Organic labelled foodstuff on the Swedish market - KRAV’s work with segmentation, positioning, brand and credibility. : MBA-thesis in marketing

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate how an organization which is based on ethic and social responsibility works with segmentation, positioning and brand. Do their specific need of credibility have any impact on how they work with segmentation, positioning and brand? How do they work with credibility? KRAV is an ingredient brand based on ethic and social responsibility, they operate in the Swedish organic foodstuff market offering organic standards, certification and inspections according to these standards and a KRAV-label. In other words, credibility is the base for KRAV’s operations. KRAV is also receiving national grants to finance information material/marketing material. Research questions: How does KRAV work with segmentation, positioning and brand? How does KRAV work with credibility? Method: I have chosen to do this study by studying documents published by KRAV; the main source has been KRAV’s annual reports from 1999-2006, the second source has been KRAV’s homepage and the third source has been folders published by KRAV. The analysis was done by combining findings about KRAV with theories about segmentation, positioning, brand and credibility to see how KRAV works with these areas. Result & Conclusions: By summarization, my study shows that KRAV both is adopting and actively working with segmentation, positioning and brand which may be business driven and at the same time trying to tone done the business incentive on how they formulate goals and missions. Marketing theories are getting more and visible over the years. KRAV has formulated its’ vision and mission based on four principals; Good environment, Animal welfare, Good health and Social responsibility but they also include inspected organic products with high credibility and they try to position itself not only as an eco-label but also with added value in the areas of the four principals. Suggestions for future research: One limitation in this study is that I have not studied competitors on the Swedish foodstuff market. Or the actual impact of the fact that KRAV receives national grants, does this disturb the competition? One interesting aspect is if an ingredient brand based on ethic and social responsibility can work with segmentation, positioning and brand without loosing any credibility? May this cause a conflict in the long run? One may also look at the fact that KRAV, by far the dominating label on the Swedish organic foodstuff market, is financing most of its information material/marketing material by national grants. Is it better for the increase of organic foodstuff market to support one large player (KRAV) or should national grants be used to increase knowledge of organic foodstuff and sustainability in general not supporting one specific actor? Which way would maximum the use of the tax money? Or is both needed? Contribution of the thesis: This study has shown that KRAV, which is based on ethics and social responsibility, has adopted theories such as segmentation, positioning and brand