When You Improve Your Product So It Does the Customer's Job Better, Then You Gain Market Share

When you improve your product so it does the customer's job better, then you gain market share.

 - Clayton Christensen

1. Based on the definition of a disruptive innovation and the disruptive innovation model described in The Innovator’s Solution, are energy bars a disruptive innovation? Justify your answer with supporting reasoning. To answer this question, you will need to discuss the product category PowerBar was competing against in the early stages of the energy bar product life cycle. 

According to Christensen and Raynor (2003), disruptive innovations “don’t attempt to bring better products to established customers in existing markets. Rather, they disrupt and redefine that trajectory by introducing products and services that are not as good as currently available products.” (p.34) The introduction of PowerBar in 1983 was a disruptive innovation to the already established food bar industry. As cited on packagedfacts.com (2003), “Candy bars begat granola bars, which begat cereal bars, which begat diet bars, which begat energy bars and supplement bars.”  PowerBar’s entry into this marketplace was a low-end disruptive innovation because it directly marketed to non-consumption. At the time, as social standards were forcing individuals to become more active, there was no one meeting the dietary needs of this market segmentation. PowerBar broke away from the more traditional snack bars by packing their bar with protein. By design, it was created to provide energy to athletes and then eventually positioned to the average weekend warrior.  Today, PowerBar has increased their segmentation even further offering two type of food bars: Protein Bars and Energy Bars. Although today PowerBar is in sustaining innovation, at the time it entered the marketplace it was a disruptive innovation.

2. The Innovator’s Solution discusses jobs-to-be-done market segmentation. Is jobs-to-be-done market segmentation used in the energy bar industry? If your answer is yes, answer part a below. If your answer is no, answer part b below. a.) Explain how jobs-to-be-done segmentation is used by a specific energy bar brand. Be sure to clearly explain how the brand is applying jobs-to-be-done segmentation. b.) Explain how you concluded jobs-to-be-done segmentation is not being used in the energy bar industry. How could jobs-to-be-done segmentation be applied in the energy bar industry? Give a specific example, and explain your answer with thoughtful reasoning.

PowerBar’s goal is to provide the energy needed by an athlete to get through every stage of training to compete at their highest level. Its job-to-be done is the emotional satisfaction that the individual feels once the athletic endeavor is completed. PowerBar has four different product segments: Protein Bars, Protein Drinks, Energy and Endurance Nutrition. The energy that these products provide all are part of delivering the job-to-be-done.  PowerBar sums it up nicely on their website: “Today, we are leaders of the market we helped create, because at PowerBar, we know athletes. We know the thrill that comes from the play-offs and the rush you get when you conquer a challenge. From the never-ending days to the unbelievable comebacks, from the pre-game warm-ups to the post-game high-fives, PowerBar encourages every athlete to get the most out of their time and celebrate every win, no matter how small.”  PowerBar’s core focus is on this one job-to-be-done segment and it does an outstanding job of supporting this message though highlighting sponsored athletes and providing in-depth PowerBar Stories on it’s website.

3. a.)  Is there an unmet need in the energy bar industry? Explain your answer with sound supporting rationale.

We believe there is an unmet need in the energy bar industry because most energy bars are still viewed with the stigma of bland taste, high caloric amount and being only for people working out.  As the industry has begun to diversify its marketing strategies, the idea that the products are for an “active lifestyle” can have a much farther-reaching customer market. The marketing of almost any lifestyle as an active lifestyle will help give the customer the chance to relate to the product in whichever way relates to their daily lives.  As the articles mentioned, an active lifestyle has a wide range from the marathon runner to the sales associate that is always on the go.

One way the energy bar industry can tap into people’s unmet needs would be to do a better job of explaining what exactly each bar is designed to do.  The packing/ingredients like to throw a lot of words at people who might not understand what it means to eat something that is loaded with high fiber or antioxidants.  If they can educate the consumer, there will be less of the stigma associated with the energy bar industry.  A way to do this could be to simplify the product line into situational products, they already identify which products are more breakfast or workout oriented but what if you wanted to eat one for lunch, just as a mid-day snack that isn’t going to fill you up, or something you can eat in the evening that is not going to keep you up all night.  By explaining when a certain item should be eaten, the consumer becomes more educated and could decide that their situation warrants an energy bar that satisfies their specific need when previously they would have thought the product was not appropriate for the situation.

b.) In light of your answer to the previous question, discuss one marketing strategy recommendation for KIND, i.e., the energy bar brand. Explain your answer with sound thinking. 

We believe KIND can find success by marketing their product in a similar fashion to many candy bars, by shrinking the product and selling it in a “fun size” bag for people to eat casually and not be concerned about the high caloric amount of the full bars.  They could market the bags as “a bag full of Kindness” or “a small amount of Kindness can be very satisfying”, which would continue to push the brand as a healthy snack and positive influence.

One reason why we think this strategy will be successful is because the competition will have a tougher time than KIND shrinking their product to the appropriate fun size due to the amount of calories/protein that goes into their energy bars.  By shrinking the size of the bar, the competitor’s lose the view of their product as a highly nourishing, workout satisfying bar because they would have to eat almost the entire bag to get a similar feeling.  This strategy would work for KIND though because their ingredients are largely organic and do not need to provide such an intense calorie dump as the energy bars do.