If there is one thing an individual had to choose out of anything, it would most definitely be food. It is the only thing people cannot live without. It is a source of sustainability and people actually enjoy eating various kinds of food. There are people who like to eat vegetables and are vegetarian, others choose to eat the meat of all sorts, and then there are those who like to eat both, vegetables and meat. But there is one interesting category of foodies people do not know or are very much aware, which is the group of people who like to eat food involving insects and bugs. At first, it would seem disgusting and gross. Most people cannot and would not accept the idea or notion of human beings eating different kinds of insects. But the aficionados of grub eating are very much vocal about their choices and do not hide the fact that they love eating insects, but instead, they encourage people to eat and make people aware and apprise of the numerous benefits of eating bugs. It would seem astonishing to most people, but there were people in the past, who included all sorts of bugs and insects in their food, for a long time. They probably ate them because of the nutrients, but one asks what can the insects provide.
In this modern age, in order to make awareness about bugs and insects, a few people came together and formed a brand that would promote, encourage and provide food, having different kinds of insects in them. ‘Eat Grub’ is a brand of food, or more appropriately a brand of insect food, which was started by the lovers and admirers of bug eaters. Eat Grub was started by two friends, Neil and Shami, who themselves loved the food and dishes which involved insects. They promote and encourage people to eat bugs and they started out by opening a brand in the UK. Eat Grub is considered one of the pioneers to introduce the culture of insect food in the Western side of the world (Eat Grub, 2017).
Although the proponents of the insect-eating food, such as Eat Grub, say that this food is for everyone, for all ages. The reason they pose is that it is quite nutritious and healthy than most people believe it is. The notion that the insects and bugs are so small, and that they cannot provide anything useful and beneficial to human body, but instead would harm the digestive system. It is extremely difficult to penetrate this culture of insect-eating because of all the wrong and implausible ideas that people seem to the harbor, and it is due to a lack of research and probably has to do with the fact that no one before had advocated this kind of food. But a recent survey suggests that in some European places such as Belgium, people are willing to replace meat with insect-based food (Verbeke, 2015).
Target market refers to the group a brand or company focuses its attention on (Kiel, 2014). The target market for Eat Grub should be the group of people who do not hesitate in trying out new things. People who can come out of their comfort zone to give the insect food a try. There is one group, that does not resist anything new and innovative and that is the youth. The young people are always ready to try new things and adventures. The adrenaline that rushes through a young individual body pushes that individual, to break all boundaries and venture out on a new expedition. That is exactly what Eat Grub is doing. They are conducting their researchers and trying to penetrate that gap in the market which would thrust and catapult them into popularity. Eat Grub says that this food is the original and probably the first food of the early human beings. Although they say they are targeting people of all age groups, they are more focusing and expanding their efforts to people, who are of the age group 20-35. The most important thing the insect-based food and dishes companies and brands, such as Eat Grub consider is the promotion of their food. They are doing as much promotion as they can, and in light of it, they targeted young people.
Eat Grub is trying to penetrate their food and cuisine into the youth mostly. This might seem a very odd and strange strategy, but when you come to think of it, it is a brilliant move by Eat Grub. This is the age of social media, people are living in a globalized society, and almost every single person has a smartphone. There are different social media applications that young people are using constantly, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. People post everything nowadays, they would post about their parties, hangout places, adventures and expeditions. This is one of the main reasons that Eat Grub had at the back of their mind, and that is why they went to target young people. If a group of friends went for dinner and they had insect-based food, they would take pictures of the dishes and cuisines and would share it on their social media accounts. Different people will see those pictures and they would also want to try these innovative and outlandish dishes. Youth are trendsetters and they are the very people who follow any kind of trend just for the sake of it. They are also targeting young celebrities or just collaborating with them to promote bug eating. Celebrities are now serving insect food at their parties and one can see their idols are eating these sort of food, they would, without contemplating for a second, would want to try it.
Brand Positioning is paramount in order for a company or a brand to make its place in the market. Brand positioning is a strategy by which a brand holds its value and position in the mind of its customers. It encompasses the benefits and attractions that the brand provides to its target market that are unique from the attractions that other similar brands offer (Dawes, 2017). Brand positioning allows the company to concentrate on the strategies of the company and how to go about accomplishing it. Coherence, lucidity, guarantees and relevance come under the umbrella of a good brand positioning. When planning on doing a brand positioning, the company should also take into account the traditional, cultural and gender preferences. Brand positioning should be done in a way that has a strong impact on the people the brand is targeting and ensure that the notions and concepts and motto are concrete and well-defined which would make the customers want to come back and buy more things. People are very much sceptical about the brand positioning of companies because they deem that the company does not offer solely for the customers and there is always a trade-off involving the brand positioning. People say that the companies and brands think about their business and does not really cater to the needs of its customers in a broader sense.
Eat Grub should do their brand positioning in such a way that would make people think that they are doing for the sole purpose of its customers and for the benefits of the people. They should promote the concept and notion that eating insects and bugs are not going to have adverse effects on the body, but completely on the contrary. They need to promote the benefits of eating insect-based food by providing historical context and scientific research. Insects have proteins in them and are more beneficial to eat than the proteins we get from processed meat nowadays. Eat Grub need to put the environmental factor into this as well. There are people who are completely against the slaughtering of animals. They should target those people and make them help to promote this concept rather than eating meat. There are also people who are ambivalent about eating meat and when this concept of eating bugs and insects rather than slaughtering animals, this will present the ethical notion of the company. The insect-based dishes are also tasty and inexpensive as compared to other meals. The taste and inexpensiveness are what every food company and brand needs in order to be successful and Eat Grub provides food that is cheap and tastes exquisitely good. This is something that would set the brand apart from everyone.
Eat Grub needs to promote the factor of an environment. They need to put on their websites as well as other social media websites that it is healthy to eat these kinds of food that are more tasty and nutritious than what people are eating nowadays. This food certainly does not have an adverse effect on the environment. They need to highlight the fact that animals are brutally placed in a store and cruelly slaughtered, and these meat burgers that companies are providing have no nutrition in them because they are processed. Eat Grub should approach organizations that are against the red and white meat dishes and who are trying to preserve the environment and promote their brand through these organizations by providing an alternative food, that has good taste and which is inexpensive. They also need to cover the interviews of various biological scientists and researchers to make people aware of the benefits of eating these dishes. The need to do a small documentary on the places where these kinds of food are used such as Thailand, China, and other Asian countries. Through these strategies, insect-based food would penetrate in the Western world, especially the UK.
References
Dawes, J.G., 2017. Three Discussion Points on the Route to Brand Growth: Acquiring More Buyers vs. Higher Loyalty, Brand Positioning, and Building Brand Equity.
Kiel, I.H., 2014. Entrepreneurial marketing.
Verbeke, W., 2015. Profiling consumers who are ready to adopt insects as a meat substitute in a Western society. Food Qual. Prefer. 39, 147–155.
