Two months had passed since Todd Grinnell and Ryan Devlin had decided to form a company with the idea that they wanted to do something to help countries affected by severe malnutrition, but the two were at something of a standstill. While it was clear they wanted to help, and they saw promise in their BOGO idea to provide food packets for snack bars, they were beginning to realize there were going to be some significant obstacles to overcome if their dream was to become a reality. They knew one of the first key issues was to decide who to include in the planning and developmentimportant for any start-up. The two knew they would need someone with passion for the social cause, but they also wanted someone with whom they could work well and enjoy the journey. Founders in a start-up spend a lot of time together and face many tough decisions. Too many start-ups fail because of personality clashes that arise because of the difficulties that come with launching a new business. WileyPLUS Running Case Study Video This Saves Lives, Chapter 2What Does a Marketer Do? This Bar Saves Lives Video Chapter 2 After considering a couple of folks initially, Ryan shared the business plan with Ravi Patel. Ryan was just looking for feedback and knew Ravi had run businesses in the past. However, Ravi instantly sparked to the concept and provided great feedbacknot just on the general idea, but on the overall strategy and structure. It became clear that he could help them drive the concept forward in new and exciting ways, so he joined as a founder. Another key person for the project was Kristen Bell. Kristen was the first person with whom Ryan shared the idea for TSL (outside of the founders and his wife). Kristen had taken humanitarian trips to Africa and had seen malnourished children firsthand, just as he and Todd had. She is smart, motivated, and supportive when it comes to philanthropy, and when he shared the earliest nugget of an idea for TSL, she immediately took to it. She was the first investor, but turned out to be far more than that. She became a founding partner, right alongside the other founders, and has helped to shape TSL from its earliest days. The four members of the team seemed to fit well. Everything in the beginning was a group effort, and Ryan considered it a constant situation where the team needed all hands on deck for everything. From choosing the initial recipes to deciding on which font to use on the website (which incidentally took them about two weeks to agree about), they had to have 100% consensus or they didnt move on. While the sense of teamwork and striving for a common goal was satisfying, the team quickly found, as most start-ups do, that the demands of launching a business strain the ability of a small group to get things done if the entire team has to work on everything together. To get things done, the team members eventually gravitated toward their strengths. Todd took operations and philanthropy, Ravi tackled marketing, and Ryan was the point person on sales. Ravi and Kristen helped to refine the concept, lock in recipes, attract investors, and bring the company to launch. Chloe Obico was brought in for marketing help and to improve their BOGO model. With the initial structure in place, the group turned their attention to developing a strategy. A Question of Basic Marketing Strategy From their initial idea, the TSL team knew they needed to break through the clutter of the very competitive bar category. Once they landed on This Saves Lives as their brand name for their bars*, they knew they had the foundation for their marketing strategy. They knew they wanted to be a high-end barboth in product and missionso they could build loyalty and repeat purchases. But how could they make it work? As the team sat around the conference table having a coffee, Chloe turned to Ryan. Before we open for business, we have to make sure the operations and logistics of the giving side are fully planned out. What are we going to give and how? Ryan agreed. We cant tackle poverty because its not realistic. We have to be more focused to make this work. The group agreed, and Kristen added, Hunger is also too general, I think. So what is a cause that we could effectively tackle at the source? The discussion continued, but in the end, the group chose to focus on alleviating severe acute malnutrition in children because its a serious problem that has a simple treatment. And, its an issue thats important to all of them, that most of them had seen the effects of firsthand, and one in which they felt they could make an actual impact. The focus on acute malnutrition in children fit perfectly with the TSL brand name. It gave the company a specific marketing goal. However, the team also recognized that one of the main potential problems with philanthropy-based giving is that the giving can sometimes actually make a situation worse. One of the main arguments against BOGO businesses is that they can create dependency in the local communities they claim to serve. If the company was simply donating food to hungry children, it could be feeding children around the world, but might also create a dependency by the local community on its food drops. In that case, the company would essentially only be putting a bandage on a much more serious problem. Worse, it might make the local community population less likely and less motivated to pursue creative and productive paths to improve its situation. This could have a devastating effect on the local communitys ability to survive and thrive on its own. So the group decided that it was also important for the TSL marketing strategy to help in a viable, long-lasting way that invests in peoples independence rather than holds them back. The team wanted to create a plan that would last and grow within the areas they were donating. The solution they settled on was a BOGO model, but with a twist. The typical model for buy one, give one uses a direct giving model for the product purchased. Buy a pair of shoes, we give a pair of shoes. However, in this case, the TSL team wanted to do better. It didnt make practical sense to give a bar for a bar purchased, because while snack bars taste good and have protein and other nutritional ingredients, they are not appropriate for treating severe malnutrition. The solution was to give PlumpyNut packs as a donation when customers bought the bars. They all agreed this basic strategy was what they wanted, but they needed to figure out the best way to get the word out. How could they actually market their BOGO? Celebrity Appeal One of the early discussions for the marketing plan was if and how to use the celebrity of the founders to leverage the cause. While all of the TSL founders have had Hollywood screen time, investor and cofounder Kristin Bells star shines the brightest. Bell is an easily recognizable star with a powerful social media presence. As a screen celebrity and social media sensation, Bell has used her existing audience to spread the message about TSL across many platforms and live PR-driven events. She recently debuted Meet Kendy at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The 60-second video is among the first of its kind to show the transformational impact that global food aid such as PlumpyNut has on children suffering from severe malnutrition. In an interview, Bell said, South by Southwest is centered on empowering people, this idea that you can do anything. Watching Kendys malnourished body return to a healthy weight as a result of the lifesaving food aid donated from the sale of This Bar Saves Lives shows that small acts can add up to create a major impact. This video, and Kendys recovery, is one of the most incredible things Ive ever seen. Cofounder Ryan Devlin also attended the event and added, Kendy is not uniquehe is the face of millions of children around the world. We want to share his story so that everyone can see how quickly severely malnourished children can be brought back to health when they get the essential nutrients their bodies so desperately need. The attention gained for TSL was significant, and the team wondered what else they could do to capitalize on the existing celebrity audience, especially Bells large following on social media. She maintains a massive Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram following where she regularly answers fan mail with videos, pics, and messages. She would promote the bar on her platform. While happy with the success of the live product promotions at events, and generally positive about their efforts on social media, the group wondered if they could do more to leverage their celebrity. In addition, they wondered if the fact that Kristen had several charities she supported might make it more difficult for TSL to stay in the spotlight with her followers. The team would have to consider additional ideas going forward if they were to make TSL the success they intended, but it didnt look as if it was going to be easy. *The TSL team initially settled on the name This Bar Saves Lives focused on the initial product (the bar) with the idea that later they could fill in the blank This ____ Saves Lives with other products. They later settled on the This Saves Lives (TSL) brand name to communicate the idea that everything the company sells has the mission to help save lives. Running Case Questions What is the unique selling proposition for TSL? What are the basic ideas behind the marketing strategy for TSL? How do you think TSLs marketing objectives might differ from those of another snack bar company? How would the TSL team define success for the company? Given that the founding team is composed of actors, how can the group use their celebrity to help achieve their mission? Is a buy one, give one strategy a sustainable competitive advantage for TSL? Why or why not?