foods coupons for Siggi’s skyr (Whole Foods has coupons for Oikos Greek Yogurt all the time!) and maybe free samples tastings at Whole Foods will persuade people try the yogurt. More importantly, the demographic that shops at Whole Foods are the people who would buy Siggi’s skyr – the health conscious, upper-middle class
professionals. 5.
What will be the message that runs through all of your communications and tell me why you selected this?
The communications message will be “Siggi’s skyr: a simple, no-frills yogurt. The way yogurt should be.” Siggi’s unique taste, high quality, natural ingredients, and healthy, low-sugar, fat-free, protein-rich attributes are the major selling points. Therefore, a message that emphasizes its simplicity (which is also reflected in the no-fuss white packaging container), tells the consumer that Siggi’s skyr is natural and real, unlike the fake sugary yogurts that cover the yogurt shelves. 6. How will you move a prospective customer through the phases listed in the graphic on page 11 of the HBS reading (If your product is not new you would skip steps 1 and 2, and possibly even step 3)? If you skip any of the 7 steps, tell me
why.
Although Siggi’s skyr is not new to the market, it’s still a product that many people are unaware of. Siggi’s skyr can make the consumer aware of its unique product through television and magazine ads displaying the yogurt and message: “Siggi’s skyr: a simple, no-frills yogurt – the way yogurt should be”, with a line adding information to provide customers knowledge of the product such as “thick and tangy yogurt that’s fat-free and protein-rich”. If people see the advertisements often enough, they may be compelled to Google the product to see what it’s all about. A simple “Siggi’s skyr” search will bring the potential customer to the Siggi’s website, as well as Facebook, and numerous news and blog articles emphasizing how unique, creamy, healthy and delicious it is compared to other yogurts. At this point, the prospective customer may start liking Siggi’s skyr because of how great it sounds and also, the packaging is simply aesthetically pleasing. Or, the potential customer may be shopping at Whole Foods and lo and behold, there is a free taste-testing of Siggi’s yogurt, along with a coupon in the Whole Foods coupon booklet, and so the potential customer decides to try a sample. At this point, the prospective Siggi’s-lover may really start liking the skyr to the point of having a preference for it over other yogurts – it’s fat-free and yet so creamy and the tanginess is just amazing. The customer is waiting in line to purchase her items, checking her phone and opens her Facebook mobile app. On her newsfeed, her friend has posted an article from the New York Times Health Section. It piques her interest so she opens the article to read it, and bam, a Siggi’s yogurt advertisement appears. At this point she decides to ask someone to hold her place in line while she quickly walks with strong conviction (and the coupon in hand) to the dairy section and grabs the Pomegranate & Passion Fruit flavored Siggi’s skyr and moments later, purchases it.