Sunday 29 April 2018

Updating C. - Research

The following information has been taken from the meeting with LEDF, internet, interviews with consumers and own knowledge of the brand.


Background


Description of the company

C. is a soda that began to be made in the 50's. Over time it has become a cultural icon of the Canary Islands. Drinking C. is a symbol of 'canariety' by excellence and it is one of a few brands that has achieved to position itself this way.

C. resurfaced with strength during the 80's, promoting itself as the representative product of the Canaries. This took it to recover their orange and lemon flavours and, later on, releasing a new apple flavour. In the new century, C. was promoted on TV through comic ads. In 2006, to celebrate their 50th anniversary, the visual identity was renewed and the old graphic elements were stylised.

In the past, they've used different concepts from the 'canariety', like hope, friendship, love or an experience that is 'simply incredible'. These approaches were clearly aiming to a male target since the main character in these ads were men and women only had a material role.


Problems/Opportunities

The fact that C. has transcended to the native culture is something very positive that should be kept and empowered, but it shouldn't be its only pillar the brand relies upon. The brand is perceived as outdated and its packaging is considered vintage.

The brand is outdated and its credibility is suffering. The low frequency of communications with their consumers aggravates this situation, which has resulted in the brand being weak in specific geographical areas and its digital presence is poor.

The current target audience is too wide (15-55) and it's planned to reduce it to a range between 17-26 years old to make a greater emphasis on this target. Regular consumers are socially active.

The opportunities lay on securing the regular costumers or focusing on being more open to a general public. In this case, LEDF wants to focus on increasing the number of consumers.

Other problems are the low popularity of other flavours apart from strawberry, the low proposal on spirit drinks as well as the inexistent agreement with content creators.

In summary, they have a low digital presence, low frequency of communication, low popularity in certain geographical areas, low popularity of other flavours apart from strawberry and an outdated perception of the brand.

The brand has a very good opportunity to become the favourite of the natives in the Canary Islands being modern, close and innovative.


Market Analysis

C. doesn't have great local competitors. Brands like Nik or Royal Crown have a very limited presence in comparison.

The main limiting factor of C. is its limitation to supermarkets, corner shops, off-licence shops, or similar shops. The places where the target goes C. is not served. An access to C. in places like Burger King, Mc Donalds, etc would increase sales and its popularity, improving the way these businesses are perceived by the population for understanding and including the local culture in their businesses.

Fanta is the national competitor that many times is the first choice for consumers when it comes to chose an orange or lemon soda. The strawberry one is in a very good position, but the others are in the background and they barely get any consideration.


Brand organisation

Portfolio definition

C. is a brand distributed by another brand (A.). Currently, they don't only deliver sodas, but also ice-creams.

Sodas: Strawberry, strawberry zero, orange, orange zero, lemon, apple and passion fruit. (And there's another flavour that is not clear on their website due to a low-res picture).

Ice-creams: Strawberry, orange, lemon, cola and passion fruit.


Brand system

From the gathered information, C. is independent but endorsed by A. just like many other drinks. This is an endorsed brand, where A. acts as a master brand of C. and other drinks.

Strategic external conditions

Fanta, the main competition, uses their logotype in white on other colours whilst C.'s is blended with the rest of the design. This makes Fanta products to stand out more on the shelves. This is something to consider in the design process.

Brand conceptualisation

C.U.V.E.X stands for: Culture, Users, Voice, Emotional benefits and X-factor (Unique selling point).




Concept definition

C. provides a flavourful experience to cheerful clients in a festive environment with an eccentric voice helping them feel connected to their roots.

Attributes

- Soda of different flavours
- Sold in cans and bottles
- It has its own ice-cream version

Benefits

- Patriotism, loyalty to a culture
- Being an active part of that culture consuming local products
- Identity reaffirmation
- Childhood connection

Values

- Honour canary heritage
- Unique Experiences
- Make their customer feel good

Mission

C. has manufactured a soda for many years and it has become a symbol of what being from the islands means. The mission of a business never changes, and they have achieved this throughout all these years. The mission right now would be to keep and empower this status quo and not letting other products to replace them.

Personality and positioning

C. is probably the most popular local product not only in the Canaries but also in the rest of the country. There's no one in the Canary Islands that don't know about it and the rest of the people in the country that has been in touch with the islands or the people in it know about their existence.

Ad campaigns in the past have been quite successful and made people talk about their comic, eccentric and daring personality. This is something that is repeated throughout their slogans and adverts but that is not consistent with their visual identity.

C. has been a very accessible product for a wide demographic range of profiles despite counting with a design that hasn't aged very well. They probably wanted to go for a modernist, timeless and clear approach to live for many years. The problem is that it hasn't been this way due to the use of trendy typography, photographic textures on cans, tags like "without artificial colourants" integrated into a realist or photographic manner, to mention some problems. Besides, it doesn't have a clear personality nor a clear message to convey easily to understand.

Based on the definition of the concept, emotional benefits and values of the brand there are certain personalities that could serve as inspiration for the brand. Personifying the brand can help to identify what kind of message the consumer can understand and what message to convey.

The following people can be very different. This is simply to show different facets the brand has and how they can be expressed. These personalities generally resonate with the audience.

Bejo - trap singer: quirky, eccentric, relaxed, comic, childish, provocative.

M. Vieira - Comedian: timeless, connects with all ages, funny, respected, legend alive

Antonia San Juan - Actress: irreverent, witty, provocative, daring.

Melendi, Maluma - singers: multi-faceted, rebels, romantic, warm, festive.

Other brands and people that can be of inspiration: Vans, Malaje, Caraperro, Golf, Supreme, Jaden Smith, Tyler the Creator

Latin American influences have been neglected on purpose to avoid stereotyping associations.



Scale of semantic difference





Fanta can be perceived as innovative in their communications, whilst C. has a more traditional approach. Since it's a local and smaller business than the multi-national Fanta, it can be perceived as more emotional and sensitive. The product can seem more crafted and of trust.


Concept board


Concept definition

- Canary experience
- Cheerful
- Festive environment
- Eccentric voice

Emotional benefits

- Patriotism
- Identity reaffirmation
- Re-experience of childhood

Values

- Honour
- Provide good moments
- Trusting local products

Mission

Keep being the number 1.

Personality and positioning

- Legendary
- Provocative, irreverent
- Warm

Objective

To promote the product more frequently in specific areas through online platforms normally used by the target audience.

Target Audience

- Gender: -
- Geographic Area: Canary islands
- Age: 17-26
- Social Class: -
- Channel: Online
- Demographics: Young adults, students or workers that want to share good moments with their friends.
- Leisure: Festivals, discos, street-partying, beach
- Motivations: distinction, recognition, make others laugh and laugh
- Frequence of use: 2+ times a week.

Creative Axes

- Canariety
- Eccentricity
- Party


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