Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

THE FOOD INDUSTRY ADAPTS 149
have a taste that was competitive with other national brands.
Thus Healthy Choice ’ s core identity was great taste and good
nutrition.
Purchasers of competing brands such as Stouffer ’ s Lean
Cuisine and Weight Watchers, which were positioned as provided
weight - control benefi ts, represented the target consumers
because many interested in weight control were also attracted to
overall health. Healthy Choice appealed to this large and growing
subsegment.
The Healthy Choice frozen food line was successful for several
reasons. First, its products were not perceived to have a taste
liability, they were at least comparable to competing products
on that key dimension. Second, because of its established lines,
ConAgra Frozen Foods had access to distribution channels,
thus ensuring that major supermarket chains would try the new
products. Third, the timing was right. Healthy Choice appeared
just when those interested in health and heart risk factors were
growing from a small segment into a large, mainstream market.
Fourth, their competitors were committed to a different, more
narrow position (weight control), in part because of their prior
success, and were slow to respond. Weight Watchers, in particular,
was not motivated to undercut its franchise by leading the
market in another direction.
Soon after Healthy Choice appeared, competitors did retaliate
with such subbrands as Stouffer ’ s Right Course and LeMenu
Light Style. However, each had positioning problems. The
Right Course subbrand was tied to Stouffer and appealed mainly
to Stouffer users. LeMenu Light Style targeted Weight Watchers
and was not well positioned to compete with Healthy Choice. In
fact, recognizing the weight control connotations of the “ Light
Style ” brand, it later was reintroduced as LeMenu Healthy. In
contrast, Healthy Choice was a new brand that could develop a
strong position with appeal for a broad market.
Other subbrands were later introduced, such as Budget
Gourmet Hearty and Healthy; Tyson Healthy Portion; and