When You Improve Your Product So It Does the Customer's Job Better, Then You Gain Market Share

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Another reason we think this strategy can be successful is because of the history of the “fun size” bag strategy. A miniature version of the product would do well among people who are not looking to eat an entire bar when they just want a snack. People working at an office are more likely to keep a bag of minis at their desk and pop a couple throughout the day than they are to keep a box of full size bars. The smaller size could also be a way to younger people/children exposed to the product. As we know, kids tend to hate anything healthy but if the product continues to appear similar to a candy bar children could come to accept it. The small size even means KIND bars could be given out as Halloween candy to further increase exposure to kids as a healthier option.

4. How does the concept of an “unmet need” relate to the idea of “nonconsumption” discussed in The Innovator’s Solution? Explain your answer.

When consumers use a product as a tool to satisfy a daily need, they begin to form an attachment to the product. If the product becomes unavailable and there are suitable substitutes in the market, the nonconsumption period will be short and the consumer is likely to switch to a competing product. If there are no suitable competitors in the market, the nonconsumption period will become longer and the consumer will have an increased desire for the product.

Both unmet needs and nonconsumption represent opportunities in the market. Most of the time, companies create a product and try to find a consumer need that it satisfies, but they would be more effective if they understood what job their customers needed to accomplish and developed their product from that viewpoint.

The two ideas are similar in that, because customers have a need that has not yet been met, they will try to satisfy themselves with a product that may be of lesser quality and less effective than a superior product that is more expensive and/or requires additional skill. Because their need is not completely met, the consumer settles for something the item that they can afford and know how to use. When a consumer is dealing with nonconsumption, they will look to satisfy their current need with a competing product, even if it is an inferior product as long as it gets the job done.

5. Identify two strategic groups within the energy bar industry. Explain how you chose these strategic groups.

Two strategic groups that we identified within the energy bar industry are performance nutrition bars. Performance bars were selected because it is a portion of the energy bar market where consumers look to get the necessary supplements to help them achieve their work out and get through a sporting event, examples would be Gatorade Prime Fuel bars and PowerBars. Performance bars have been a long-standing staple of the energy bar grouping and ever increasing reliance on being able to get the most out of your workout in as little time as available, performance bars will stay strong. The other strategic group, nutrition bars, such as Kind bars, Quest bars, or Clif bars, have recently become a huge contributor to the energy bar consumption. With bars that consumers in different areas ranging from weight loss to mental stability. With the vast assortment of flavors and health benefits available we believe this will become the most popular strategic group within the energy bar industry.

6. Identify two key success factors (KSFs) for each strategic group you identified in Q5. One KSF should be a strategic necessity. The second KSF should be a strategic strength. Explain how you chose the strategic necessity and strategic strength. Discuss each KSF separately.

For the performance bar, strategic group a key success factor (KSF) that is a strategic necessity is their ability to provide the consumer with copious amounts of energy and stamina effectively and efficiently. If performance bars would not be able to do this consistently consumers would be to turn to other alternative such as Five Hour Energy to get their necessary energy. A strategic strength of the performance bar grouping would be their ability to provide an easy to take, on the go bar that would provide anyone with instant energy. This is done without excess sugar in take, assortment of tasteful options and made to be done extremely easily right when you need it.

A strategic necessity of the nutrition bars would be their ability to provide a healthy alternative in the energy bar industry. In our increasingly health consciousness society, consumers turn these nutrition bars to get something healthily they can eat that would supplement a meal or provide a snack. If these options would leave the energy bar industry it would create a huge hole. A strategic strength of the nutrition strategic group would be that they can provide tasteful alternatives to vitamins allowing customers to get products with healthy natural ingredients that are also to provide them with the supplements they need or want.

7. a.) What is an example of an emerging submarket in the energy bar industry? Explain your answer.

Since the idea of an emerging submarket is to increase a brand relevancy and have competitors be less relevant the options and new product are somewhat already saturated within the energy bar industry. Though after reviewing the articles and watching the videos, as well as some offline research there was one new entrant into a possible submarket; which is 100% plant-based protein bars; that also acts a meal supplement.

Knowing that most energy bars are free from traditional animal protein, we propose this new submarket for energy bars being free of gluten, free of dairy, free from soy, and free from tree nuts and peanuts. This emerging submarket in the energy bar space would rely on plant based proteins, whole food vitamins, superfoods, greens, fiber and low in sugar.

This submarket is doing very well in the protein drink and meal shake space, but when it comes to prepared snacks there are less players in this space. This type of product would complement the health-conscious person lifestyle, which also might be vegan, impacted by soy and gluten or has digestive or allergy issue with dairy or nuts.

b.) Considering the emerging submarket you identified in Part a, discuss one marketing strategy recommendation for KIND. Explain your answer with solid supporting rationale.

Using the above emerging submarket, we feel that a viable and a strong marketing strategy for the KIND company would be to enter the market as a substitute product in the energy bar space. This would allow KIND to compete with director competitors but in a less intense and heads-on manner.

Since