Dawn Foods

Situation

Dawn Foods was perceived by the market as a quality manufacturer and distributor of a wide selection of bakery ingredients, mixes, icings, glazes, fillings and frozen dough sold primarily to independent bakers. But it had not successfully accessed the expansive in-store supermarket chains, club stores, commercial food service, specialty retail and consumer product segments. They recognized that marketing communications would play a key role in their objective to grow by repositioning themselves and increasing recognition and penetration into these non-traditional channels, so they conducted an exhaustive national agency search and chose Travers Collins & Company.

Execution

TC&C developed an integrated marketing approach, founded on qualitative and quantitative market research, to rebrand Dawn as a trusted supplier rather than a product vendor, and to develop their products, services and distribution channels to proactively and aggressively respond to a changing market. The internal and external rebranding strategy included:

• Customer share of voice research, positioning focus groups, competitive analysis and mapping, and attitude and usage studies
• Positioning: Corporate goal development, customer selection criteria, communication strategy, media strategy
• Creative: Logo and tagline, image, corporate brochure, package design, website development and product advertising
•  Identify new products and product extensions that better met changing customer needs, including more ready-to-sell and ready-to-finish products to address the declining skill and labor pool
• Strategic, comprehensive sales training to ensure National Account and Market Specialists possessed the industry knowledge to deliver on Dawn's promise of bakery success (Presentation materials: workbooks, PowerPoint and visual aids)

Results

Within six years, Dawn became a recognized leader and enjoyed unprecedented growth in the $60 billion market. Dawn's growth outpaced market growth, growing from a $450 million company to a $1.2 billion company. An integrated marketing and communication plan was integral to Dawn's ability to develop and capitalize on a unique and meaningful selling proposition: to become indispensable in their customers' business success through their expertise, commitment and innovation.