Marketing Mix
Product positioning
The Silk Almond milk positioning is based on the benefits, ingredients and size. It is meant to offer more calcium than the dairy milk in addition to being an excellent vitamin E source. Further, it has low calories with 60 per serving, no saturated fat or cholesterol, no added artificial flavors, colors, free of soy, dairy, casein, egg, lactose, gluten and MSG. Finally, it is also non-GMO verified. In that view, it is meant to address the consumers’ health concerns (Silk, 2016).
Regarding the ingredients, the original silk almond is rich in almonds and filtered water, Sea Salt, Cane Sugar, Gellan Gum, Sunflower Lecithin and Bean Gum Locust. Further, it has minerals and vitamins including acetate for Vitamin E, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin D2 and Palmitate for Vitamin A. Further the milk is provided in half Refrigerated Gallon and Refrigerated Packs offering consumers a choice regarding the size (Silk, 2016).
Pricing
The milk is sold at premium prices quite the opposite to the regular milk for which the grocers are often cutting prices sometimes to levels below the cost with the aim of attracting customers the customers (Anne, 2011). With that, the premium pricing is meant to reflect the added value that the brand offers consumers (Doyle and Stern, 26).
Place
According to Blue Diamond consumer products’ general manager John O'Shaughnessy, the Silk Almond milk sale is alongside the traditional milk products in refrigerated cases. That was done by the end of the year 2009 and has increased consumer’s demand. Further, the distribution of the milk is mainly through the supermarkets seeking to reach more consumers through the retail outlets (Anne, 2011).
Promotion
Regarding promotion, the brand mainly uses advertising and discounts. The advertisement campaign is driven by the insight that customers don’t try the Silk as they don’t try unfamiliar and new things. In one of the commercials, the White Wave, who are Silk marketers, shows a consumer licking the Silk milk after being tasked by the brand’s mascot man as to why they haven’t tried the milk. In the advert, the customer does not only like the Silk Almond Milk but find it as being better than the dairy milk. In that view, the advertisement is mainly focused on informing the consumers of the value and taste that the milk has to offer (Kotler, and Keller, 45). It also seeks to get new customers to try the product. Also, the company uses the social media such as the Facebook to market the brand. That seeks to appeal to the technologically savvy target segment. In the Facebook page, the brand features discount offers seeking to attract more customers to try the milk and buy more (Jason, 2015).
Competitive Analysis
The competition is mainly between two brands which are Silk Pure Almond a product of Dena Foods Co, a company from Dallas and the Almond Breeze, which is a product by Blue Diamond Growers, a company from Sacramento. The two companies have been waging battle for the market share in supermarkets similar to the one between Pepsi and Coke. In the competition, a strategy such as the appearance of Almond Milk in its dairy refrigerated cases helps fuel growth for the milk demand. According to the SymphonyIRI Group, Silk Almond experienced a 13% sales growth in the view that it is considered an alternative to other milk products. However, the creamy liquids that are derived from the non-dairy sources have been experiencing increasing demand by households intolerant towards the lactose or those who are allergic to dairy products (Anne, 2011).
Also, the industry has experienced increased introduction of various competing brands including milk processed from soybeans, coconut, rice, hemp and even hazelnuts. The growth sales of these products follow the long period of steady and slow decline in cow’s milk consumption across the United States. However, the sales for substitutes are less compared to estimated 13 B dollar regular milk’s sales although the lower fat and calorie profile help some substitutes increase sales, as the attention to vegan lifestyles and dairy allergies is increasing. Also, the Silk milk attracts customers concerned about the effect of consuming other products such as soymilk that are considered to contain chemicals including estrogen, which is called phytoestrogens. That is in view that exposure to high estrogen is linked to increased risk for breast cancer. However, Silk is the brand best sold in the United States, having recorded 45 percent growth in sales after the upbeat advertisement campaign (Anne, 2011).
Also, the most recent data from the Nielsen indicates a similar increase in Almond Milk sales across the United States, which increased with over 46% for the last 12 months that ended on July 26th. With that, the Silk Almond brand is valued at about 736 M in dollar annual sales (Vanessa, 2014).
According to WhiteWave, the brand Silk represents approximately half of the Almond Milk total sales. For the past two years, the top producers including Blue Diamond and WhiteWave have been recording about 50 percent growth, and the private label brands are competitively seeking to match the growth (Vanessa, 2014).
The following table and chart presents a summary of the market competition considering the various aspects such as pricing, size, and calories for one cup serving.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Given the above chart, the Silk almond brand is competitively priced considering the other brands are highly priced except for the cow milk. Also, the brand has the least calories among the competing brands. Further, the brand has the least fat content and average in sugar content. With that, the Silk Almond milk is competitively positioned to compete with the other products in a market where consumers are greatly driven by the health concerns over the Calories, fat, and sugar content while offering more value in its pricing.
Works cited
Anne Marie. “Almond Milk Sparks Fight in Dairy Case; the Cookie Dunk-Off.” The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2011, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703791904576075790255426176
Doyle, P. and Stern, P. Marketing Management and Strategy. New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2006.
Jason. “Silk Almond Milk Marketing Campaign Leaves a Bad Taste.” Marketing Art Gallery January 2, 2015, The Web. 05 June 2016, http://marketingartgallery.com/2015/01/silk-almond-milk-marketing-campaign-leaves-bad-taste/
Kotler, P. and Keller, L. Marketing Management. 12th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.
Silk Milk. Silk Almond Original. Web. 05 June 2016, https://silk.com/products/original-almondmilk
Vanessa Wong. “America's Almond Milk Boom Tops $700 Million in Sales.” Bloomberg, August 8, 2014. Web. 05 June 2016, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-08/the-almond-milk-boom-silks-huge-sales-lead-the-way-trounce-soy
