Hoffman Plant Food (Case Study)
Situation
A.H. Hoffman manufactured and marketed a line of plant foods that were packaged in plastic bags. Merchandising the line was difficult since the bags would not display well on the shelves of lawn and garden retailers. Competition was intense, primarily from Ortho, a company that did aggressive marketing to the consumer audience.
Hoffman’s budget was modest and did not allow for an aggressive campaign targeting consumers. Advertising and packaging design all positioned Hoffman as a small local player.
Barry Group Solution
Barry Group studied research on the retail lawn and garden marketplace and reviewed focus group research involving owners and managers of lawn and garden retail locations.
Barry Group suggested that Hoffman embark on a differentiation process that involved a re-design of all collateral materials and packaging for the plant foods line. Catalogs used to market the entire Hoffman line were re-designed to have the look and feel of a national player. Barry Group suggested that packaging for the plant foods products be changed from plastic bags to paper board boxes that would allow for strong merchandising. These boxes featured a bold design to differentiate the line at point of sale and created immediate recognition for the end use of the product. Barry Group also designed an ad for lawn and garden trade publications that promoted the new line as “Packaged Profits”.
This guerrilla strategy was implemented instead of using the typical approach of national consumer advertising.
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