March 30th, 2010 Archer Farms Case Study | A Branded Web Presence Strategy

Everyone is familiar with generic grocery store brands. My guess is, you don’t like them very much. While there are exceptions, general public opinion is that the big brands are better. Which, to be fair, is the entire point of  their multi-million dollar branding, but I digress.  I recently felt compelled to write about my favorite generic store brand: this brand is actually not so generic, but with their current web presence, you would never know. I believe it’s high time they get with the program, Archer Farms, so here it comes!

The screenshot you see above represents all of Target’s Archer Farms’ online presence. I found this to be both upsetting and deplorable.

As a huge fan of Archer Farms’ products, I firmly believe that they have found an ideal compromise between budget and quality.  It is important to note that Archer Farms is not Target’s cheap alternative.  Market Pantry fills that role, which is fine in its own right. Archer Farms is much like Kroger’s Private Selection: it is a secondary higher-end brand, a stepping stone between big brand and generic. This position and inherently higher quality actually leaves tremendous room for sales growth.

A generic brand is a concept that banks on the fact that a conscientious buyer will make quick decisions to save money. This is largely a point-of-sale interaction and it works great for Market Pantry, Kroger Brand or Publix Select.  However, that is not what I see here. Target has created a private label brand that sells quality, unique and attractive products.  Archer Farms actually hits the higher-end store brand vertical in some extremely important and unique ways:

1)  They have memorable branding that is clean, attractive and does not feel like a generic brand, yet maintains an attractively low price-point.

2) They do not just offer cheap alternatives. Instead, they offer unique and interesting product lines, flavors and fun twists on other products and goods.

I do not pretend to know how well Archer Farms is doing or where they spend their marketing budget.  I do know this, though: I love the brand, but I only buy it when I remember to. I personally do not use social media as much as many of my friends and colleagues, but I cannot avoid it. I know that my parents, my grandparents and most people I do business with will immediately turn to a quick Google or Yahoo! search to quantify their expectations, beliefs or hearsay rumors about a product, good, service or company. If I had heard from a friend that Archer Farms had the best chips with cool flavors like Jalapeno Cheddar (delicious, btw), I would immediately jump on Google to check it out. Currently, with Archer Farm dismal presence, I would have lost interest and not pursued it any further. BAM! Lost sale. As well as all the sales my enjoyment of trying the chips may have generated.

Imagine a general scenario… If I were impressed with Archer Farms, then with my enjoyment of the product, I would create a network of potential sales leads that exponentially increase.  I will tell 10 people how insanely tasty Jalapeno Cheddar chips are and my friends will tell 10 of their friends and so on.  In this case, I believe that Archer Farms makes a delicious product. But at least half of the friends that are told about it will be using the internet to follow-up on the claims of their friends.  In this case, Archer Farms has just fallen short 50% of its potential sales and that is quite a big loss.

It is my belief that Archer Farms could increase their overall sales if they invested in a more substantial web presence.

Now the fun part.  I will layout a theoretical marketing initiative implementation plan for Archer Farms. In this exercise, I will assume that our target ROI goal is to increase total sales of Archer Farms products by 5%. I will make a number of assumptions and not address information that I cannot know due to my lack of metrics and insight into Archer Farms’ actual costs.

This strategy will be laid out in the following manner :

1)  Overall online presence

2) Building relevant content and imbuing online value into the brand

3) Theoretical implementation

Archer Farms Overall Online Presence

As of right now, Archer Farms web presence is virtually non-existent. As previously mentioned, lack of a strong website even to the smallest degree could result in a signifigant amount of lost sales or potential sales.  So, why does food need an online presence? Who actually looks up these brands, right? While it may be ridiculous to think that an average consumer would want to look up Archer Farms, that assumption is costly. Let me present to you this food for thought: food is something that is relatively universal. Everybody needs it, most people enjoy it, and it is a strong part of  modern living.  Don’t believe me? Take a look at Food Network’s rebranding success.

If you search around, you can find few great blog posts reviewing Archer Farms products. But they stop at short reviews, no links or further brand exposure. What a wasted opportunity! With a proper web presence, a website with relevant focused content and the already strong brand promise, Archer Farms could be spreading their brand and product lines 3 times faster than they do now. It is important to have an overall presence because the online culture is on the fast track to becoming the absolute mainstream way to share and communicate.  Think of how many times Archer Farms has come up short because there is no destination, no brand-focused approach to receive attention on the internet. Let’s say, for example, that I have a personal blog and rave about all my favorite Archer Farms foods that made my house party rock.

Situation A-

I rave about it, some people comment on it, it possibly gets shared with a few people, they get excited and search and find the landing page and possibly Amazon. In general, these users will forget the interaction because there is no engagement with the brand or its value. In short, tons and tons of lost opportunities.

Situation B-

I rave about it, but I am able to find an Archer Farm microsite, so I link to all the products I used, plus recipes on Archer Farms site, and coupons. Now for every potential user I am theoretically extending the brand exposure exponentially. Even if they don’t click on the link in the blog, they may search for it and BAM! an attractive website that gives affordable great recipes, touts the benefits of organic and healthier gourmet food and I can get some coupons or find other deals. In general, if I am a consumer who is attracted to affordable meals, healthy and organic food, and just plain gourmet food (such as the vein of Harry and David, or Fresh Market), I’m now hooked. I will likely check the website again for recipes  and coupons. Not only that, but I have now started to tie in affordability with unique healthy food. This is a staggering way to step over the major brands.

So, my point into an overall strategy is this. Since Archer Farms is part of a larger corporation (Target), they are bound to mentioned, and since the food is unique, cheaper and enjoyable, it is likely the brand exposure will be positive, rather than wasting all that delicious brand exposure and conversion opportunity. A website that inherently offers value and re-enforcement of the brand promises a POWERFUL conduit for more brand exposure and repeat customers.

Imbuing Value and Relevance

Okay, so we have decided to build an Archer Farms micro-site, but that is no magic bullet. In order for this web presence to actually be powerful, we need to make it in such a way that it does three things:

1) Attracts new consumers

2) Retains and maintains the attention of said consumers

3) Provides a useful and relevant reason for a consumer to return and share the website, preferably something that reinforces the brand promises.

Solution?  Exciting, Healthy and Affordable Recipes!

So, those are some broad and obvious things we need to achieve. Luckily, we have powerful and effective brand promises to leverage here. As I previously mentioned, Archer Farms has 2 major promises built into their branding. To refresh, 1) Attractive branding that does not feel cheaper. 2) Unique flavors and value rather than just being a cheap copycat of major brands. This gives us all the ammunition we need to get off to a running start. Since Archer Farms can offer both fun and new flavors plus affordable pricing, food recipes that aim to stay in a budget and taste good are the ticket. I know what you are thinking… Everyone has recipes; hell, Target.com even has recipes. This is true, but they are basic, usually run-of-the-mill recipes with no focus, unique flavors or twist.

It is proven that customers who enjoy Archer Farms highlight their unique flavors and foods as a positive point. All we are doing is running with that. Start off with attractive packaging, fun and well-named recipes, and I almost forgot, Archer Farms offers tons of healthy and organic foods. WHOA! A bit of investment into creating exciting sounding recipes would be well worth the money. I’ll do one right now. Cilantro Lime Mango Tilapia on Red Curry with Organic Flatbread Dippers. Sounds great and healthy! In this case, I have just paired some Archer Farms products together to make an affordable gourmet meal. (Cilantro Lime Rice, Mango Lime Tilapia, Red Curry, Lemon Ginger Juice, Organic Sesame Flatbread crackers.)

Now with our new microsite, I can go on to get recipes, I can price them and plan them out… All this time, I will be on Archer Farms website. I’m not even a crazy cook, but I share recipes online with friends and family all the time. Imagine, if it were easy enough to find great meals, plan the prices and incredients, and then look for coupon savings, too.

We have just taken a brand with nothing to speak of online and developed it into a robust, genuinely relevant way to drive traffic and brand exposure.

Implementation

All right, so now we have talked about a plan to solve the web presence issue. But, how will it look and function? This all sounds great, but, in reality, how do we make sure the recipes and site design really does its job? Well, this is my favorite part (and accordingly, the part I am really best at) so without further ado, I present to you my homepage mockup approach for a re-designed microsite for Archer Farms.