ELLAs Kitchen Case Study Introduction Ellas Kitchen has got many competitive advantages especially to wards the

childrens health as he founded it at a time when about 30 percent of the UKs children were overweight and 15 percent clinically obese. For one, in its advertising campaigns, it chose to spend more than 100 million for its strategic objective in bid to win over the children (Dahlen, et al. 2010). This clearly differentiated Ellas Kitchen from its main competitors, who are Tropicana and Del Monte. In addition, Ellas kitchen also created some form of emotional attachment with the kids which was required to encourage the consumption of healthy foods by the kids. This case analysis explores the strategic analysis of Ellas Kitchen. Competitive Advantage Another competitive advantage for Ellas Kitchen mirrors the argument that the company is that it was founded at a time when parents were faced with the pressure of providing healthy and quality food for their children but that was not the case. In addition the parents were using a lot of money on high fat sugar salt foods which were blamed the kids unhealthy lifestyles (Dahlen, et al. 2010). Furthermore, individuals such as Jamie Oliver had increased their campaigns by promoting quality eating standards and therefore Ellas Kitchen took advantage of this considerable attitudinal change. Additionally, Paul also took into account the positioning, taste, and look, as well as packaging of his brands in order to attract the kids. Ellas Kitchen also packs its four varieties of Smoothie Fruit products in a distinctive pouch which is re-sellable unlike its key competitors. It also entered into a

deal with a good partner Viacom Brand Solutions which is renowned for its advertising ability and this further propelled Ellas Kitchen to greater heights of success for it was now known nationally through its advertisements (Dahlen, et al. 2010). Furthermore, since VBS at that time was about to lose much of their revenue as a result of the governments aim to discourage advertisements about high fat sugar salt products, it was able to concentrate more on the advertisement campaigns of Ellas Kitchen. VBS also decided to produce creative materials for the web and TV campaigns. This created countrywide TV support that made Sainsburys to agree to distribute the products of Ellas Kitchen to 355 stores. The companys media strategy was planned and it mirrored on a creative approach that was based on the congruence idea. It was also differentiated from the other advertisement through energetic, bouncing and uplifting shows in line with brand proposition. Ellas Kitchen also gave an initial price offer for its products after they were introduced in the market and this also helps to create brand awareness (Dahlen, et al. 2010). Advertising through Nickelodeon became its main marketing channel in 2006 and the outcome was very encouraging. Another competitive advantage for Ellas Kitchen was the endorsement of its brands performance by Waitrose who started to stock its brands during the summer. Furthermore, it also started to develop a wide variety of baby food brands through the similar convenient re-sealable packaging technology which gave the consumers more choices to select from. However, in the 2011 summer the company experienced entirely new management challenges which were particularly contributed by its expansion to the US, Sweden, Norway, Ireland since they had new market environments. This changed and the company earned more revenue especially in the US. The company

also faces difficulties in sourcing its supplies due to its size as well as scale for it has to meet the orders of all the key retailers. Though it would wish to source its entire supplies locally and seasonally in the UK, it is not possible. Therefore, it is trying everything it can without having to go far away. As such, most of its ingredients are normally sourced within Europe. Again its rapid growth has prompted questions on how the firm would be able to apply its up-cycling strategy in the huge global markets, with each having differences in their environmental orientation. Brand Narrative Approach Ellas Kitchen has become one of the models of food branding in the 21st century. The identity as well as the ethos of its brand has remained consistent all through its spectacular growth. The Lindleys put their efforts into developing intangible assets and outsource other factors of the value chain. Ellas Kitchen develops recipes keenly pursue quality control, source the ingredients but it outsources manufacture to several trusted and skilled manufacturing partners. Since many companies are not able to its unique pouch packaging gives Ellas Kitchen an edge over its competitors in the market. Branding inside in the sense that the workers acted as the brand ambassadors also played a major role towards sustaining growth as well as the credibility of the companys positioning in the market. As a component of this approach, its founders cultivated an organizational culture which was similar to their sense of childlike and fun perspective (Dahlen, et al. 2010). For instance, the staffs were allowed to question the status-quo just like a child may do and not to take no as an answer. The idea behind it was that attitudes like these would encourage

innovation as well as entrepreneurialism which are major ingredients in such a young and dynamic business. Communication Objective and Effects Excellent brand communication should be dominant oriented, coherent, and centered on massive brand ideas as a channel to create, involve and sustain customer involvement. Ellas Kitchen has been successful in developing effective communication with one voice where its communication messages are consistent and coordinated. In addition, the company also receives a lot of feedback from its customers approving the strategy (Dahlen, et al. 2010). Absolutely, there is no qualm that many advocates have been established. Fascinatingly, the awesome feeling appears to be a relief as well as appreciation that a complete organic fruit along with vegetable brand is making healthy eating pleasing to kids. Marketing Communication Strategies Approaching Viacom Brand Solutions to advertise for Ellas Kitchen, Lindley had the idea to buy advertising space in the television channel for exchange with a share in the sales revenue. This proposition was appealing since the creation the introduced Ellas Kitchen product always kept viewer attention along with minimizing channel zapping (Dahlen, et al. 2010). Additionally, Nickelodeon also became aware that a positive public involvement in the project which promoted a healthier eating to its target consumers gave a clear opportunity to enhance its market positioning as the promoter of healthy eating. Furthermore, the management also believed that by substituting Sales Turnover for the idea of Tiny Tummy Touchpoints would enable them to refocus their

energies towards their core aim as well as the higher objective of promoting better and healthy eating for the toddlers and babies. The company also realized that it was very important for it to overarch an ongoing brand that is built and sustained so as to involve its consumers as well as reinforce its brands its in the market. As such its cornerstone for effective marketing communication includes the target audience, the message and the media. Strategic Positioning The company relentlessly focuses on the children as their key market. In the same breath, its employees were encouraged to view the world from a kids perspective. Wickedweb has also been successful in managing digital strategy of Ellas Kitchen, and has provided a suite of worldwide websites along with locals, as well as digital marketing to support the total annual brand strategy. Ellas Kitchen further has an ambitious and exciting brand vision, which Wickedwebs digital function supports major marketing objectives. It also managed to release a case study of Ellas Friends exchange strategy that involves tapping digital techniques in order to its database for Friends (Dahlen, et al. 2010). This database can then be utilized to create engaging relationships in a sensorial level. Innovative marketing has also helped Ellas Kitchen to create a brand on a large scale. In addition, the Lindleys managed to launch a nationwide brand quickly through thinking big as well as creating a revenue shared model, that suited both the parties, Ellas and Viacom. Tactics and Techniques of Positioning The idea of sharing risk innovation agreement between Ellas Kitchen and VBS enabled the company to secure a national distribution. Furthermore, its product positioning which mainly target the children have also been very successful (Dahlen,

et al. 2010). What is more the companys use of re-sealable pouch technology has set it apart from its competitors making its products more unique, attractive and environmentally friendly. Brand Equity The company has also hand growing brand equity over the years it has been in operations. According to a survey of UK 10,000 ladies, Ellas Kitchen was found to be successful in the creation of a very trusted food products in 2011in the UK (Dahlen, et al. 2010). The following chart shows Ellas turnover which has quickly been increasing. Ellas Kitchen Turnover Turnover 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 0.2 Million 1.3 Million 3.8 Million 8.2 Million + 550 % +192% +115% Year on Year

Advertising and Creativity Strategies Due to the exclusiveness of the deal that Ellas Kitchen signed with Nickelodeon, VBS created work in a similar style as well as the tone of the voice channels. Moreover, the ads were able to fit flawlessly in the Nickelodeon's program setting.

They emphasized more on play, fun and energy. Further still, they had a string of the upbeat executions which featured his daughter Ella who introduces the kids to 'the Yellow One' which is banana based and the Red One which is berry based. The company was also able to heavily invest in the advertisement spending which helped to create nationwide awareness of its products within a very short time.

Media Strategy The companys media strategy as well as plan reflected its creative approach where it was based on the concept of congruence. More so, it focussed on energetic, bouncy and uplifting shows which were in line with its brand proposition rather than ones which attempted to bring down the energy levels before bedtime. Additionally, the spots were placed close to Nickelodeon's pro-social show called Nicktrition which is a series of brief educational films on healthy lifestyles for the kids. As such, short burst activity washed the year maintaining the brand at the top.

Bibliography

Dahlen, M. et al. 2010. Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach. New York: John Wiley and Sons