Marketing strategy for H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending in Decatur

Vending Machine Businsess Plan

Marketing business plan

Location, environment and target market

Value proposition and competitive edge

Marketing and sales strategy

Online marketing technique

Pricing

Business plan:

H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending -- Healthy Seven Vending

Location, environment and target market

America's obesity epidemic has been spiraling out of control in the past two decades, and will continue to grow unless drastic measures are taken to change American eating habits. It is of particular concern that the rate of childhood and adolescent obesity is growing so rapidly. H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending (Healthy Seven Vending) believes that it is essential that food corporations pair with local municipalities, educational institutions, and other organizations that play a vital role in young people's lives. "More than half of U.S. middle and high schools still offer sugar drinks and less healthy foods for purchase. Students have access to sugar drinks and less healthy foods at school throughout the day from vending machines and school canteens and at fundraising events, school parties, and sporting events" (A growing problem, 2013, Overweight and obesity).

Vending machines and access to unhealthy processed foods is even more ubiquitous at college, given that students have more disposable income, irregular mealtimes, and longer unsupervised leisure hours in which to indulge. Although companies such as Frito-Lay and Coca-Cola have partnered with schools before, H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending is unique because it is a company that specializes in healthy vending technology. It does not have a divided interest when it claims to promote health like other food companies, given that all of its products are natural, nutritious, low-calorie, and made with minimal preservatives.

The city of Decatur in Georgia has a particularly high rate of youth obesity. It seems an ideal location to introduce healthy vending machines. For the first effort of H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending to expand into the region, colleges will be selected as the primary target. The city's location is a fairly central hub for a variety of educational institutions. The target population will be students ages 18-35. Colleges are ideal because they are highly-trafficked areas with willing hungry, consumers. Students in this age group are often 'striking out' on their own and adopting new tastes. They are more likely to be receptive to changing the types of foods they consume through healthy vending machines.

Decatur is a suburb of 19,000 residents, located just east of Atlanta. According to the city's website, "Decatur residents have one of the highest education levels in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Decatur employees, primarily concentrated in the downtown commercial district, also represent an important demographic category in our community. Emory University, Agnes Scott College and DeKalb County are among our top employer groups with the professional and service sectors well represented" (Demographic information, 2013, Decantur Georgia). This high level of education suggests a population that is malleable and willing to make positive changes. Even if the obesity rate is high, higher levels of education are also associated with reduced risk for obesity overall.

Marketing and sales strategy

The marketing of the healthy vending machines will require a dual effort: it will draw upon the media, larger community, and city of Decantur by stressing how the company serves a civic function by improving young people's eating habits. It will also promote itself to its target demographic in terms of its taste, ability to promote a slimmer figure, and novelty. To generate buzz, Healthy Seven will advertise in local weekly newspapers read by college students such as Crossroads News and Creative Loafing and showcase the company on radio advertisements on WAOK 1380 Atlanta, WVEE 103.3(V-103) Atlanta, and WSB News and Talk (750AM) Atlanta.

These advertisements will have a rough, edgy quality to them to attract college students, as the actors in the print and radio promotions talk frankly about their concerns about their health and weight in a funny way. The advertisements will also implicitly criticize the offerings of the competitors. "Does this vending machine make my butt look big?" one print advertisement could ask, as two students look at themselves reflected in vending machine of unhealthy snacks, which would be followed by an image of themselves looking into a healthy vending machine of fresh snacks, sporting slim figures. Another image could show an unhealthy vending machine filled with snacks and sodas, all of which were labeled 'Freshman 15.' As commuting students often make use of public transportation and are a captive audience as they wait on the trains, billboards on metropolitan Atlanta public transportation (M.A.R.T.A-Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority could replicate some of the print advertising. VISTA print for flyers and banners on campus would further supplement these efforts.

Because of the 'public service' and educational component of its advertising campaign, Healthy Seven representatives could also offer to do interviews on educational channels/networks, such as the Georgia Public Broadcasting System (GPS). These interviews would not explicitly be 'advertising' but they would transmit the message implicitly that the types of high fiber snacks offered in the vending machine have a much better effect upon the body than those offered by more conventional snack companies. The fact that the vending machines can stock fresh food, including produce and milk, which has been shown to have a positive effect upon lowering the obesity rate through scientific studies makes reaching out to educational media particularly essential (Mann 2010).

When first launched upon the campus, the company will have a 'free day' of vending machines -- all vending machines will be free for a day, to celebrate the launch, and there will also be representatives of the company handing out information about the product and staging various events with company 'talent,' such as public exercise 'flash mobs' and healthy 'snack mobs' of people running through campus, brandishing the snacks featured in the vending machine and handing them out to students.

The hands-on marketing will include a representative and a sample of the product at the Health and Wellness Expo and Back to School Expo at The Mall at Stonecrest. If the campus vending machines at local college campuses in the Decatur area are successful, the company will branch out and feature the machines at all three of the local DeKalb County malls, The Gallery at South DeKalb, Market Square, and The Mall at Stonecrest where young people frequently 'hang out.'

Online marketing techniques

Although the product will not be sold 'virtually,' young people are heavy consumers of online media. A web presence advertising the company is essential, preferably on websites frequented by college students, such as the colleges' websites; websites that sell discounted textbooks and dorm furniture; and local sites that chronicle popular nightlife and discount events.

Blogger, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and other personal webpages and social media can also be useful. As well as advertising through conventional channels, using 'stealth' advertising can be particularly effective when trying to reach the fickle college audience. More and more college students (as well as the population in general) are using blogs and other forms of social media as a way to communicate their thoughts and feelings about products. The company could reach out to student bloggers or high-volume Twitter users and ask for them to give a review of using the vending machines. Rather than a paid advertisement, encouraging students to offer their honest, unvarnished opinions (with possible compensation for the price of one 'meal' on the company's part) creates a perception that 'real people' like the product.

Customer service

Free samples on campus to reviewers and to students in general through give-aways, 'free' days, and vouchers in freshman welcome packets will create positive feelings in the customer base. It is essential that the machines are well-serviced, so there is no problem in terms of access. After the machines have been on campus for several months, students will be surveyed regarding their perceptions of the product offerings. Given the wide array of foods that can be stocked, the vending machines can be 'tweaked' to emphasize certain products over others and new products can be introduced easily. Vending machines must be closely monitored to ensure that popular items do not run out. Monthly meetings amongst the Healthy Seven team will allow the company to remain on the cutting edge of changing consumer needs.

Social awareness on college campuses is important, and on various months a certain percentage of the proceeds will be donated to popular, relatively noncontroversial charities, such as breast cancer research.

Pricing

The relationship of the parent company with a variety of healthy food manufacturers allows it to keep prices low, and prices must be reasonable, given the average college student's budget. While the costs of the refrigerated vending machines require a higher price point than ordinary sugary snacks, costs must not be allowed to get so high that healthy eating is viewed as prohibitive. Ideally, some lower-cost snacks such as Kashi bars should be offered. Pricing will not be 'low,' but it will not be 'high end,' either.