A Hometown Face
Reformulating with naturalness in mind is something on the forefront of what Frito-Lay (a unit of PepsiCo) is doing for this year. With a new
marketing campaign centered on the natural and honest qualities of their potato chips and potato farmers, Frito-Lay hopes to promote a sincere message
to their snack consumers - that this new all-natural potato chip selection is great, "from the ground up."
And for a potential owner of a snack vending machine, this change could drive sales. It's a good idea to understand what you can sell for a profit at
certain vending machine locations. It's an even better idea to understand what snack food products are going to be hot sellers. That's what this change
highlights for a potential vending machine business owner.
The Change
The campaign is being headed by an agency in Toronto named Juniper Park. The first part of the campaign focused on showing who grows the potatoes for
Frito-Lay - and how that translates into a "real and natural" product.
The company is expanding its advertising efforts, to include more ads focused on local markets and regional farmers - the theme is simple, "Happiness
is simple." New snack flavors are being introduced as well: Tangy Carolina BBQ, and Southwest Cheese and Chilies - reformulations of the Kettle Cooked
variety of Lay's potato chips.
What Spurred the Change?
Lay's is the third best selling product for PepsiCo - coming ahead of brands like Gatorade, Diet Pepsi and Tropicana. However, sales have started to
slow down, and that has raised a concern.
What has affected this? The overall health consensus, with more attention to "eating healthier, and more natural" over the years - the regular potato
chip has taken the brunt of an "unhealthy" stigma. But that's being repositioned by Frito-Lay.
Changing this stigma involved promoting the Lay's potato chips as all-natural, with simple ingredients; sunflower oil, and just a "dash of salt."
Overall, the company is moving to all-natural ingredients, over artificial ones.
Research done by the company pointed to a few interesting facts:
Bad stigma: Some people thought the old Lay's were not made from real potatoes.
People were looking to enjoy Lay's, without over indulging - the motto "Bet you can't eat just one" was replaced with the message of Lay's as a
"permissible pleasure."
The best way to get people involved was to tell the story of Lay's through people - straightforward communication.
Consumers were unaware that Lay's was a big brand, which spanned the country - new promotional efforts have worked to change this consensus.
The Investment
2007: Lay's major media spending was $31.9 million ...
2008: $32 million
2009: $31.9 million
The Improvement
The marketing of snack food is now centered on showing the natural qualities of the product, and here's how Frito-Lay does it:
Reduce salt in products - PepsiCo develops a
designer salt crystal that refines and lessens the amount of average salt intake per snack
consumer.
A Vending Machine Business
An investment in a snack vending machine is a way for an entrepreneur to earn extra money, while enjoying the ability to be their own boss - those are
big advantages.
And fine-tuning what snack food to deliver to customers is a great step to make, to increase the potential sales at a vending machine. Just remember
this: snacks for this year are hot sellers if they promote the naturalness of ingredients.
Contact United Marketing
Contact us, or call 1-800-877-1335 to buy a snack vending machine. We have vending machine experts ready to answer your questions.