Ch. 7 Business Marketing

An example of business marketing and purchases in conjunction with Burt's Bees is the use of MEI software. Up until the point that the firm began using the software offered by MEI they were still using Excel spreadsheets to track sales, accounts, and project future sales based on data imported in Excel by a handful of people at the company. The shift enabled Burt's Bees to boost efficiency quickly and increased levels of productivity to new heights.

The purchase of the MEI software was certainly a business product vs. a consumer product as it would ultimately fulfill the needs of the business as a whole, to work better, faster, and with more accuracy. Tracking spending and managing sales forecasts could now all be done by using a single system with the capabilities to monitor, store, and compartmentalize all the data the Burt's Bees would input to run the company from supply and production costs, to future sales projections based on previous data. Additionally more Burt's Bees employees would use the services of the software, and instead of only a handful of people doing a job and knowing its components many of Burt's Bees employees would seamlessly use the same system to input and export data for the company.

It hadn't occurred to me how important this aspect is to a growing company until I began reading and learning of the changes that Burt's Bees has made in the last 20 years as a brand within a growing industry. It's interesting to have learned how the company continues to grow and innovates their products as well as seeing how they respond to changes while holding on to the core values of environmental sustainability, high productivity and quality products.

Ch. 8 Segmenting & Targeting Markets

In the beginning of Burt's Bees and during the early years the company was part of a growing niche market, and still is today- though it can no longer be termed 'niche' -of natural personal care products, under the larger umbrella of personal care products, along with cosmetics.

Segmenting markets are important as they allows companies to hone in on and focus on a very specific set of criteria for potential customers. How old are they? How much money do they make? How educated are they? What kinds of lifestyles do they live? These questions can be asked answered throughout virtually every facet of marketing, but this is how segmenting ultimately begins. The definition of marketing is made up of elements. Elements change, products change, advertisements change, but the main goal remains the same; to exchange things of value to others. How is the Burt's Bees product priced? Where is it placed? Who are the people that buy these products?

Key product offerings that are great examples of segmenting and targeting markets from Burt's Bees;  a line of baby products.

 

In 2012 Burt's Bees teamed up with AyaBlu, a company specializing in developing baby products and toys in a license agreement to create a entire new product line of garments and toys and for the first time ever the company moved into a market outside of the personal care industry. At the time of the alliance the company had already offered a variety of baby products; washes, moisturizers, ointments and soaps. 

This line of products represents a different consumer than those that buy Burt's Bees more well known products, as it is specifically tailored to babies and mothers. While segmenting and targeting this market new questions are raised as to what type of products do mothers seek for there new born babies, how can the products be packaged designed and implemented in a way that will attract the Burt's Bees target market. The new line from Burt's Bees Baby as well as its website and the launch of its products to several key retailers nationwide, such as Target.com is how Burt's Bees has introduced this new line of products to its target market. 

Ch. 11 Developing & Managing Products

Burt's Bees began in 1894 selling candles. The owners at the time Roxanne Quimby and Burt Shavitz used left over beeswax from Shavitz' honey bee business to create the candles. In 1991 when the company incorporated they extended there product mix to include beeswax based lip balms.

Below, take a look at Burt's Bees first lip balm.

Today the Burt's Bees lip balms remains the companies best-selling product. Over the years the company has extended and modified many of its existing products, and the lip balms have continued to evolve as well. The product lines have changed as well as the packaging, still going hand-in-hand with the Burt's Bees Greater Good business model while staying creative and eco-friendly.

The difference between the first and second picture clearly show a difference in the same Burt's Bees product, and here it is clear that packaging plays a large role in the evolution and life-cycle of a product. The older version is much harder to find today and while shopping at local retailers that stock Burt's Bees merchandise it is hard to find on shelves.

In time Burt's Bees has brainstormed and developed new versions of the same type of product existing within a product line, which now ranges from lip shimmers, to tints and to lip glosses. Additionally all the products within this category are still made with beeswax, and other natural ingredients of course.

Ch. 16 Promotional Planning for Competitive Advantage

Burt's Bees most recent 'Güd' line focused on a newer niche of products, those heavily influenced by scent. As a change from what I have become used to in a Burt's Bees product it in interesting to see the brand position there focus slightly elsewhere to adhere to a new and younger target market. Burt's Bees wanted to target this consumer, women between the ages of 18 and 24 who are interested in products that are trendier, and have more mass appeal, than a beeswax lip balm. Lately it has been good to see through this process and others how many companies are using social media to boost sales promotion and create advantages for products.

An example is the Burt's Bees Güd line, whose FaceBook page had over 170,000 likes before its official launch, in conjunction and at the same time scratch and sniff ads for scented lotions and creams were launched in Allure and Lucky magazines. The use of street teams at nationwide universities also helped to bring exposure to the brands new line. The photos above show the unusual ads by Baldwin& that Burt's Bees used to promote its new fragrance focused line.

Ch. 10 Product Concepts

As mentioned before Burt's Bees is a personal care company, specifically it is part of an ever-growing niche industry of 'natural' personal care products. The items that Burt;s Bees offer range from, hand creams and body lotions, to face washes and lip balms. In recent years they have broadened and expanded product offerings to include, lip glosses shimmers and sun-screens.

People who routinely use Burt's Bees products and choose them specifically are buying specialty consumer products. In essence this means that potential customers are 1. purchasing a product that fits there individual and personal wants, and 2. is searching for extensively and reluctant to choose an alternative.

From its line of lip products there are two main categories to choose from. Lip Color and Lip care, further down these categories are divided into eight specific product offerings which gives the consumer a nice variety to choose from when deciding what they would like to use on there lips.

From its line of facial products again the varieties are many and vary based on the different needs and wants of customers, from those with sensitive skin, to others looking for specific ingredients and even those of want a little bit more radiance on there skin. 

It is also important to mention that since Burt's Bees is a company committed to the Greater Good there recycled post-consumer packaging plays a large role in its brand identity. They are a company that is focused on the environment, that understands the key role played by a company and the responsibility of reducing carbon footprints and working diligently towards sustainability. 

Below is an excerpt taken directly from the Burt's Bees website to illustrate the companies personal commit to providing environmentally friendly products through its packaging. Since it plays such a large role in a companies waste production, it is a defining characteristic of the company to put its best foot forward to reduce its level of waste. 

Our Packaging Innovations

As a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, we’re continuing to develop innovative sustainable packaging solutions for ourselves—and the industry. In addition to using the highest approved levels of Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) or Post Industrial Recycled (PIR) and recyclable materials whenever possible, here are a few of our other achievements:

• Our new lip balm and lip shimmer packaging labels are now shrink wrap free. In just one year this has eliminated 1800 miles of shrink wrap film that would have been sent to the landfill — enough to wrap the Statue of Liberty 100 times!


• We’ve trimmed the excess packaging from many of our products — some by 50 percent!


• We’ve also pioneered the introduction of TerraSkin™ Wraps, an environmentally friendly, treeless and bleach-free paper alternative we use to package most of our bar soaps. It has a lower absorption rate so we can use 20-30 percent less ink when printing. And because it’s stronger and water resistant, it makes for less waste.

Ch. 18 Sales Promotion & Personal Selling

In chapter 17 from last weeks blog post, I introduced Baldwin&, the advertising agency that Burt's Bees worked with on an award-winning ad campaign for its natural personal care products, The Natural Vs. campaign. Additionally while working with Baldwin&, Burt's Bees created an interactive advertisement in Minneapolis that was followed by sales promotions through the Burt's Bees Facebook page.

The ad was to promote a new line of products called Intensive Hydration. Made of up of thousands of small coupons of a woman's face that was dry and flaky. Throughout the day as people pulled off the coupons, the image changed to reveal a fresh face, with smooth skin that was intensely hydrated. This combined both advertising and sales promotion. From chapter 18 I learned that sales promotion directly supports advertising activities, and while they are very different aspects of marketing they work towards similar goals; to boost sales, establish and maintain brand image, promote customer loyalty, and stimulate repeat customers. In conjunction with this, a YouTube video was posted online and as the video ended it sent the consumer directly to the Burt's Bees Facebook page, where they could get coupons for this new product. The advertisement was only located in Minneapolis, but with the use of the video and Facebook, Burt's Bees and Baldwin& were able to reach a much broader audience nationwide. The use of the internet has huge potential to drive customer growth and in turn increase sales, by promoting new products, advertising on websites like Facebook, and using the tools of the internet to increase brand awareness. 

Burt's Bees also offers an Outlet on its website. Other sites generally call this a sale, and while the Burt's Bees site features no sale section it does have an outlet page. Some of the most popular products like Burt's Bees lip balms are on the outlet page as well as natural care sets, including a line of pomegranate infused items, sets of lotions and creams, and even travel-size friendly products. This is another form of sales promotion. Repeat customers are able to try products that they love and new customers are offered products at a lower price that may in turn stimulate a new customer base and increase loyalty to the Burt's Bees brand. 

    

Ch. 17 Advertising and Public Relations

Burt's Bees, like other companies has to promote its product to consumers, they must successfully attempt to penetrate the market place, identifying the target market for the products they offer, while stimulating sales through advertising and public relations.

As mentioned in earlier posts, in recent years Burt's Bees launched the Natural Vs. campaign. It was widely successful in building and maintaining the brands image as one that is eco-friendly, works towards the graters good, and focuses on natural products. The natural product industry is an ever-growing one and produces millions of dollars in sales nationally and internationally as today's potential customer is more aware of its environment. and concerned with products that better our world environment.

Below are a few of the advertisement campaigns from Natural Vs.

                   

 

These series of advertisements are about the Burt's Bees product not the competitors, and like some other advertisements they do not compare brand to brand, they simply and boldly state the differences in ingredients. They focus on what makes Burts Bees different from other companies, without mention of competitors. The only comparison made is with the ingredients used in items within the same group i.e. lotions, creams, lip balms, and serums. The advertisements are persuasive with close ups of faces, lips, and bodies, using a clear distinction in why and how Burt's Bees products better fulfill the needs, of dry lips and skin.

The company also notably launched the Find Your Burt campaign, in honor of Burt, one of the co-founders of burt's Bees and a true environmentalist. Along with building a mini-site the company teamed up with advertising agency, Baldwin& to develop an interactive advertising experience devoted to environmental awareness and education. The campaign was inventive in its use of a combination of various types of media to convey one message. A website, promotional tee shirts, giveaways of products, and handkerchiefs with Burt's face on them and the company logo in there signature bright yellow. The campaign also included print and television ads to create a total package for brand awareness. After the launch and success of the 'Find Your Burt' campaign, the company which Burt's Bees teamed up with won the award for campaign of the year at the Ad Age Small Agency Awards. The mini-site that went along with the campaign was launched on Earth Day in celebration of its 40th year in existence.