Marketing Comparative analysis on Pringles (Kellogg’s) vs. Popchips (KP Snacks)

Introduction:

This report offers an insightful comparison of two renowned snack labels: Pringles, a subsidiary of Kellogg's, and Popchips, part of KP Snacks. Without going into great detail regarding their backgrounds, the goal of this report is to highlight the target advertising plans and the usage of the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) of the marketing mix by these established labels.

Brand Descriptions:

Produced by Kellogg's, Pringles are renowned worldwide for their stackable, potato and wheat-based chips. Pringles has claimed a substantial segment in the snack sector, preeminent for its novel flavors and its special cylindrical containers. The brand has secured and had to modify an ample share of the market elsewhere and regularly adapts to changing customers' tastes (Confos, & Davis, 2016).

Whereas, KP Snacks' product, Popchips, offers a different way to indulge in snacks. Dedicating itself to creating healthier options, Popchips supplies consumers with a wealth of popped potato and rice chips that are unconventional yet just as pleasing. By concentrating on the lighter air-popped chip sensation, Popchips has successfully created a place for itself in the market (McDougall, 2012). Although not as commonly available as Pringles, Popchips has demonstrated continuous expansion and appeals to those looking for healthier food choices. A detailed comparison between both brands data such as market share, market size and trends in sales are written in this report’s Appendix 1.

Findings

Comparison of Target Markets

Product - Evaluation of the Products and their Brand Values

Levitt's Model of a Brand:

• Functional Level:
  • Pringles (Kellogg's)—celebrated for their unmistakable, saddle-shaped chips that all match in size and form. Presented in a signature cylindrical tube designed to preserve intactness and prevent breakage. Their packaging is remarkable, enthused with brighter visuals that flaunt the product (Hosana & Supriadi, 2022). Pringles set convenience, snackability, and consistency as their central values.
  • Popchips (KP Snacks): Popchips manifest as irregularly shaped morsels that are seemingly miniature versions of puffed rice cakes or potato chips. The devised packages are strikingly lustrous with a transparent window displaying the snacks to the consumer. Emphasizing freshness and openness, they promote a healthier choice of snack with fewer calories and less fat than the traditional potato chips.
• Emotional Level:
• Pringles (Kellogg's), harkening back to days gone by, elicit a mix of nostalgia and ease. Always associated with joy, and homemade good times, the famed Pringles song ("Once you pop, you can't stop") serves to underscore the idea of relishing time shared with others.
• Popchips (KP Snacks): Positioning themselves as a modern, health-conscious snack, Popchips have an emotional allure revolving around guilt-free indulgence, wellness, and healthier dining options. The brand encourages customers to treat themselves to a tasty snack without undermining their wellbeing objectives.
• Aaker's Brand Personality Framework:
• Pringles (Kellogg's) offer a unique image that combines elements of trustworthiness and exhilaration. They demonstrate dedication to first-rate quality and sameness, granting customers a dependable and gratifying snacking outing. Simultaneously,
• Popchips (KP Snacks) are presented with a brand identity that illustrates sincerity. They are passionate about delivering healthier snacking alternatives that offer a genuine and totally observable option.
• Brand Values:
• Pringles (Kellogg's): The brand standards of Pringles consist of uniformity, expediency, and gratification. They vow to offer chips with a reliable shape and taste in all their containers.
• Popchips (KP Snacks): Popchips have articulated principles of wellness, modernity and openness. They are resolute in delivering healthier munchies that are in harmony with customers' wellbeing objectives.

Price - Evaluation of the Pricing Strategies Used

Pringles (Kellogg's):

• Pringles are competitively priced in the retail world, with varying prices depending on flavour, size, and container. The normal price for a 5.2 oz can of Pringles stands between $1.50 and $2.50 at prominent grocery stores (Khan, & Lee, 2020).
• Pringles offer multi-pack alternatives, for instance 12-pack variety assortments, charged at up to $7, making it an attainable and cost-effective deal for consumers who purchase in volume.
• The pricing plan employed by Pringles is a combination of value and reasonable cost, allowing it to be accessible to a wide demographic.

Popchips (KP Snacks):

• Popchips are marketed as an upmarket snack with a slightly increased cost as compared to traditional potato chips. Generally, a 5 oz bag of Popchips is priced around $2.99 and $3.99 in well-known retail outlets.
• Furthermore, Popchips provide value packs, for instance 12-pack multipacks, which cost approximately $24, thereby mitigating the expenditures incurred on large purchases by consumers looking for savings (Caswell, 2017).
• The pricing scheme for Popchips concentrates on providing a more beneficial and premium snacking alternative, supporting the pricier cost thanks to their distinct air-popped production process and healthier profile.

Place - Distribution of the Brands

Pringles (Kellogg's):

• Pringles have established an extensive network of channels for distribution and are easily accessible in a multitude of stores, such as grocery stores, convenience stores, supermarkets, and online outlets (Tumu et al., 2023).
• With such a vast selection of outlets, Pringles have successfully been able to reach a significant audience, providing ample opportunities to potential customers across various demographics. This highlights a mass-market approach, making Pringles attainable to the masses.

Popchips (KP Snacks):

• Popchips are spread out strategically in supermarkets, health food stores, and specific snack shops, aiming to generate sales from health-savvy buyers.
• In contrast to Pringles, Popchips are not so widely available in mass-market stores. These snacks are more likely to be encountered in retail environments that supply healthy snack options.
• This distribution strategy reveals that Popchips are targeting a more particular market, hence adopting a more discerning outlook.

Promotion – Communications by the Brands

Pringles (Kellogg's):

• Pringles utilize an extensive advertising strategy, which encompasses TV commercials, internet-based promotions, and relations with eminent special occasions and properties.
• They project themselves as an inexpensive and pleasing snack for a range of occasions, underlining fun memories.
• Pringles resort to both conventional and digital marketing for reaching a vast target audience, concentrating on cost-effectiveness and versatility.

Popchips (KP Snacks):

• Popchips invest in focussed advertising, with an emphasis on social media, health and wellness platforms, and bonds with health-minded influencers.
• They characterise themselves as a healthier and deluxe snack, fascinating to consumers who put value on wellness and savvier food options (Grodinsky, 2018).
• Popchips practise digital and influencer marketing to cultivate an image of fitness-awareness and elegance, synchronizing with their premium brand positioning.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Examining the utilization of the 4 Ps for Pringles (Kellogg's) and Popchips (KP Snacks), it is apparent that the brands have successfully utilized these marketing concepts. Nevertheless, their approaches contrast considerably, aiming at separate consumer groups.

Pringles, with their distinctively piled chips, have achieved remarkable success in luring a mass market crowd. They offer a broad spectrum of tastes and packing possibilities, stressing affordability, choice, and availability. Pringles have skilfully put themselves forward as a much-loved and nostalgic snack option for buyers of all ages. Their pricing methodology is economical, making their items accessible to a wide consumer base. In addition, they provide multi-pack solutions to meet the needs of thrifty shoppers. In terms of distribution, Pringles have maximized their existence across a range of sources, both physical and virtual, guaranteeing that their products are promptly available to customers. Their promotional endeavors blend traditional and digital marketing, successfully reaching a mass audience.

On the flip side, Popchips – an arm of KP Snacks – have taken an alternate course by marketing themselves as a premier, healthier snack opportunity. Their unique selling point is air-puffed chips which make available a slimmer and more salutary substitute to deep-fried chips. The organization has customized their product assortment to appeal to health-obsessed consumers hunting for an option to customary snacks. When it comes to pricing, they justify the higher cost by underlining their healthier persona. Popchips have handpicked their circulation methods, emphasizing on grocery stores and health grocery shops. Their promotional activities are aimed at digital media platforms and health-oriented commercials, apt in embodying their health-conscious and premium brand image.

Assessing their plans, it is obvious that Pringles and Popchips have applied the 4P's fully, though with different market pinpointing. Pringles stands out in hitting a wide customer base, providing cost-effectiveness, diversity, and availability. The company label is lively and reminiscent, drawing in a wide array of clients. Meanwhile, Popchips have removed a market section by situating themselves as an advanced, healthier snack. They effectively share their one-of-a-kind selling points to health-aware shoppers.

To further improve their utilization of the 4P's, Pringles could extend their range of superior products to target health-minded shoppers without sacrificing cost-effectiveness. And, Popchips, while safeguarding their quality reputation, can contemplate diversifying their catalogue to include more varieties to extend their reach.