Cadbury and trendspotting firm Experentis have both launched guarana chocolate bars for UK clubbers, highlighting the increasing use of trend-spotting in product development.
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But while giant Cadbury relies on traditional advertising, newcomer Experentis will use experiential and event marketing to target its core audience more precisely. The smaller firm’s approach could well pay off.
Experentis, a trend-spotting consumer packaged goods company, has released a guarana-based chocolate bar called Go-Co. Guarana is a naturally occurring stimulant found in South America, which does not have the same side effects as caffeine.
The company will be competing directly with Cadbury Schweppes, which recently released a similar brand extension to its Boost range of countlines. But while both Cadbury and Experentis are hoping to target young, active consumers and particularly the party/nightclub market, the difference lies in the two companies’ marketing strategies.
Cadbury has adopted a traditional approach, with a wide release of the product and a big advertising campaign. Experentis, by contrast, has adopted an experiential marketing strategy. It has targeted key events and venues, with the aim of introducing the product to the right consumers at the right time, and allowing word of mouth and positive experience of the product to start a trend.
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By GlobalDataThis approach was a success for Red Bull, which ran a wide-ranging experiential and event-based marketing campaign long before it advertised on television. The advantage of experiential/event marketing is that it places the product directly in the hands of its target audience, at the place and time when they are expected to use it. For Red Bull and Go-Co, the desire is for a stimulant to provide the energy to keep clubbing – “to put down the sleeping beast”.
Experentis’ whole business model is based on its ability to spot emerging consumer trends and produce a product to meet the resultant needs. This approach is considerably more sophisticated than relying on simple demographics, attempting slight modifications to existing products or creating ‘me too’ entries to the market – giving Go-Co a fighting chance against its bigger rival.
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