1. IMC Gardenburger
Case Analysis
Suman Saha
14/245

2. Analyses of current marketing plan
• Grass roots movements
• Cultural creatives
• Specialty foods

3. IMC for mainstream
Meat aisle slotting
Placement and position
Food Network
week (Veg Week)
Branding, advertising, PR
Food Network Commercials
Gardenburger prize giveaway must register online
CRM, Promotion, Advertising
Creative recipe contest
Coupons, direct mail, web adverts
CRM, Promotion, Advertising
PSA on cost reduction
Production and will run for free in PSA slots
Position, PR
Frozen meals on the go
New packaging
package, placement, position

4. Proposed Growth Strategy
• Brand the Veggie Patty Category
• Leverage the brand into new channels (retail
70% penetration, 6 SKUs)
• Support expansion with advertising and
promotion
• Strengthen leadership position in current
channels (food service, club stores, natural
food stores)
• Develop and introduce new products

5. YES: Branding the Veggie Patty Category
• Category doesn’t have a “name” yet
• Gardenburger marketing has focused on
association with veggie patty, not ALL meat
alternatives
• In better position than competitors: self-
descriptive name
– Worthington Foods: MorningStar name means
nothing and has way too many associations
– Harvest Burgers are Pillsbury: different associations
– Boca Burger has no name associations

6. YES: Leverage Brand into New Channels
• Need to Cross the Chasm from “cultural creatives” to
“health modifiers”… and they buy in grocery stores
– Target: women aged 25-54, looking for
convenience, taste, and healthy alternatives to balance
diet
– Differentiation: taste, quality ingredients, convenience
• To increase brand awareness, product must have
widespread availability
• Capitalize on mainstream “Health” movement
• Worked at Quaker:
granola, oatmeal, waffles, Gatorade
• Veggies are mainstream, Soy is not—better fit

7. YES: Support Extension With Ads & Promo
• Necessary to increase brand awareness
– Health modifiers less informed than “cultural
creatives”
– Word of mouth won’t suffice
– Mainstream = increased competition
• Trade promotion necessary to get shelf space
and move consumers up the hierarchy of
effects to trial
• MorningStar advertising at 10X, must respond
– $11MM to $1.5MM, $14MM to $3.8MM

8. YES: Strengthen Leadership Position in
Current Channels
• Position in club stores is necessary for
mainstream availability
• Position in natural food stores is critical for
association with “health” to maintain
credibility
• Position in food service channel will drive
brand awareness

9. YES: Develop and Introduce New Products
• Differentiation based on flavor and taste
needs to be supported
• Brand loyalty developed through
introduction of variety
• Should leverage brand
awareness, perception of “quality”, and
health-movement
• “Mainstream” tastes change over time

10. NO: Branding the Veggie Patty Category
• Just changed name to Gardenburger in ‘97
• Not 1st to market or market leader in a
competitive space (23% to 46% share)
– May generate primary demand that buys from
MorningStar
– Will be Super Expensive
• Different naming conventions in food service
versus retail
• Will limit future product extensions

11. NO: Leverage Brand into New Channels
• 6 SKUs are arbitrary and confusing to customers
who don’t know the brand yet
– Testing to identify top “flavors” per city
– Should limit expansion to NE, SW, and NW…not
Midwest or SE
• Distribution expansion will be expensive
– Requires massive resources
– No current relationships with national distributors:
will take time
• Expanding distribution without differentiation
is ineffective

12. NO: Support Extension With Ads & Promo
• Expansion needs to be targeted
• Can’t compete with MorningStar spend
– Competition may drive additional spend and
drive profit from entire industry
• Without brand awareness, category growth
benefits market leader

13. NO: Strengthen Leadership Position in
Current Channels
• Position in health food stores isn’t
necessary, as cultural creatives won’t buy
“mainstream” products
• Position in food service channel needs to be
targeted and use same naming conventions
to avoid diluting brand awareness

14. NO: Develop and Introduce New Products
• “Gardenburger” name limits possible brand
extension
• Extensions could dilute association with
“veggie burger,” not meat-alternative
• Additional SKUs will confuse customers

16. Market Analysis
8%
Gardenburger 25%
Mornignstar Farm
13%
54%
Others
Boca Burger

17. Target Group
• Demographics:
• Adults aged 25 – 54 (focus on women)
• College-educated
• Household incomes of at least $50,000
• Psychographics
• Women: Cultural Creatives and saviors of the environment.
• Who frequently, but only intermittently, demonstrate
behavior characterized as 'healthy eating/active lifestyle.‘
• Firmly committed vegetarians, quasi-vegetarians, 'true
believers,' and
• the 'involuntary healthfuls’.

18. Advertising Strategy
• Television, print, OOH, PR, price promotions
during peak holidays.
• The campaign centering on the slogan "Eat
Positive" and stressed Gardenburger as "all-
natural, healthy and environmentally friendly.”

19. Consumer Insights
• Why vegetarian/meat alternatives?
– Health impact of the vegetarian lifestyle: Improved nutrition Information
about the benefits of avoiding animal products is being spread more
effectively, with more coherent and compelling messaging, which has led to
improved nutrition habits.
Weight loss vegetarian diet—including the use of substitutes for
meat, cheese, and other animal products—offers an effective way to maintain
a healthy weight.
–Social and lifestyle factors: Concern for the lives of animals Many
individuals consider the killing and subsequent eating or other use
(e.g., fashioning of leather products) of animal products to be
unethical, unnecessary, or cruel.
Convenience Processed vegetarian foods offer faster, simpler preparation and
prolonged shelf-life compared to their animal product counterparts. Garden
burgers, for example, cook in approximately half the time as a beef-based
hamburger. 20% of vegetarians cited ease of preparation as one of their
primary reasons for choosing a vegetarian diet.

20. Consumer Insights
• Why vegetarian/meat alternatives?
–Environmental impact:
The production of meat and animal products to
meet consumer demand places a growing burden
on the natural environment. Two thirds (65%) of
U.S. vegetarians and vegans choose to be so in
order to be healthier, compared to those listing
religion (13%) or allergies (10%) as a main reason.

21. Various mediums of Advertisement
• Internet
– We can target how we want: minimal waste
– Cost efficient
• An episode of a television show that airs initially as an
Internet download or stream.
- Product integration
- Sense of affiliation
• Games – funny games with related to natural food
• Video ads placed on video platforms
• Create buzz about the game and Gardenburgers in general
through various blogs to create evangelists and a potential
WOM.

22. Strategies
• Growth Strategy
– Brand the veggie patty category
– Leverage the brand into new channels (achieve a min. of 70%
penetration for six SKU¡¦s)
– Support expansion with advertising and promotion
– Strengthen leadership position in current channels (food service, club
store, grocery)
– Develop & introduce new products
• Product Strategy: Focus efforts primarily on veggie patty category rather
than meat alternatives.
• Distribution Strategy: Aggressively expand distribution into the
mainstream retail grocery channel.
• Sales Strategy: Leverage the original Gardenburger veggie patty and its
flavor variants to position its product with the trade as the number one
veggie patty in each of the food service, natural food store and club store
channels in order to become the number one veggie patty in the
mainstream retail grocery channel.

23. Strategies
• Marketing Strategy
– Build awareness of the category and the brand.
– Position the brand as healthy, good tasting and
convenient.
– Target the brand to the health modifier segment.
• Pricing Strategy: Slightly higher price
than the competition due to company's
perception that their product is premium