Gardenburger Advertising Strategy (A) Case Solution

2. Possible Alternatives

There are two clear alternatives available in this case. One is that the company should continue to focus on the cultural creative consumer and also start marketing to the health modifier category. This would require the company to increase its marketing initiatives and establish more mainstream advertising means including print and television campaigns on a large scale. The second alternative will be that of sticking to the current consumer category and staying a niche product. This would mean that the company caters to the demands of its current clientele that is very much focused on the vegetable food consumption. It would require them to retain consumers more than adding additional consumers. The company would have to continue offering products that are required by its existing clients so that they can retain their market.

3. Discussion of advantages and Disadvantages of Proposed Alternatives

i. Catering to Both Segments

The major advantage of catering to the additional segment of health modifiers is that the company will have access to a higher number of consumers. There are lots of people who like to stay healthy by reducing fat intake or using less amount of meat in their diets. Since this category is quite large, the benefit of adding them would be that the company can generate higher sales and improve their growth rate. On the other hand, this option does have the disadvantage of costs. Higher marketing expenditure would be needed to ensure that the brand becomes recognizable in the minds of the consumers.

ii. Sticking to Niche Market

The advantage of this step would be that the company can continue to expand within its existing market. This would allow them to improve their product offering and build a consistent expertise within the niche that they cater to. This also has some disadvantages. The main problem is that the company will stay limited in terms of its operations as a higher number of consumers do not fall in its current clientele. Another problem with this approach is that the company cannot expect to compete with other food manufacturers that are catering to a more mainstream market and hence its significance even in the existing clientele might be extinguished.