Unlike most cooking brands in Asia whose focus is on the dish. Sarap focuses on the transformation and enhancement of ingredients.
o Sarap is about the creation of food, that appeals to the cook by enhancing her engagement in her cooking. Sarap speaks to the Asian woman in a way that conveys profound understanding and respect; Sarap speak to the soul, not the role.
o It wants to show an empowered woman who can judge her own result - context of a modern woman, cooking aid, transformation, enhanced effect, involvement, gratification, self-esteem.
So Sarap is very different from its competition on several levels, particularly in the way it portrays the woman who is cooking and the concrete level of the function of the product.
All these set Sarap apart:
They are traditional, Sarap is modern.
They compete with the cook, Sarap satisfies the cook.
All these differences are established to actively position Sarap against competitors and to establish what the brand’s values are all about.
7.1.2 Corporate Spirit
Our ChefmanshipOur competence to create recipes, flavour and transformation is in our products. Our chefmanship rests on our 130 years’ cumulative experience in
creating products containing perfectly blended natural ingredients and connecting to many cuisines in the world.
The SARAP effect
Sarap’s products transform ingredients through cooking in a way that can be experienced via the senses: tasting, seeing, smelling and feeling. This moment of transformation, is branded the SARAP effect.
7.2 Management
7.2.1 Management System
Sarap is a brand managed under Sarap Foods, a separate business unit from that of Home and Personal Care and Ice Cream. However, there are several systems that are shared across all business units as a discipline and as a Sarap standard in terms of ways of working.
STRENGTH: Efficient business/ brand planning process
Sarap being a multinational company is operated via multi-faceted disciplines that are rolling in nature. Weekly activities are all linked up together and cross functional teams are involved in different phases. This pertains to the operational day-to-day aspect of the business.
This is different from how brands are managed especially for a marketing company such as Sarap. Its rolling calendar is not on a weekly basis but rather in a span of 18 months. There is more regional involvement since the very brands existing in the country such as Sarap are global in nature and strategies emanate from one brand key and is translated and brought to life locally.
7.2.2 Strategy
The 3 key strategies being employed currently are as follows:
Dish-specific campaigns – communicating clearly what the product is and what
it is for is a strategy that seems to be doing the brand very well. Given that this has worked in previous campaigns (Pork packaged soups sa Monggo) and there
are several campaigns (Beef packaged soups sa Nilaga & Fish packaged soups sa Fish Tinola in VisMin) currently running with that as a core strategy. Sarap should continue using this as a strategy in the future since it has deemed to be highly effective. The value of being single-minded and focused in its communication is that consumers are able to understand and appreciate what is being communicated in its entirety whereas if a lot of messages are being communicated, there lays the risk of being half understood and appreciated or worst, not at all.
Woman Empowerment – by talking to the woman and establishing the reason
for the brand’s being which is to address the woman’s needs hence, its brand capsule “A Woman’s Best Friend” does a lot of good to the brand and to the business. It is able to position itself in a way that understands its target market in a deeper, more holistic level rather than becoming just another consumer product waiting to be picked up from the shelves. This strategy is evident in all above-the-line and below-the-line activities of the brand.
STRENGTH:
Regional Marketing – Sarap’s performance in every region varies and the categories that are delivering exceptional growth and suffering the most are also highlighted in area business reviews. It therefore made a lot of sense to position the brand team members to specific areas/ regions that are most relevant to the categories they are managing. Hence, apart from the category management role that is tasked to each individual, there is also a corresponding area management role that they would have to fulfil for the brand as well.o Sinigang Brand Manager – North Luzon
o Soups Brand Manager – Greater Metro Manila + Modern Trade o Flavorings Brand Manager – South Luzon
o Packaged soups Brand Manager – Visayas & Mindanao
7.2.3 Organization
Sarap Foods Management Team
The foods executive committee comprise of the following:
o Foods Managing director, who also represents local marketing o Market Research manager
o Media manager
o Customer Development (Sales) manager o Human Resources manager
o Finance manager o Supply Chain manager
o Corporate Development manager
Sarap Brand Management Team
Regional marketing as a strategy with clearly defined roles for category/ area management is currently how the brand management team is structured apart from the group brand manager heading the whole Sarap brand building team.