I am a full-time academic and professional researcher with more than 30 published articles to my credit. I am an accountancy graduate with a Masters in Business Administration. My research thesis on Internal Marketing, Branding and Design forms a part of the National University of Wales. I have also worked as a freelance consultant for a number of global and multinational companies which have broadened my spectrum of knowledge to an extent that I can write high-quality business and academic articles on any management-related topic. I also have the experience of supervising and guiding undergraduate and postgraduate students with their research work and assignments. Areas of specialization: HR – motivation, cross-cultural factors, psychology; Marketing – branding, relationship marketing, green marketing, corporate social responsibility; Finance – management accountancy, marketing finance, risk management, credit risk, market risk, operational risk; and IT – e-commerce, online marketing, e-business.

Sample

Quorn’s Brand Strategy

Introduction

A brand provides a product with a personality which is so expressed as to encompass that product’s uses, values, status, nature, function, stature use - everything. (De Chernatony, 1999) In today’s marketing environment, brands are both business assets and business tools. Audiences have started to develop an appreciation for the value of brands. In such a scenario, it is imperative for any organisation to shape its companies as “branding organisations” whereby it attains a stature that when its name is mentioned its role is self-explanatory.

Quorn is a fast-growing meat alternative brand which has fantastic health credentials. It has quickly established itself in the branded meat-free market as the UK’s number one meat-free brand having a share of 60% of the market which is four times greater than the number two brand. (Web 1)

Rik Riezevos (2002), in his book “Brand management - a theoretical and practical approach” points out the basic building blocks of a branded article. According to Rik those building blocks are: non-distinguishable intrinsic attributes or the attributes which provide the firm with a competitive advantage; distinguishing intrinsic attributes or the attributes which provide value to the customers; the brand itself which is the brand name or sign that people connect with or which evokes emotion; and other intrinsic attributes which add value to the brand.

Discussion

Quorn’s success lies in its branding strategy and its product attributes as it ranks high on each of the four building blocks or metrics set out by Rik.

Distinguishable intrinsic attribute

Quorn’s products have very high inherent nutritional value, low-fat, low-calorie and are cholesterol-free which permit its products to be sold as a health food. It markets its products as “The tasty, healthy, alternative to meat” (Web 2). Its branding strategy positions itself in a market not to be sold to consumers who cannot afford meat, but rather to those who can afford to pay a premium price for a health food. With approximately 70% of households seeking to eat more healthily, Quorn's excellent health credentials mean it is strongly aligned to consumer trends and its promotion and brand strategy are carefully crafted to advertise it as a “health” brand. Because of the promotion, its retail price reflects not just the intrinsic value of the product but also the perceived value created by marketing. Another distinguishable intrinsic attribute is its taste. As David Wilson (Quorn's U.S. vice president) points out “the best thing about Quorn is that it has a really fabulous bite and has the firmness of meat”. This distinguishes it from its closest health competitor, Soy, whose products are generally softer and require less effort to chew. People are looking to reduce their amount of meat intake but they don’t want to compromising on taste and give up their sausages. Brand (2005). Quorn’s products provide customers with the best of both worlds making its product distinguishable and giving it a strong brand recognition in an exciting growth market of “health foods”.

Non-distinguishable intrinsic attribute

Because of the distinguishable intrinsic product attributes and the segment in which it operates, Quorn possesses strong relevance and personal appropriateness to the consumer. Besides, Quorn’s focused new product development programme and continuous addition to product lines (e.g latest offering - Chicken-style dippers) evokes a richer and more extensive set of associations in the consumers’ minds giving its brand more salience. Its brand market entry strategy, positioning strategy and the marketing communications’ emphasis of taste and positive health connect to the customers emotionally. Because its bundle of intrinsic features/attributes possesses high ranking for relevance and differentiation, the price differential health-conscious people are willing to pay for Quorn products is very high which in turn leads to high brand equity. A purchaser’s consideration set consists of tangible product features in concert with brand equity and price. (McDonald, 2003) Quorn is well positioned and is a market leader in its segment and customers are willing to pay high price differentials for its products. Its bundle of tangible and readily identifiable product features and intrinsic features provide the purchaser with a good sum of utilities which enhances its brand value.

The Brand

Quorn communicates to people in a language they are willing to hear and its advertising campaign tries to broaden its appeal and makes sure it scores highly on recognition Choosing the right language has been vital to gaining acceptance for Quorn.

“The Quorn range of products aims to offer something for every eating occasion that will not only taste good but is healthier too, so you can still enjoy the products you love without feeling guilty.” (The Quorn advertisement, quorn.co.uk)

Quorn’s branding strategy focuses successfully on creating a fast-growing and successful brand with a positioning connected to consumers’ own ideas about positive health.

Other intrinsic attributes

Rik’s version of other intrinsic attributes includes things such as food safety, price, packaging, licensing, etc. Quorn makes sure that the packaging and labelling work together to support the product’s positioning and branding strategy. It consistently comes up with new package designs accompanied with the launch of a new product and makes sure its packaging attracts attention with bold, eye catching layout which is easy on the eye.

Although Quorn has followed regulatory authority guidelines on food safety, this is one area where it has had to face problems in the past.

“In 2002, the US Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) had asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stop marketing Quorn products and direct its parent company to recall all the products from supermarkets. The move followed reports from American and European consumers that they had experienced adverse reactions after eating Quorn foods, which are made primarily from myco-protein, a vegetable protein.” (2002)(Web 3)

There have been differences of opinion with trading officials in terms of labelling. In the past, they have objected to Quorn labelling its products as “mushroom protein” as its products are not mushroom in the real sense. Concerns have also been raised by some scientists and nutritionists that mycoprotein (the main ingredient in Quorn) is not adequately tested, and that it could cause a host of allergic reactions in the population if it becomes popular.

Loss of reputation in terms of food safety and labelling can be an imminent threat to Quorn that could tarnish its brand image. Quorn has reacted well so far in undertaking clinical research to uncover more and more about the intrinsic healthiness of mycoprotein for labelling purposes.

Conclusion

Although Quorn ranks highly on all four building blocks suggested by Rik, regular brand audit needs to be carried out to ensure it sticks to its brand promise for which Quorn needs to have a definitive answer to some key questions:

1. What benefits to the customer or solutions result from the brand’s features?
2. What physiological rewards or emotional benefits do customers receive by using this brand’s products?
3. What does “value” mean for the typical loyal consumer?
4. What is the essential nature and character of the brand?

For the moment, Quorn is ideally placed to benefit from the increasing demand for healthy eating and the combination with Premier should accelerate its growth because Quorn provides Premier with a category-leading established brand with high growth prospects to add to its already strong brand portfolio. To support its branding strategy and basic building blocks, the future direction of Quorn should be governed not only by continuing geographical expansion but also by new product development.

Bibliography

Books and Journals
Brand, B. (2005) “Brand portfolios”, European Management Journal, Vol. 1o, No 3, pp.17-27 De Chernatony (1999), “Brand management through narrowing the gap between brand identity and reputation”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 15, pp.157-179
Kotler, P. (2003) Marketing Management (3rd edn.), New Jersey, Prentice Hall
McDonald, M.H.B. & Harris, F. (2003) “World Class brands” The Journal of Product and Brand Management 10, 1, pp.25 – 37.
Odin, Y.; Odin N. and Valette-Forence, P. (2001) “Conceptual and operational aspects of brand loyalty An empirical investigation” Journal of Business Research 53, pp.75 –84
Riezebos, R. (2002) Brand Management: A theoretical and practical approach, London, Financial Times Prentice Hall
Rundle-Thiele, S. and Bennet, R. (2001) “A brand for all seasons? A discussion of brand loyalty approaches and their applicability for different markets” The Journal of Product and Brand Management 10, 1, pp.25 – 37.

Websites

(Web 1) Premier’s quorn in hunt for bigger share of veggie market (online) (cited 13 August 2006). Available from
URLhttp://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?>
(Web 2) What is Quorn? (online) (cited August 14, 2006) Available from

(Web 3) Quorn Meat Substitute deceptively labeled, CSPI tells FDA (cited August 15, 2006) Available from