Background
Launching The SoftnessSnuggles Diapers, introduced in the Kenyan market in July 2015, is an affordable yet quality diaper aimed at mothers looking for a reliable diaper without breaking the bank. The brand carried out a soft launch in select outlets across Nairobi and further went on to strengthen its distribution in modern trade countrywide.
Client: SnugglesServices: Strategy, Packaging, Social Media Marketing & Web DesignYear: 2015 - 2018
Key Challenges
finding comfort
Since this is a highly emotional category, mothers were hesitant to try a new brand. Their concern - they would not find it reliable or of the quality they expect. furthermore, competing multinational brands reacted immediately by slashing their prices and taking up all branding opportunities within the supermarkets to discourage Snuggles to successfully enter the market.
Snuggles also experienced a supply issue when their containers were held at the port for several months resulting to stock outs. This was detrimental to a new entrant as it led to the perception of unreliability.
Distribution in general trade was non-existent which meant that communication had to be highly targeted to consumers in modern trade only. we set out with the Snuggles team to directly influence consumers during the buying journey through educational campaigns and brand awareness campaigns coupled with strategic partnerships.
Strategic Insights
covering the bases
During the research phase, we quickly realised a large pricing gap between low end diapers and the high end multinational brands . We strategically positioned Snuggles within the gap to offer premium diapers at an affordable price.
This led to an R&D process that took over 2 years to develop the perfect product, at the right price for the Kenyan market. After speaking to over 100 mothers, we gained invaluable consumer insights that helped us with a unique brand positioning for the brand - recognising a mother’s efforts to keep her baby happy.
Approach & Outcome
bringing love and light
We developed a social media campaign titled ‘Mommy of the Month’ where mothers were encouraged to take photos of themselves and their babies in Snuggles diapers and upload onto the Snuggles website. Mothers were then encouraged to invite other mothers to vote for 'Mommy of the Month'. We offered monthly prizes for the winners who then went on to the grand draw, where the winner would win a full nursery makeover and a cash prize of Ksh 100,000.
The result, we received over 65,000 unique sign ups through our website for future direct marketing and diaper sales soared in modern trade to become the third largest seller of diapers in supermarkets.
We also hired accredited nurses to visit the maternity wards in hospitals around Nairobi to answer questions relating to motherhood and offer free Snuggles branded starter packs to the new moms. Part of this was a blog page on the website with content curated by nurses and doctors to improve site rankings on Google and increase site traffic.
To improve sales, we deployed brand ambassadors across modern trade outlets to enhance brand communication and visibility and participated in the Baby Banda Expo where we were the key sponsors of the event. The event saw over 10,000 women walk in through the weekend. We also hosted baby showers around Nairobi for mothers who were nominated by their peers through our social platforms.