Company Overview
Oberto Sausage Company is a US-based company engaged in manufacturing and marketing of meat snacks and among the most popular in its product line is the “Oh Boy Jerky”. The product is being sold both through the online store and supermarket distributors in the United States and in Canada (Bloomberg). As of 2014, the company has reported annual revenue of $220 million (aerohive.com) and continuously increasing by the year as the dried meat snacks industry grows annually by 12% as of 2014 (Radke). Currently, the brand “Oh Boy Jerky” was able to put the company in the market position as the second largest brand in terms of sales volume and revenue (Faw).
A2. Financial Result: Do we have money for marketing?
Typically, the appropriate percentage of expenditure for marketing versus the annual income is roughly 5%, which means that from the average gross revenue of $220 million, the company will have to allocate a budget of $11 million for marketing. As stated by Dave Lakey, Vice President for Marketing at Oberto, the company is positioning to launch a series of multi-million dollar campaigns and promotional ads including the multi-faceted programs in several shops (Faw). Having stated by the company’s top executive about the plan ramp up the marketing efforts for “Oh Boy Jerky”, it answers the question of whether or not the company has the money for marketing. Strategically, the multi-million dollar marketing budget can be more effectively utilized by breaking down the budget into a collective effort that can be implemented in both the national campaigns and store-based programs.
One of the recommended marketing focuses is the health value of the brand and assuming that the company is planning to leverage on the health-conscious consumers, a specific marketing program can be implemented within the health market group. The brand “Oh Boy Jerky” in particular was among the jerky products marketed as all natural and regarded as among the healthiest within its category (Kimball). In this regard, Oberto would be able to gain advantage in the health attribute of the product by highlighting the nutritional health benefits of the product in the packaging. In addition, the comparative results of the beef jerky products with other snacks in terms of nutritional characteristics should be highlighted in the ad campaigns in order to emphasize the health value of the product.
B4. Technological Trends
Oberto is taking advantage of the mainstream technology in selling the product through e-commerce where consumers can directly place an order online. The online segment of the business represents an opportunity to implement a marketing campaign by emphasizing the links to social media platforms and channeling the promotional efforts in the said platform. Currently, Oberto maintain social media accounts in Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (Frank). However, the pages are rather generalized because they do not highlight specific products. In this regard, it is recommended to expand the scope of the company’s social media presence by creating brand specific pages. For example, the “Oh Boy Jerky” needs its own social media pages in all of the three major sites. The Facebook page for Oh Boy Jerky should emphasize health and nutrition statements with periodical postings about the benefits and value of consuming the meat snacks. The Twitter platform is essential for the brand to increase its presence among the smartphone users, as Twitter is more effective for mobile phone users. Regular updates and postings about health and wellness should be channeled through Twitter with links to Facebook page and photos of how the product can be integrated as part of the healthy diet.
B5. Political-Legal/Regulatory Trends: this could be related to packaging guidelines by the EPA; health or sodium guidelines, etc.
The Food and Drug Administration packaging guidelines for ready-to-eat snacks are very specific when it comes to jerky or beef sticks, as it was among the products that the USDA is receiving lethality treatment for pathogens (FDA). In this regard, the company should consider improving the hermitically sealed containers of the product and elaborate the concept in the ad campaigns by emphasizing the context of “freshness” and “no preservatives” catchphrases. On the other hand, another important consideration in highlighting the health value of “Oh Boy Jerky” in the marketing campaigns, it is important to determine how the product is faring with the rest of the other snack foods. The product in particular contains 490 mg of sodium in every 225 grams of pack of nine servings. This means that each pack of the product contains 20.4% sodium in every serving (calorielab). It is relatively high and may not construct a good attribute for the product particularly when marketing it as a healthy snack. Therefore, Oberto should consider reconfiguration of its recipe and find alternatives that will reduce the amount of flavorings with hidden monosodium glutamate and sodium. Hence, the difference in the nutritional attributes can be highlighted in the campaigns and promotional programs.
Works Cited
Bloomberg.com,. "Oberto Sausage Co, Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Calorielab.com,. "Oh Boy! Oberto Beef Jerky Calorie Counter (Calorielab)". Calorielab.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Faw, Larissa. "Oberto Beef Jerky's Full-Court Press Campaign Strategy". Mediapost.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
FDA,. "FDA Food Code 2009: Chapter 1 - Purpose & Definitions". Fda.gov. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Kimball, Molly. "7 Healthy Jerky Options You Can Incorporate Into Your Diet". NOLA.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Radke, Amanda. "3 Ways The Beef Industry Could Better Market Beef Jerky". Beefmagazine.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
