Branding strategies and applications

Branding

The product that we will be working with is fried cricket snack called Chapu. This is based on the Mexican chapulines, or fried crickets, that are found in many areas of Mexico, including Mexico City, Oaxaca, Puebla and other south-central regions. Furthermore, Southeast Asians like Vietnamese and Thai are quite well-known for their eating of friend crickets, locusts and these types of things. There is an unserved market in the United States in a couple of ways -- first because these ethnic communities have been ignored with these products, but more important because there is a broader community that has never seen these products.

Crickets are easy to raise, and a highly efficient source of protein. When they are fried, they become crunchy, and take well to seasoning. In that way they are quite similar to other friend snacks that are usually made from starches. That they are rich in protein and fat makes them somewhere in between a fried starchy snack and chicharron. Chapulines are eaten either as a snack or as a filling of a starch like in a taco or arepa, depending on the culture. The Chapu brand will be available more as a snack, but there is room to extend it into a packaged taco filling -- but that format is less familiar to American audiences, and even Mexican-Americans might not be sold on that. Crickets have also been enjoying some renown amongst food nerds, and are trending in LA, where the local Mexican-American community has introduced them to Western audiences (Cabral, 2013).

The crickets will be farm raised, and sourced from traditional Mexican-American sources. The company is looking into vertical integration to ensure supply, but this is not a course on supply chain. There will be two package sizes, a small format size maybe 2-4oz and a larger format size 10-12 oz -- chapulines are fairly light. They will come in three flavors to start -- sea salt, chipotle adobo and jalapeno-lime.

Target Market

There are two good target markets for Chapu. Naturally, the first will be the Mexican-American community. While concentrated in the southern states, this community extends into many areas of the country. There are 34.45 million Mexican-Americans already, which is according to U.S. Census data so the real figure might actually be a few million higher than that. The demographic is also growing rapidly -- it is expected to get up to around 80 million 2060 (InfoPlease, 2014). The demographic also skews young -- the oldest median age of Hispanics in any state is 34 in Florida (most are Cuban, not Mexican anyway), compared with the overall U.S. median age of 37.6 years (CIA World Factbook, 2014). This market is likely to be the early adopter market, but also the largest market, because of their familiarity with the product.

The second target market is the growing market of foodies, and people who generally appreciate tasty and interesting food from all over the world. These people are typically young, educated, and urban -- this won't play in Peoria. Western and southern markets are going to be the strongest, though markets like New York and Chicago also have good potential and should not be ignored. This target market is willing to spend money on foods it perceives as high quality. Arguably, this market will be attracted to the street cred one gets not only from eating insects but from eating a very traditional, rural Mexican food.

Brand Image

The two target markets are quite different from one another. The Mexican-American market, however, has the most potential for its market size, broad distribution and potential for repeat sales. However, the initial price point is going to be higher than with many other snacks because of the availability of the crickets. The brand image will therefore need to convey the premium nature of the product, along with its traditional roots. The packaging will be basic -- plastic bags like any other salty snack. The fonts and imagery of Chapu will be retro, as if the product is from 1950s Oaxaca and has not changed in the past 60 years -- that is the image we want to convey. We want to connote a certain amount of pedigree and legitimacy, plus retro styling is fine for the Mexican-American market and the young, urban market appreciates that sort of design, too, if it's done well.

The campaign theme is going to focus on three key attributes. The first is great taste. In food, this is the most important thing -- if people think it tastes good, they will buy it. It doesn't have to actually taste good -- nobody would eat at Taco Bell if tasting good was important -- they just have to think it tastes good. Chapu actually does taste good, to thankfully no sleight-of-hand is needed. The second attribute is tradition. At its heart, Chapu is a traditional product, and even if you are not from Oaxaca, you have to appreciate the value of eating a hearty, flavorsome, traditional food from such a famous food region. The third attribute the brand needs to convey is credibility. You need to know when you buy Chapu that you are a sophisticated eater, that you understand good food when you see it, and you're certainly not put off by things like bugs. If you're of Mexican descent, you eat this in front of your parents to make them proud that you are connected to your heritage; if you are not of Mexican descent you at this in front of your parents specifically to gross them out. Either way, you get a reaction, and you win.

Sample Advertisement

The sample advertisement has to capture the slightly kitschy element of the retro styling. The ad needs to convey the tradition, but in a way that entertains and has an in-joke feel to it. In other words, you want to create an ad that looks like a 50s ad, maybe even in black and white, and has the absurd dialogue and taglines of that era. Arguably, the ad should have some Spanish, if not be entirely in Spanish. The most important element is that while you certainly want to attract the non-Mexican-American audience with the ad, it has to be designed by people who understand the Mexican-American market. You definitely do not want to have it seem like you are making fun of Mexicans. It might help to play on a classic Mexican ad campaign, so that it is understood that you are having a laugh at some old commercials, not having a laugh at the culture.