Amanda Burns, Shari Doe, Chantelle Hitt

Where are we now?

Nature of firm
Sales / profit history
Current marketing strategy/ objectives

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1927 – Founded in Fremont, Michigan by Daniel Frank Gerber
1928 – Developed five products
 Beef vegetable soup
 Strained peas
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Prunes
Carrots
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Spinach
Six months later Gerber went nationwide, which was the first nationally advertised baby food in grocery stores.
1939 - Cereal was added
1990 - Gerber graduates were added
2007 - Nestle acquired Gerber which improved the baby food industry by having the world’s leading experts in childhood nutrition working together.
2011, Gerber Good Start formula was introduced which was the first formula to meet FDA criteria for qualified health claim.

 2014 Sales: $1.26 billion
1955 $ Millions % Change from 1954 Rank Previous Rank
Revenues 78.9
Profits 3.5
N.A.
N.A.
348
332
N.A.
N.A.
1994 $ Millions % Change from 1993 Rank Previous Rank
Revenues 1,269.5
Profits 42.5
0.1
-66.7
307
254
297
113

Baby food sales were up 3% in 2013 with sales of $1529.77 million.

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Direct Marketing
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Emails
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Mailings from existing database
 Mass Marketing
 Television and newspaper ads
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Coupons and free samples
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Emotion-Based Marketing
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Colors to convey calming and
 purity
Pictures of mothers with babies
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Traditional Marketing
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Reasons why our product is better

Who are they?
Segments?
How Many?

Target Market:
 Parents with multiple jobs
 Grandparents
 Daycare/Childcare centers
 Healthcare Providers
 Single Parent
 Travelers

 Demographic
 Age, Gender, Stage in family life cycle
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85% of the purchasers of baby items are women, who want affordable and easy to carry items while traveling.
 Product is geared toward infants and younger children
 Psychographic
 Lifestyle
 Personal activities
 Travel
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People are constantly on the go and have busy lifestyles.

What market opportunities exist?
What/who is the competition?
SWOT Analysis

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Travel packs are currently not offered.
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Offer convenience with disposable items: bottles, formula, and Go
Baby all-in-one packs.
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Baby products equal $12 billion in annual sales.
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54% of Americans who purchase baby products want continuous customer flow.
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In 2013, $621.4 billion was spent on traveling by domestic and international travelers.
 78 percent of all travelers are for leisure.
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U.S. alone had 1.6 billion leisure trips in 2013.

This graph shows the potential growth all over world.

Biggest Competitors are Travel and Baby
Product Suppliers
Baby Products:
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Johnson & Johnson
Beach Nut Nutrition Company
H.J. Heinz
Travel Products:
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Johnson & Johnson
Babies Travel Lite

Nestle SA is #1 for both Prepared Baby Food and All Infant Nutrition

Gerber holds the #1 sales for baby food, even though there was a 4.2% decrease between 2010 and 2013.

Where do we want to go?

Current Level
Next 5 years
 Current
Level
 Next 5 years

 Test in regional markets, and establish a 3% foothold in U.S. markets.
 Increase on-the-go travel packs sales by 10% in the U.S. within the first year.
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Decrease or remove potential customers resistance to buying our products, leading to a 25% increase in overall sales in 6 months or less.
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Sell 2 million units in domestic markets by the end of the 1 st year.
 Increase revenue in infant supplies market category by 15% by the third quarter of the next fiscal year.
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Largest segment of on-the-go products

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Exceed 5% growth quarterly
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Long term view is to meet or prevent competition, remain the leader
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World-wide distribution by the end of 5 years
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Increase sales by 50% throughout the U.S.

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Maximize profit on total output rather than one single item.
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Achieve profit within first year
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Reach 10% profit in 3 years
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Increase profit by 20% in 5 years

How will we serve our target customers?
Positioning; What do we want customers to think about us?

 Products for different ages
 A tiered product line that addresses the needs of varying age groups.
 Making Go-Baby products available where and when our customers need them the most – when they’re on the go.
 Provide safe and affordable products
 Satisfy customers – Give them the best products and deliver experience by meeting or exceeding expectations
 Fit with our customer’s lifestyles, and offer a convenient product with an equally convenient price.
 Improve customer experience through innovation and new products

 We are loyal to our customers.
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View us as knowledgeable experts on baby products and what products fit into every mothers needs.
 Our business cares about its customers, and we deliver quality.
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Realistic expectations are met and delivered to every customer.
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Always have our customer’s best interest at hand.

How can we get there?

What do we offer?
What should we offer?

Products for babies, toddlers, and young children.
 Baby care, wellness, and life insurance products.
 Breast feeding products: accessories, bottles and nipples, and massaging manual breast pumps
 Bath time and skin care products
 Health care products: such as vitamin drops and instant powder mix.
 Pacifiers and soothers
 Feeding products, such as cups, forks and spoons, dishes, and bowls; and baby foods, including cereals and juices.

Travel Packs
 Combine products into smaller versions.
 Convenience for families to grab one package with the items needed versus many separate items.
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Gerber will also be introducing disposable diapers and wipes. We currently sell cloth diapers.

 Our Go Baby line will include convenient travel packs, each consisting of products that correspond with the general needs.
 2-Disposable diapers, one 10 pack of wipes, 3oz tube of diaper cream
 2-6oz ready made formula, 1- 8 oz. plastic bottle
 1 8oz bottle of juice, 1-12oz dried fruit snack pack
 1 12 oz. bag of snack crackers, 1-8oz juice box

Current pricing strategy
Justification
Pricing
Objectives
Profit
Oriented
Status Quo
Oriented
Sales
Oriented
Non-price
Competition
Meeting
Competition
Growth in
Market Share
Dollar Unit
Sales Growth
Maximize
Profits
Target
Return

Value-based pricing
 Competition
 Fixed and variable costs
 Company objectives
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Proposed positioning
 Target groups
 willingness to pay
 Convenience Price

Pricing objectives
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Maximize long-run profit
Maximize short-run profit
Increase sales volume
Company growth
Maintain price leadership
Desensitize customers to price
Discourage new entrants into the industry
Match competitors prices
Obtain or maintain the loyalty and enthusiasm of distributors and other sales personnel
Enhance the image of the firm
Encourage the exit of marginal firms from the industry

Pricing should always take into account many factors, and reflect supply and demand. If the product is priced too high or too low, it could mean a loss in sales for our company
 Value-based Pricing
Consider the competition and customer when pricing. Value based pricing is the strategy chosen, because people will pay for the product out of convenience. Creating special packages for travel use, it will cost more in packaging rather then selling one product by itself.

What channel(s)
Physical distribution facilities
Location
Other characteristics

We are going to use a multiple distribution channel strategy.
This will include:
 Wholesalers
 Retailers
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Consumers
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Internet
 E-Commerce Websites

We need to make sure our product is sold in:
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Convenience stores
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Drug stores
 Grocery stores
 Big Box stores
 Specialty Stores (Babies R Us)

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Airports
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Train stations
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Rest Stops
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Hotel Shops
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Gas Stations
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Bus Stations
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Hospitals
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Store

 We are using a distribution channel with two intermediary. We sell and deliver larger quantities of our Go-Baby products directly to the wholesaler who then breaks up and sells to the retailer who sells to the consumer.
Producer wholesaler Retailer Consumer

 Personal selling
 Advertising
 Sales Promotion
 Main message
 $ spent / media / theme

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Sponsor events where our target audience is.
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Offer free seminars to expectant mothers

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Baby Magazines
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Doctor’s Offices
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Specialty Stores
Inexpensive advertising - we can get our product out to as many people as possible.
 To create awareness of baby care products that are convenient and affordable.
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Television

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End-Cap
 We want our product to be at the end of the aisle.
 This will promote a quick sale/impulse buy. It is also convenient for the shopper to grab the travel pack.
Eye level on other shelves
Contact customers
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Mail
Email
Social Media
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This is a great way to show importance of customer satisfaction, but also leaving the door open for promotional opportunities.
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Distribute free product samples
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Coupons and rebates

Gerber’s Go Baby products are safe, simple, superior products for your baby. Go Baby recognizes the importance of perfection when it comes to your baby; we have you covered.
We will work to grow and capitalize on this product line and focus on healthy and affordable options of products and continue to create and maintain loyal and happy customers!

Media
 Television – This is the most expensive based on rating points, but will reach the most customers. Repetition is very important, and rewards can be great.
 Radio – No visuals, so harder to sell this product.
 Direct Mail – This will reach many current customers on the company’s data base, but not as effective. Cost is low.
Our theme will include products that are in current trends and meet customer needs. These will go through products using materials that are economically friendly and appealing to customers. We want to use the theme of calm, delicate, pure colors with pictures of mothers and infants.

 Projections
 Ramifications if not implemented

Short-Term
Forecast
• Period of 6 month
• Net income=25% increase
Medium-Term
Forecast
• 1 year ahead
• Sell 2
Million Units
Long-Term
Forecast
• 2 years and up
• Net
Income=
$6.4 billion+

Items are already being manufactured, so it will only take a new package to combine a smaller version of the items.
It is important to incorporate the following strategies:
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Cost Leadership
 Budgeting
 Setting Milestones
 Quality Control
 Advertising/Marketing Costs

If a financial strategy is not implemented there can be many problems:
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Cash flow shortage
Too much product because it isn’t selling
Higher risk than what was anticipated
Debt becomes higher than equity

http://www.ehow.com/list_6549042_business-financestrategies.html
http://www.learnmarketing.net/Place.htm
https://www.gerber.com/home http://www.economist.com/news/business-booksquarterly/21569368-staying-top https://www.udemy.com/blog/business-strategy-examples/ http://smallbusiness.chron.com/financial-strategies-businessplan-5107.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_segmentation https://www.gerber.com/our-story/our-history-and-heritage