PROMOTIONAL AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF SMUCKERS COMPANY

Promotional and Marketing Activities of Smuckers Company

Smuckers Marketing and Promotional Activities

Introduction

Even after receiving remarkable success, the Smuckers have maintained all the core values which its founder JM Smucker followed. People, Independence, Ethics, Quality and Growth are few of Smuckers values which they strongly follow. All the Smuckers employees have taken these values to their heart due to which, for the past 100 years, the company has been able to gain the top position in the fruit and jams market.

The company has expanded the product line over the century to survive and remain on the top. Their product line includes peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly blends (Smuckers Goober), and ice cream toppings including hot fudge and syrups. Throughout the years, by maintaining a stable profit, they have been able to establish market maturity (Ellis, 1987). They have kept up with the competition and the new technologies to remain on the top of the game. Smuckers popular family brands include Jif, Folger's, Dunkin' Donuts, Crisco and many more. Smuckers, through their slogan: “With a name like Smuckers, it's has be good,” has been able to maintain a strong portfolio and a diverse product range.

The long standing and strong dedication towards the quality of all the products is the key to Smuckers success. Due to their strong and stable marketing and promotional strategies, the positive brand image and leadership of Smuckers continues. The constant national advertising helped Smuckers to sustain the competitive advantage.

Marketing Activities

Product promotion and packaging:

Smuckers packaging is simple which highlights the company's name on the top of each product's label. There is an image of the fruit in the middle and the name of the fruit is at the bottom and after that the kind of the spread it is whether jam or jelly etc. Promoting the company's experience in the market, on the right side of the label “Since 1897” is written. The net weight of the bottle or jar is written on the left side.

On the back of the label, the ingredients and nutritional facts about the fruit spread is written as required by the law. The SKU number is also mentioned on the back. As Smuckers is a supporter of social responsibility, the logo of Boys & Girls Club of America is printed along with the catch phrase, “Proud sponsor of Boys & Girls clubs of America.”

Initially, until 1938, Smuckers took the marketing and packaging for granted. Later Willard came to the decision that the traditional heavy crockery used in the delivery was heavy and not appropriate for shipping. He wanted packaging which was modern and which will not risk Smuckers to lose its reputation for “old fashioned” quality. He designed a packaging which reflected the old trademark packaging (Byrne, 1990). That packaging turned out to be a success and also reinforced Smuckers quaint image. After the introduction of the package, the sales of Smuckers increased and surpassed the mark of $1 million in ...