Samenvatting

Currently, only 22 percent of Dutch households consume a dairy dessert on a daily basis. FrieslandCampina, market leader in the Dutch dairy category, set a goal for 2013 to increase this to 23 percent. Mona, one of their brands, is set to be one of the driving forces in the category's growth.The brand has a big chance to grow, since the average household only buys about six Mona specialties per year. The store is where over 80 percent of shopper decisions are made and an amazing 50 percent of brand switches happen (Saatchi&Saatchi, 2013) and retail experience is becoming an increasingly important construct (GFK, 2012). Therefore, I dedicated this thesis to in-store marketing for Mona, answering the following central question: "How can in-store marketing in Dutch supermarkets contribute to an increase of Mona specialty sales, to an average of 6.3 Stock Keeping Units per household per year?" The target shoppers for this research are "Mothers with a busy life whose children still live at home and like to spend time with their family and close ones." The target consumer is "families in the Netherlands, with children who live at home." In order to answer the central question, multiple components needed to be analyzed and researched. Desk research on Mona and its competitors needed to be combined with desk research on the dairy category, giving a good image on Mona's current market position. The question "what is in-store marketing" is answered by combining desk research on different constructs and theories with the opinions and experiences of experts. Additionally the different stakeholders were defined and interviewed on Mona's in-store marketing activities. Once I finished my research, I answered the different sub questions and made the conclusions. Mona consumers like to eat the product together with their family, at a special occasion of celebration: a consumption moment I named 'Mona moments'. When eating the dessert, the consumer type that buys Mona chooses taste and quality over 'a dessert that is good for you'. I found that there was a barrier in consumers' minds of not wanting to buy a "special dessert" on a regular day, which could be the reason of not buying Mona. Simultaneously, retail products are often bought by habit, and experts believe in-store marketing is a good method to break this habit. Because Mona is often bought by impulse, "seeing is buying". The advice of how in-store marketing can create higher sales for Mona, consists of two parts. Firstly, I advise Friesland Campina to focus on the "Mona moments", connecting the brand with moments that the Dutch celebrate, such as Mother's day and the start of the summer holiday. Analyzing the 'desserts of the month' sales and flavors, as well as the brand personality, this has proven to be a success in the past. Mona can 'claim' a certain holiday, such as Mother's day, in order to raise sales around these periods of time. The brand can also connect to a moment to celebrate, such as a birthday or a graduation. The second part is using personalized content marketing as a tool to connect with consumers. Personalized content marketing is on the rise and there is a "hunger for tailored, personalized communications" (Chan, 2012). Providing consumers with the opportunity to design their own packaging/wrapping is already proven to be successful within FMCG by Heineken, M&M's and Heinz, and is now also launched by Nutella and Coca Cola. Similarities in all cases are the limited set of options: consumers can only change the text or choose form a couple of prints. Explanation for the success of the limited choice can be explained by the Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (Brewer, 2003) and the Paradox of Choice (Schwartz, 2004). The elaboration of the advice can be done by developing Mona wish-card wrapping. Mona shoppers can design their own cardboard wrapping that covers every Mona specialty dessert. They get an A4 sized cardboard paper at the supermarket, with the shape of the wrapping punched into the cardboard, ready to press out. On a special website, the consumer can design their own wrapping, picking a theme and then being able to adjust the text on the card. The four or five options of cards have a clear theme, like 'birthday' or 'Mother's day'. The Mona wish-card wrapping is relevant for the shopping mother, as well as for her family. The connection with holidays is relevant for retailers, and the elaboration of the website and displays are realistic for Friesland Campina.