Slanket
WHAT ARE THE BRAND ASSOCIATIONS AND MARKET STRATEGIES FOR EACH PRODUCT.
Slanket and Snuggie are brands of sleeved-blankets that enjoy fairly distinctive brand associations and market strategies.
Slanket was the first brand entering the market, as an innovative product developed to be a confortable yet very practical object,
making it possible for people to be warmed by a blanket and still be able to do things easily (changing TV channels, talking on the
cell phone or texting, for instance). It was created by a family start-up with scarse funding, which meant that Gary Clegg, one of the
founders, had to find creative and efficient ways to promote the product in a low cost fashion. The strategy of Slanket was to focus
on a niche market and provide a high quality product and costumer experience. Clegg brothers also pursued brand association with
a small familiar firm, with no big desire of wealth, but with social drivers and concerns. The initial Slanket‘s strategy was to skim
the market. Being a completely new product meant there was few direct competition and, consequently, consumers were not very
price-sensitive which made it possible for Slanket to charge a higher price while saving costs of promotion using low cost channels
to reach consumers, like online platforms. The retail price on their own website in 2008 was $38 per unit, which represented the
highest gross profit channel for the company. Moreover, the product was also sold to QVC and SkyMall at $18 and $20 per unit,
respectively, and was then promoted by these two companies. The product would cost $38 on Skymall and $32 on QVC for the end
consumer. Slanket’s focus on product quality and costumer experience was reflected on customer’s product rating at QVC - Slanket
had an average of five stars.
The brand associations for Snuggie’s sleeved blankets were quite different, as it was of a low-end brand, with low quality and bad
customer service. The
Slanket and Snuggie are brands of sleeved-blankets that enjoy fairly distinctive brand associations and market strategies.
Slanket was the first brand entering the market, as an innovative product developed to be a confortable yet very practical object,
making it possible for people to be warmed by a blanket and still be able to do things easily (changing TV channels, talking on the
cell phone or texting, for instance). It was created by a family start-up with scarse funding, which meant that Gary Clegg, one of the
founders, had to find creative and efficient ways to promote the product in a low cost fashion. The strategy of Slanket was to focus
on a niche market and provide a high quality product and costumer experience. Clegg brothers also pursued brand association with
a small familiar firm, with no big desire of wealth, but with social drivers and concerns. The initial Slanket‘s strategy was to skim
the market. Being a completely new product meant there was few direct competition and, consequently, consumers were not very
price-sensitive which made it possible for Slanket to charge a higher price while saving costs of promotion using low cost channels
to reach consumers, like online platforms. The retail price on their own website in 2008 was $38 per unit, which represented the
highest gross profit channel for the company. Moreover, the product was also sold to QVC and SkyMall at $18 and $20 per unit,
respectively, and was then promoted by these two companies. The product would cost $38 on Skymall and $32 on QVC for the end
consumer. Slanket’s focus on product quality and costumer experience was reflected on customer’s product rating at QVC - Slanket
had an average of five stars.
The brand associations for Snuggie’s sleeved blankets were quite different, as it was of a low-end brand, with low quality and bad
customer service. The