Galaxy Bar
These prices show that they are all quite close to the RRP. Esso can afford to sell Yorkie bars for more than the RRP because they are shops that are on roads and so if people want a chocolate bar they won’t mind about paying a few extra pence. All the prices are within 3p of the RRP so this shows that the shops do actually consider the prices that Yorkie is being sold at. The price is similar to other products of similar type. A Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, for example is around 40p, this shows that the product can compete with these. If Yorkies were sold at around 30p – 35p it would show that it isn’t doing as well as Cadbury’s Dairy Milk or Galaxy bars.
The Promotion
Yorkie bars are advertised using television, billboards magazines and newspapers and radio. On Yorkie packaging there is currently a promotion where you can win free chocolate for 1 year. Nestlé are using this strategy because it will encourage people to buy Yorkie bars over other bars of a similar type. To advertise the bar Nestlé are using the slogan “Not For Girls”. This is offensive to a lot of people because they think of it as sexist and offensive. This is an interesting strategy for Nestlé because they have recently come under fire because they were reported to have given mothers in 3rd world countries their baby milk for free. The babies would then become reliant on the milk, and the mothers would have to spend the small amount of money they have on Nestlé baby milk. So it was a shock to a lot of people when Nestlé started advertising Yorkie under the Not For Girls slogan.
The slogan shows that Yorkie is a ‘macho’, chunky bar that is good for hunger. One of the adverts shows a woman dressed as a man trying to buy a Yorkie bar and the shop assistant won’t sell it to her because he can tell it is a woman. This shows that women shouldn’t buy Yorkie bars because they are a ‘male’ chocolate bar. There is also an advertising billboard that says ‘Women, save your money for driving lessons’ and it has a picture of a Yorkie bar underneath. This suggests that women are bad drivers and so instead of buying a Yorkie bar, they should get driving lessons with their money. There are three different billboard and magazine ads featuring the slogans, "Don't feed the birds", "Not available in pink" and "King size not queen size". All the ads features the "Not for girls" tagline and a new Yorkie logo in which the letter "O" is an image of a woman with a street sign-style red line through it. This again has brought Nestlé’s morals under fire because it is a stereotypical view of women drivers.
There are a number of mixed feelings involved in Yorkie’s new adverts. Some people, often men, find the adverts very funny because it is a sexist joke which a lot of men like, but on the other hand a lot of people are extremely offended by the slogan because it is ‘banning’ women from purchasing Yorkie bars and keeping them for men. Is Nestlé sexist or are they just very good at making successful slogans advertising Nestlé? In favour of Nestlé, it has worked because if someone hears the words “Its not for girls” they will almost always automatically think about ‘Yorkie’.
The Packaging
Yorkie’s packaging for Original Yorkie is dark blue with the word Yorkie in gold/yellow writing. This is quite attractive and works well for the product. The bar stands out quite well against other bars on the shelves because the packaging is quite shiny. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk use packaging that is purple; Cadbury’s have copyrighted the colour of their Dairy Milk so that no other companies can use or copy it.
The bar measures about 15cm long by 3cm high. The packaging makes Yorkies look quite attractive and does well at making you want to buy it because it stands out well and has an original name. This has been the basic product design for quite a long time. Nestlé have kept the same packaging for Yorkie for a long period of time because they know that people can recognise the packaging easily and the packaging works well.
The Place
Yorkies are sold in large range of shops. These include newsagents, supermarket (often multipacks are available), cafés, motorway service stations, school canteens and vending machines. The motorway service stations can afford to charge a lot for Yorkies and similar products because if people really want one they can’t shop around very easily for a cheaper Yorkie bar because there aren’t very many shops on the motorway. Newsagents and supermarkets can charge less because there are more of those around so people can look around for more of these. Motorway Service Stations are likely to charge close to 50p for a single, Original Yorkie bar whereas a newsagent will charge close to the RRP (38p). On the shelves Yorkies don’t really have a special place unless they have a special offer. If they are offering some kind of special offer with the bar then they are often sold in large cardboard ‘bins’ where they stand out a lot more.
It is usually sold in shops that attract people who are in a hurry or just stop at the shop to buy a single item, like a chocolate bar or a drink. Because of this Nestlé should get Yorkies to be placed on a good place on the shelf because if people are going into the shop they are more likely to pick a chocolate bar that stands out than one at the back of the shelf.
The Current Marketing Strategy
The product is sold for 4p or 5p more than normal chocolate bars such as Cadbury’s Dairy Milk or Twix. This is because it is a larger bar and Nestlé has priced Yorkie in accordance to this fact. The product is marketed on TV, billboards, radio and in magazines. The bar is advertised with the slogan “Not For Girls”; this corresponds with the character of the bar, masculine and ‘hard’. The product is then sold in shops where people stop quickly to buy often a single item. I think the marketing strategy of Nestlé for Yorkie is god because it attracts people’s attentions, this is especially true for the advertising slogan because when people hear “Its not for girls” they will often automatically think Yorkie. This is the effect Nestlé want as it helps people think about Nestlé Yorkie and in some cases. This slogan makes people want to buy it because it makes Yorkie have a masculine image and so some men will buy a Yorkie because of this.
Questionnaire
Which of the following age group do you fall into?
- Are you male or female?
Male
Female
- Which of these is your favourite chocolate bar?
- Where would you usually buy a Yorkie chocolate bar?
- What is your favourite Yorkie bar?
- What makes you choose Yorkie over other similar bars?
Packaging
Had it before and enjoyed it
Satisfies hunger well
Cheaper than other bars
Other
-
If Yorkie bars were 5 pence more expensive would you:
- Buy More
- Buy Less
- Buy the Same?
- What is the maximum price you would spend on a Yorkie bar?
- 30p – 31p
B. 32p – 33p
C. 34p – 35p
D. 36p – 37p
-
38p – 39p
-
40p – 41p
- 42p – 43p
- 44p – 45p
- 46p – 47p
- 48p – 49p
- 50p – 51p
- Do you like the packaging of Yorkie?
Yes
No
- If no, what is wrong with it?
- What do you think if the current advertising slogan, “Its Not For Girls” being used by Yorkie?
Sexist
Fine
Funny
Very Upsetting to me
Other
- Do you buy any of Yorkie’s competitor’s products?
Yes
No
- If yes, which ones?
- If you were shopping in a supermarket, would you buy a Yorkie multipack?
Yes
No
I used these questions because it provided me with a lot of useful information about people’s preferences regarding Yorkie, themselves and the types of shops Yorkie is sold in. It told me the age and gender of people that may buy Yorkie. It also gives me an idea of the amount of money people would be prepared to spend on a standard bar. I can also see what people think about the current advertising slogan. This will be interesting in my report to Nestlé so they can find what a section of the public think about this advertising slogan. I have asked mainly teenagers aged 14-15 because these are an age group that are likely to buy the bar and so it is useful to know these figures. From my questionnaire I can also find out why people buy chocolate bars, which ones and where from. I also asked why people buy similar bars to Yorkie and why they don’t buy Yorkie. This will be useful in improving marketing strategies and improving price of the product. I will ask shopkeepers as well because they know which bars sell well and which bars don’t sell as well.
Graphs from my questionnaire responses
Promotion Graph
Summing up the Product
My results back up what my product research said by the fact that I said that the target market was men aged 12-50. My questionnaire backs this up because most of the men said that they found the “Not For Girls” slogan funny. Although I didn’t put it in my questionnaire, one woman said that she didn’t eat any Nestlé goods because of the baby milk incident and because of the new adverts. She said that Nestlé were now a very controversial company, she said that they were doing these things to get free advertisement from the papers. I think that my research has shown that people like competitor’s products more than they like Yorkie. I think this is because Yorkie is a similar bar to many others on the market. Consumers will want to buy something they really like the taste of and as there is such a big market for Yorkie like bars I don’t think it is particularly good market to be in.
I think that the actual product is good because from my questionnaires 12 people said that it satisfied hunger well and another 10 people said that they enjoyed eating the chocolate bar. The bar is a very ‘chunky’ bar that tastes very good and competes well in the market that it is in. I would say it is in. To improve the product Nestlé could try different patterns or words on top of the bar or they could make the bar a different shape. This would attract people to think they bar has completely changed and bring in new customers so buy the bar.
Summing up the Price
Yorkie’s RRP is 38p, whereas the average from all the shops is 40p. This is 2p above the RRP. This could be because it is not selling well so shops decide to bump the price up a bit so that when they do sell some they get a little extra revenue from the sales. There are a number of reasons that people may not buy Yorkies. One is because of the Not For Girls advertising campaign, some people may have been offended by this and not bought the bars as a result. Secondly people may not buy any Nestlé products because of the baby milk incident. This was a bad thing for Nestlé to do, it may have got them more sales in the 3rd world but people in the developed world have not taken kindly to this and many people have refused to buy Nestlé produce. Finally people may simply dislike the bar and so that could be the reason some people don’t buy it. The RRP of Yorkie is 5p higher than both Cadbury Dairy Milk and also Galaxy. I would describe these two bars as Yorkie 2 main competitors. Although a Yorkie bar is a much more substantial bar, in many people’s minds the taste of Cadbury Dairy Milk and Galaxy bars is a lot more pleasant.
I think the price of a single, standard Yorkie bar is too high. I think the RRP should be around 35 or 36p. If this was the price then I think that more bars would be sold and therefore more revenue for both Nestlé and the shop that it is sold in. Nestlé could try and do BOGOF strategies on multipack packets, these would be offered in supermarkets and other shops that sell multipacks. This would sell more of the bars and could get new people to try Yorkie bars.
Summing Up the Promotion
Nestlé has come under fire recently for using the advertising slogan “Yorkie – It’s Not For Girls”. This suggests than only “macho” men are meant to buy the bar and its not designed for the “weak and feeble”, in Nestlé’s case, girls. This has caused the company to receive a lot of abuse and hate from a lot of people. At the moment the bar says "Blokie" instead of Yorkie and instead of "NOT FOR GIRLS" it says "DEFINITELY NOT FOR GIRLS". Nestle is hoping an even more aggressively macho positioning will convince men Yorkie is the chocolate bar for them. Nestlé's original adverts showed the bar was aimed at truckers. Nestlé says that they needed to take a stand for the British bloke and reclaim some things in his life, starting with his chocolate. Nestlé feels that this is an important element of men's happiness and is starting the reclaiming process of making a particular chocolate just for men. They also say that most men these days feel as if the world is changing around them and it has become less and less politically correct to have anything that is only for males. I think the slogan and adverts are funny but overall it was a bad idea. This sort of thing can cause a lot of people to stop buying the good and in this case, it definitely has. I think Nestlé could improve the promotion by using a less controversial ad campaign. This could actually help Nestlé to sell more Yorkie bars, as people wouldn't be offended by their campaign.
Galaxy is currently advertised as a chocolate bar that you eat when you want to relax. They are marketed as luxurious chocolate bars, whereas Cadbury Dairy Milk, Yorkie's other main competitor is marketed as a traditional 'British' chocolate bar, the slogan is "Because chocolate matters". The Cadbury Dairy Milk television advert shows two OAPs sitting on a bench with the lady knitting a cardigan and the man breaks off a piece of chocolate from the chocolate bar and gives it to the women. Across the bottom of the screen the man's thoughts are displayed and it says "I love you dear" then it says, "But I won't wear that cardigan". This shows that Cadbury Dairy Milk is aimed at all ages and when you give it to someone it shows that you feel for him or her and they are special to you.
Summing Up the Place
Yorkie is sold in most "convenience" stores such as newsagents and supermarkets. It is also sold in vending machines in public places. I think that these are good places to sell the bar, as they are the kind of places that people will go if they want to purchase a Yorkie bar or any other chocolate bar for that matter. In the shop the bar is sold with all the other chocolate bars on shelves. In the shops I looked in the bar was firstly on the 2nd shelf from bottom 3rd bar in from the left and in the second shop the bar was on the 2nd shelf from the top 2nd bar in from the right. These two positions are quite similar, although it took me a little longer to spot a Yorkie when it was on the lower shelf. This means that the second shop's position is slightly better because you will spot the bar quicker and usually if you can't see a particular chocolate bar on a shelf you are likely to give up and buy a different bar, so the position is absolutely key. The prime positions would be in the middle of the shelf on the top 3 shelves as this is usually eye level and easy for most people to reach. This is where Nestlé should try and sell Yorkie bars, as this would make them catch the eye better. Children's chocolate bars and other sweets would be on lower shelves as this is easier for them to spot and reach.
Final Conclusion
Yorkie is a chocolate bar that is aimed at men. Nestlé say that it is the only chocolate bar on the market that is aimed specifically at men. I don’t think Nestlé should change the target audience I just think that they should be less controversial in their marketing. It is designed to fulfil hunger and act as a macho statement. It has chunky pieces of chocolate that are portrayed to be masculine. The Not For Girls advert campaign was generally a bad idea because it raises sexism issues and these can be very strongly opposed now in the 21st century. I think Yorkie would benefit from a new logo and new packaging to make the bar jump out at people whilst on the shelf. Also it could do with changing the Not for Girls adverts as these have offended a lot of people. Also as there was already people who refused to buy anything Nestlé because of the baby milk fiasco, it was probably a bad idea for Nestlé to come out with this slogan.
Overall I think Yorkie is doing quite well. The slogan may have been a bad idea but it has appealed to a lot of men because they feel that if they buy it, it will make them more of a man compared to other chocolate bars. If it was sold on one of the top shelves in the middle, reduce the price and had new packaging a lot more Yorkies would be sold overall.