Aspire food group: marketing a cricket protein brandcase study

1-You have been hired as a marketing consultant for Aspire tohelp change attitudes and persuade people to purchase cricket-basedfoods. What are some general approaches for promotions that you canpropose and how will you apply them in this situation?

Mohammed Ashour has decided to invite opinion leaders innutrition and sports performance foods to the company headquarters.His objective is to introduce them to Aspire products andhopefully, convince them to become brand ambassadors. What are thevarious approaches to identify opinion leaders, and which one doyou recommend? 2-One potential target segment for Aspire products,identified in the case, are children between the ages of two andeight. What are the pros and cons of targeting this segment? Howwould you describe the brand personality of Aspire products?

3-Sometimes we feel that consuming certain products can help usachieve values such as health and wellbeing or even environmentalprotection. What research tool can you use to discover the valuesthat consumers believe the consumption of Aspire products helpsthem to achieve? What model explains this? Explain to MohammedAshour which you think should be emphasized in Aspire advertisingto change consumer attitudes, the message source or the content ofthe message? What is the reasoning for your recommendation? Whatmodel explains this?

4-Imagine that you are an active athlete living in the UnitedStates. During your free time, you like to ski in the winter and tomountain bike in the summer. In this scenario, describe how youwould categorize Exo?s cricket protein bars in your mind. As anathlete, what is your primary motivation for consuming insect-basedperformance bars? What would you consider as competitors to Exo? Ifyou are a frequent consumer of performance bars, what time-savingdecision making shortcuts might guide you in making the decision ofwhich brand to buy on your next visit to the supermarket?

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Mohammed Ashour, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Aspire Food Group (Aspire), was in Boston to attend the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 event and had a half-hour coffee meeting with a colleague on his calendar. He was meeting with Greg Sewitz, co-CEO and co- founder of the protein bar company Exo, who had also made the Forbes list in 2016. Aspire and Exo were in the same small but growing sector of the food industry: edible insects. Still in its infancy in North America, the edible insect market involved players who were open and willing to share information. Because the idea of insects as food was not the easiest concept to sell to Western palates, those in the business knew that the category as a whole needed promotion and acceptance in order for their companies to succeed. The meeting with Sewitz was not what Ashour had expected: during a two-hour walk around downtown Boston, Ashour learned about an opportunity to acquire Exo, makers of cricket-based protein bars. Although Exo was growing at a good pace, its board had decided to find a buyer who would focus on developing the consumer packaged goods side of the business. Aspire's own consumer brand, Aketta, did not have the same brand recognition as Exo, and Ashour saw the acquisition as a two-for-one deal that offered both Exo's brand equity and its development of a protein isolate. Aspire was positioned in the emerging food sector as a producer of ethically raised, high-quality crickets, and this made it a compelling prospective buyer. By the end of their meeting, Ashour and Sewitz had an initial understanding for the acquisition, and by March 2018, Aspire had acquired Exo. Aspire's acquisition of Exo's assets came at a crucial time: demand for insect-protein products in the United States was expected to reach US$1,336 million by 20251 Exo had focused its marketing on competitive athletes and "weekend warriors," who were interested in nutrition as part of their training program. While these consumers sought a natural performance edge and other functional attributes of insect protein, the lower environmental impact of its production did not rank as highly for this segment. "But what about other potential segments?" wondered Ashour. "There are consumers interested in a Paleo diet-who already buy Aketta products. There are environmentally conscious consumers, a growing flexitarian market, and the broader segment of millennials as an age group. We even have the opportunity to introduce Exo to children as a healthy snack." 1 Cision PR Newswire, Global Insect Protein Market Forecast to 2025: Focus on Food & Beverages, Animal Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics, Research and Markets, accessed, accessed July 8, 2020, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-insect-protein-market- forecast-to-2025-focus-on-food-beverages-animal-nutrition-pharmaceuticals-cosmetics-300897079.html; All currency amounts in US dollars unless specified otherwise. Mohammed Ashour, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Aspire Food Group (Aspire), was in Boston to attend the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 event and had a half-hour coffee meeting with a colleague on his calendar. He was meeting with Greg Sewitz, co-CEO and co- founder of the protein bar company Exo, who had also made the Forbes list in 2016. Aspire and Exo were in the same small but growing sector of the food industry: edible insects. Still in its infancy in North America, the edible insect market involved players who were open and willing to share information. Because the idea of insects as food was not the easiest concept to sell to Western palates, those in the business knew that the category as a whole needed promotion and acceptance in order for their companies to succeed. The meeting with Sewitz was not what Ashour had expected: during a two-hour walk around downtown Boston, Ashour learned about an opportunity to acquire Exo, makers of cricket-based protein bars. Although Exo was growing at a good pace, its board had decided to find a buyer who would focus on developing the consumer packaged goods side of the business. Aspire's own consumer brand, Aketta, did not have the same brand recognition as Exo, and Ashour saw the acquisition as a two-for-one deal that offered both Exo's brand equity and its development of a protein isolate. Aspire was positioned in the emerging food sector as a producer of ethically raised, high-quality crickets, and this made it a compelling prospective buyer. By the end of their meeting, Ashour and Sewitz had an initial understanding for the acquisition, and by March 2018, Aspire had acquired Exo. Aspire's acquisition of Exo's assets came at a crucial time: demand for insect-protein products in the United States was expected to reach US$1,336 million by 20251 Exo had focused its marketing on competitive athletes and "weekend warriors," who were interested in nutrition as part of their training program. While these consumers sought a natural performance edge and other functional attributes of insect protein, the lower environmental impact of its production did not rank as highly for this segment. "But what about other potential segments?" wondered Ashour. "There are consumers interested in a Paleo diet-who already buy Aketta products. There are environmentally conscious consumers, a growing flexitarian market, and the broader segment of millennials as an age group. We even have the opportunity to introduce Exo to children as a healthy snack." 1 Cision PR Newswire, Global Insect Protein Market Forecast to 2025: Focus on Food & Beverages, Animal Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics, Research and Markets, accessed, accessed July 8, 2020, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-insect-protein-market- forecast-to-2025-focus-on-food-beverages-animal-nutrition-pharmaceuticals-cosmetics-300897079.html; All currency amounts in US dollars unless specified otherwise.