Wake Up and Smell the Branding: Green Mountain to Change Name to Keurig Finally

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. will ask its shareholders to approve a name change to Keurig Green Mountain Inc. at its annual meeting on March 6 in Burlington. CEO Brian Kelley said Friday he expects shareholders to approve the name change.

“We have been thinking about the name change for a while,” Kelley said. “So much of our business is driven by the Keurig single-cup system. It really is a reflection of who we are as a company.”

Kelley said consumers won’t notice any difference as a result of the name change. Green Mountain Coffee will remain the brand name for the company’s roasted coffee. The Waterbury company has grown to annual sales in excess of $4 billion largely on the success of its K-Cup brewing system, invented by Keurig, which brews coffee quickly in single-serving portions.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters initially took a small stake in Keurig, based in Boston, but seven years ago bought the remaining shares of the company.

“As we have effectively and successfully brought the two companies together, we decided it was time to reflect that in the name of the company,” Kelley said. “The new name emphasizes the fact that the Keurig beverage system has taken America by storm and the Green Mountain brand of coffee is the most powerful brand in that system.”

Green Mountain Coffee stock closed at $80.76 Friday, up 7 cents.

Original article can be found at: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20140110/BUSINESS/301100044/Green-Mountain-Coffee-plans-name-change?nclick_check=1

Food companies make an effort to woo male shoppers with ""Manfluencers"

Yogurt for men is radically different from the yogurt women buy: The label is black.

Food makers, including giants Kraft Foods Group Inc. KRFT +1.36% and General MillsInc., GIS +0.41% eager for any potential new sales, are trying to win over men. Research indicates men are doing a greater share of the grocery shopping and meal preparation.

In a June survey of 900 meat-eating men ages 18 to 64, 47% were deemed "manfluencers" by Midan Marketing LLC, a Chicago market research group focused on the meat industry. Manfluencers are responsible for at least half of the grocery shopping and meal preparation for their households.

Food company executives hope more men shopping means new opportunities for foods some men have traditionally shied away from in this country, including yogurt and hard cider. The changes are often cosmetic: larger portions or darker color schemes instead of recipes on the backs of packages.

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Lots of products on food shelves are big no-nos to men, says Lu Ann Williams, head of research for Netherlands-based Innova Market Insights. Others help men feel more, well, manly. "A beer or soda in a long-necked, brown bottle makes a man feel like a man. Drinking out of a straw does not—puckered lips and sunken cheeks are not a good guy look."

Which helps explain Powerful Yogurt, a Greek yogurt launched in March featuring a bull's head symbol on red-and-black packaging and an image of stomach muscles next to the slogan "Find Your Inner Abs."

A single-serving yogurt cup is a hefty eight ounces, compared with the more typical five to six ounces, and features 20 to 25 grams of protein.

The yogurt shelf "is light blue, light pink, white, and everyone's talking to women and their digestive health," says Carlos Ramirez, chief executive of the Miami-based company. "The amount of protein is what guys are looking for."

Men also shy away from frozen yogurt, says Nathan Carey, founder of Twin Cups LLC, which makes Pro Yo, a frozen yogurt geared specifically for men that launched in August. Mr. Carey ran a frozen-yogurt kiosk in Santa Barbara, Calif., and marveled at how the vast majority of his frozen-yogurt customers were women. The men who came with them would just have coffee.

He decided to instruct his employees on using different sales pitches on men.

"If it's a male, we'd say, 'This product tastes like a premium ice cream, it's high in protein and has live active cultures,' and we'd get immediate buy-in. But if you told a guy it was low fat before he knew it tasted like premium ice cream, he'd never buy it," Mr. Carey recalled.

Using what he learned, he came up with a frozen yogurt meant to have macho appeal without turning off potential female customers. A black box with "Pro Yo" in boldface contains three tubes of frozen yogurt in flavors such as Vanilla Bean and Blueberry Pomegranate. "On the box, the first thing it says isn't 'frozen yogurt,' " he says. "It's 'high protein.' "

In the end, about half his customers are male, he says. The product, introduced two months ago, is sold in California supermarkets and gyms; Mr. Carey says he is in discussions with supermarkets in other regions of the country.

General Mills has tried to make its Helper line appeal to more men. F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Larger players in the food industry also see new potential in men. General Mills went on a nationwide summer tour to introduce its newly rebranded Helper product line to more men.

Representatives in a red truck offered samples of Crunchy Taco and Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara at fire stations, Nascar races and a Real Men Cook event for fathers in Chicago. ("Ultimate" is a male-friendly buzzword appearing regularly in products like these.)

Part of the appeal, says Elizabeth Laughlin, General Mills marketing manager, is the lineup's ability to produce difficult-sounding dishes like Sweet & Sour Chicken in three steps: Brown, simmer and serve.

That's the draw for Jeremy Alinder, a 39-year-old, recently divorced father to three daughters, ages 4 to 9, in Minneapolis. He says he stashes 10 or so boxes at a time in the kitchen cupboard. He prepares dishes like Cheddar Broccoli or Creamy Stroganoff twice a week, when the girls start to tire of his homemade chili. "It's nutritious enough for the kids, they enjoy it and it's quick and easy for myself," he says.

Kraft's Velveeta Shells and Cheese used to aim for busy moms in its advertising. But research about two years ago turned up a previously unnoticed type of consumer: "We found a segment of men already making and cooking Shells and Cheese that we frankly weren't talking to," says Tiphanie Maronta, senior brand manager for Velveeta meals. "They are not a chef. They are not a foodie. It's somebody who is starting to cook."

Typically, they're men in their 20s and 30s, half of whom are married and likely don't have kids yet. Since August 2012, Kraft has been targeting these men in its advertising with the Eat Like That Guy You Know TV ads, featuring slacker heroes such as one who sells model helicopters at a mall.

Coffee shops have found a macho answer to sugary, flavored lattes: Cold-brewed coffee, steeped anywhere from 10 to 24 hours and typically served black and cold.

"Some [coffeehouses] put it in kegs. Some are even adding nitrogen so it pours like a Guinness, which is totally appealing to guys," says Darleen Scherer, co-owner of Gorilla Coffee Inc., which roasts its own coffee and sells it out of its Brooklyn, N.Y.-based coffee shop, as well as supermarkets in the Northeast.

Gorilla is relaunching its cold-brew coffee this spring. Her shelf-stable cold-brews, in red-and-black cartons with no-spill screw tops, launched in 2012 in 40 Northeastern stores, but supply couldn't keep up with demand, she says, so production stopped. She expects the product will return by March.

Portland, Ore.-based Stumptown Coffee Roasters began serving cold-brew coffee in its eight cafes in 2011 and began distributing it to upscale grocery stores and restaurants nationally a year later.

It is packaged in a vintage-looking, dark-amber beer bottle, where the black coffee accentuates a "smokiness," says Joth Ricci, president of the company.

At MillerCoors LLC, executives see opportunity in hard cider, a category that currently feels "very female-focused" says Rita Patel, director of new product development. "There is a big unmet need."

The challenge: combating the stigma in the U.S. that real men drink beer, not cider. The company next year will launch Smith & Forge, a cider brand that "has a masculine tone to it," says Ms. Patel.

It will retail only in cans—not bottles—and the alcohol level of 6% will be slightly higher than the average of 5%, she says. Black and orange cans declare the product is "Made Strong" in boldface letters.

Write to Anne Marie Chaker at anne-marie.chaker@wsj.com

Read more at: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303680404579139422972891330?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_LeadStoryNA

ConAgra and Kraft Join Together for On-Going Partnership

In a rare, ongoing partnership between two major food makers, ConAgra Food's Ro*Tel tomatoes and Kraft Foods' Velveeta cheese have been successfully co-marketed, through a "Famous Queso Dip" and other recipes made with the two brands, for a decade.

Now, the companies are not only rolling out the latest co-campaign for those brands, but building on their relationship with two new partnerships: one between ConAgra's Hunt's tomatoes and Kraft 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese; the other between ConAgra's Swiss Miss and Kraft's Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits
The Ro*Tel/Velveeta relationship began 10 years ago with more typical joint in-store displays and promotions, and evolved into a fully integrated marketing partnership starting about six years ago — in which the two separately owned brands actually share portions of their advertising and promotions communications budgets, and collaborate on creative decision-making.
The latest cooperative Ro*Tel/Velveeta marketing initiative, running from September through February 2014, is a 360-degree "Queso for All" campaign.
The campaign aims to build awareness of the Queso Dip and sales for the two brands in markets beyond their strongest markets in Texas and the South Central region of the U.S., reports Jonathan Schaefer, brand director for Ro*Tel. (The campaign's elements declare the brands' "mission to cover the nation in queso," and "bring the country together, one bowl of queso at a time.")
The campaign includes a sampling tour at tailgating events at football games featuring top rivalry college teams, as well as sampling/dip-making demo events outside of grocery stores in target markets around the country. The brands are employing a "Quesobago" RV with two enthusiastic "Queso Queen" ambassadors on board.
The "Queso Queens" are also featured in TV spots showing their adventures as they drive the RV around the country to bring queso to all.
Beyond airing on television, those spots can be viewed on the brands' joint, dedicated Web site, QuesoforAll.com — which also features the "Famous Queso Dip" recipe (with easy social sharing function); a map and details to follow the stops of the Quesobago tour; and embedded feeds showing the latest queso-related posts on Ro*Tel's Facebook page (currently showing more than 69,000 "likes") and tweets on Velveeta @EatLiquidGold (more than 7,000 followers). The campaign's official hashtag is #quesoforall.
The site also features a sweepstakes. The winner will get a fully catered, at-home "Quesobago Bash" for 10 on "football's biggest day" (Feb. 2, 2014...which is, of course, Super Bowl Sunday).
The brands are promoting the sweeps and the tour, with links to the QuesoforAll site, on their respective social media presences. Other campaign elements include joint in-store and shopper-marketing promotions and FSIs
The longevity and continuing expansion over the years of the Ro*Tel/Velveeta queso partnership testify to its success, points out Schaefer. "Obviously, we wouldn't still be doing this if both brands weren't gaining consumers and sales," he says. While he declines to share sales specifics from the partnership, he notes that the Ro*Tel brand as a whole has seen its usage penetration about double over the past 10 years.
Schaefer describes the relationship between the two brands as "very strong." Every aspect of the co-marketing campaigns is agreed upon, ensuring that all strategies and efforts are mutually beneficial, he stresses.
At Kraft, Richard Bode, brand manager for Velveeta and Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese, likewise confirms that the complementary nature of Velveeta and Ro*Tel — and the increased media spending and reach to consumers that's enabled by their pooling of budget monies — have increased sales for both brands.
Bode adds that the ongoing relationship with ConAgra has in addition benefitted Velveeta's sales by enabling the brand to align its marketing communication closely with its sales execution. "Over the years, this initiative has also become intuitive to our retail teams, and as a result, we are able to coordinate shopper marketing programs that provide the consumer with easy solutions for different meal occasions, while driving the basket for the retailer," he reports.
Hunt's, Kraft Parmesan Team Up
Given the Velveeta/Ro*Tel success, it's not surprising that similar partnerships between other Kraft and ConAgra brands are now being launched.
The Hunt's tomatoes and Kraft Parmesan cheese partnership is focused on campaigns designed to help make the weeknight dinner menu decision easier for busy moms (and dads), reports Timothy Nangle, brand director for Hunt’s. "The two brands both serve that 'What to have for dinner tonight?' needs state," he points out.
The brands began by developing a "Hunt's and Kraft Recipe Collection" — dinner recipes, ranging from traditional Italian fare to more adventurous dishes, that use both brands.
The partnership kicked off in January with initial efforts that included promotions on the brands' respective social media presences, followed by outreach to targeted bloggers in February and in-store promotions in March, according to Nangle.
This fall, a more ambitious campaign is underway. It starts with the paired-brand recipes being showcased on Hunts.com and the Kraft Parmesan area of KraftRecipes.com.
The campaign also includes a "Try, Share, Win" sweepstakes and couponing promotion, hosted on the Hunt's site. These efforts are focused on driving consumers to make and share with their friends nine "signature recipes" using Hunt's FlashSteam peeled tomatoes and Kraft 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese.
The grand prize is $5,000 to host your own party with the assistance of chef George Duran. The brands will also give away up to 10,000 Silicone vegetable steamers – the more sweeps entrants who share the recipes on Pinterest, Facebook or email, the more steamers will be given away (one for every two "shares.") Participants can see the number of steamers given away rise along with sharing activity, via an online "Share-O-Meter.
Sweeps entrants get a digital coupon for the products – and, according to Nangle, they will receive progressively higher-value coupons depending on the nature of their activities, like printing out, reviewing online or sharing one of the recipes.
Supporting media efforts – all digital and social for this campaign – are designed to reach the target audience during the 4-to-7 pm timeframe during which most dinner decisions are made, Nangle reports.
These include paid search and banner ads (shown above) and videos on sites that consumers turn to for dinner ideas during that weekday time window, as well as outreach through the brands' (or companies') well-established respective Facebook and Twitter accounts. The brands are also doing an outreach program to both general-market and Latino bloggers.
Other core elements include in-store displays with coupons and recipes, shopper marketing promotions and FSIs.
Dedicated, co-branded social presences and advertising in traditional media are likely to be employed down the road, once these two brands' partnership "matures," notes Nangle. Hunt's and Kraft Parmesan are hoping to "replicate" the results yielded by the Ro*Tel/Velveeta partnership over time, as this newer partnership "blossoms," he says.
Bode says that Kraft believes that the Kraft Parmesan/Hunt's partnership is, like the Velveeta/Ro*Tel relationship, a natural fit, which will help retailers and their customers with "easy, delicious ways to make dinner" and enable the two brands to "have strong in-store execution, as well as an efficient marketing campaign."
Co-Marketing Swiss Miss, Mallow Bits
In a third new relationship, this fall, ConAgra's Swiss Miss cocoa and Kraft's Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits will be co-marketing nostalgic Swiss Miss canisters and jars of Mallow Bits in coordinating in-store displays.
The displays will include tear-pads with a coupon and a hot cocoa cookie recipe featuring the two brands as key ingredients.



New Product Development: 3 Tools to Get Your Ideas To Market

The key for new product development is to create products your customers will truly love. These 3 tools can help put you on the right path.

OCTOBER 01, 2013 

It's an understatement to say that new product development is a challenge for startups and small-business owners. Entrepreneurs are naturally creative, forging their own paths and finding new opportunities. Good ideas are a dime a dozen, and the ones that succeed are the ones that can move past the idea stage.

"It's important to always keep your mission and your customers' priorities in mind or you risk drowning in ideas that may be excellent but do not ultimately benefit your company or target audience," explains Elad Israeli, co-founder at analytics startupSiSense.

Smart Tools For New Product Development

Startups and small businesses need smart tools to create the strongest possible product to bring to market. The following three can help put your product on the right path to success.

1. KISSmetrics: KISSmetrics helps organizations understand consumer demand at the consumer level. Rather than presenting analytics data in the form of clicks or page views, KISSmetrics humanizes the information to show how prospects and customers engage with brands.

KISSmetrics collects data to help organizations understand what actions their highest value customers are taking. This market intelligence tool can help companies invest in more website features, products and resources that customers love.

KISSmetrics offers a two-week free trial for business owners. Plans begin at $150 per month.

2. InVision: New product development is resource intensive and time consuming. Startups and small businesses can't afford to chase the wrong decision. The most important way to validate a new idea is to share it with the world and gather feedback. The problem is sketches in PowerPoint are limited in their capacity to articulate a vision.

That's why Clark Valberk and his team built InVision—an app that helps product owners and designers create high fidelity prototypes of their ideas.

InVision can be used for wire-framing, feedback collection and user testing. It breathes life into new product ideas and takes collaboration to new levels.

InVision offers free plans to users with one active project. For designers and product owners who need more features, plans begin at $15 and cost up to $100 per month.

3. UserTesting: Rule No. 1 of new product development: You are not your user. Unlike your target customers and prospects, you spend 50 hours a week, or more, on building your company.

Your audiences? Not as much.

You'll be lucky if they give you a few minutes. That's why it's so important to catch mistakes on your website before they happen—mistakes that you may not notice.

UserTesting is a tool that helps website owners overcome tunnel vision in new product development. The company provides access to software as well as a participant panel of target consumers. In tandem, these features help website owners collect feedback about what they can do better.

UserTesting provides website owners with screencasts of consumers completing actions on a specified website—it can be yours or a competitor's. You can run as many or as few tests as you would like. You can even run tests on new product features before they've officially launched.

Tests are priced per piece at $49 per user.

Be Stealthy And Innovative

For new product development, creativity is only half the battle. What's key is that your organization is empowered to create products that your customers will truly love. Don't jump in blind. Rely on tools and technology to help make the most educated, informed and intelligent decisions for your brand.

Ritika specializes in business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and quantitative analysis. She's written for Forbes, Investopedia, CrazyEgg, Unbounce, the Contently Blog and the SAP Innovation Blog.

Read more articles on marketing.

Photos: Accelerant Research

Original Article Can be Found Here: 

https://www.openforum.com/articles/new-product-development-3-tools-to-get-your-ideas-to-market/?extlink=of-syndication-sb-p

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