Added Value Concepts for Douwe Egberts’ Cross Selling Category

Abstract

Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems focuses on the core portfolio of coffee and coffee systems. This results in a category maintenance approach for the cross selling category. Cross selling is selling additional products to existing clients. The economic crisis and increased competitive forces of private labels put pressure on the cross selling category. In order to maintain the substantial margin contribution, a category leadership approach is required. This graduation project is part of the category leadership approach. The aim is to design or improve one of the four main products of the cross selling category: sugar, creamer, cacao or papercups. If the new design incorporates added value, the margins of the category can be sustained or improved. In order to find out what could add value, seventeen decision makers of the market segments Small Business, Medium Business, Health & Care and Hotels have been interviewed. The interview techniques that were employed to obtain latent information are a projective technique and Laddering. The main insight that was gained is that Douwe Egberts can only discriminate portion packs (sugar, creamer and cacao) by increasing the efficiency and sustainability, but that the Douwe Egberts brand does add value to papercups. In addition to the interviews, a literature study was conducted, food trends were observed, and information about Douwe Egberts and its market were studied. All information about what could add value to Douwe Egberts’ cross selling products was collected and categorized. These categories were used to formulate platforms: consumer driven themes that inspire innovation with which competitive advantage is created. The two platforms are based on the difference between papercups and portion packs. The first platform is titled ‘Image endorsing papercups that support variety efficiently’. The second platform is called ‘Convenient portion packs that have a real low impact on the environment’. The platforms were used to spark creativity in two sessions that were organized to generate ideas. The two winning ideas are ‘Choose your image’ and ‘Sugar drops’. - Choose your image - The decision maker chooses one or multiple designs for papercups that suit his corporate identity at the targeted coffee drinking occasion. The chosen style is applied to the other cross selling products s/he buys. - Sugar drops - The sugar ‘drops’ in the renewed portion packs improve the usability when dispensing sugar, reduce the spoiling of ingredients, and enhance tidiness. Moreover, the new shape differentiates Douwe Egberts from competitors. Implementation of these ideas will testify to the category leadership approach and might increase sales.