An article by Gillian Wight on internet-explorer-support.com makes some interesting points about the future of dairy products and how they are fitting better into consumers’ hectic life styles.
Particularly interesting is Werner Basler’s turn-of-phrase in noting the emergence of new “moments of consumption” for consumer products. Basler, Elopak Group’s senior manager marketing communications, identifies opportunities for new dairy products that, packaged appropriately in portion packs, could extend the reach of products to additional usage occasions.
This thinking is important because in mature categories, the market is saturated with similar products. However, astute brand managers can grab market share away from competitors by finding new ways for their shoppers consume an existing product.
With the right product execution and packaging, for example, food and beverage products might be available for consumption anytime, thereby increasing purchase frequency. We’ve seen it in portion-control snack packaging and microwaveable soup packaging that have opened the doors wide in these categories for on-the-go consumption, freshness-is-mobile marketing strategies.
Take a close look at the dairy aisle in some supermarkets, where Kraft cleverly uses merchandising displays to market cheese brands, such as String-Ums, as a snack food. Besides the benefits of holistic branding coupling the cheese with other Kraft products, the cheese packaging offers on-the-go convenience that acknowledges two often-overlooked consumer groups: cheese-lovers who share their product with others, and single-person households.
