Marketing Podcast

Marketing Podcast. Lily O'Brien's Chocolates.

Lily O'Brien's chocolates founder: 'Sugar is becoming a little bit of a bad guy' - Fora.

Marketing Mix. Desserts Chocolate Gift Box | Lily O'Brien's.

Current Market Performance. The company had driven strong product growth outside of the UK and Ireland, with 2012 sales to Australia increasing by 370% between 2011 and 2012, and sales to the U.S. increasing by 100% in the same period. ( TendersInfo , 2014) This trend continued until 2020 when Covid-19 affected Lily O’Brien’s greatly. According to The Business Post , turnover at Lily O'Brien's Chocolates decreased by close to a quarter last year (2020) as COVID-19 slowed sales (Ireland, 2021) . The grounding of international travel, one of the company’s main sales avenues, reportedly had a significant impact on performance at Lily's, according to recently filed accounts for Lily O’Brien’s Holding Limited (Ireland, 2021) ..

Current Market Performance. Lily O’Brien’s has since then has been improving in performance and is starting to get back to the number of sales as before covid-19. Increased demand for online sales reportedly also helped with the company's recovery, in a "growing sales channel for the group". The directors are confident that the group will continue to fulfil its customer requirements without interruption throughout 2021, reportedly according to the accounts. (Ireland, 2021).

Untapped Groups. To achieve effective promotion for your business you should try to target all audiences. To target a large audience of Ireland Lily O’Briens could offer sponsorship. Limerick Inter County GAA do not have a sponsor on their match jerseys. Limerick are one of the top Gaa teams in Ireland especially for hurling. Most Limericks matches are televised which viewings can peak to 1123300, this is not including the capacity of Croke Park which is 82300. If Lily O’Briens sponsored Limerick GAA, every day they would be advertising. Lily O’Briens could also promote a new selection of chocolate by sending out free samples to influencers in Ireland and abroad. Nowadays people are influenced every day and very easily, especially the younger generation. If they see someone, they idolize doing something they will want to do the exact same this would lead to younger generation buying Lily O’Briens chocolate. If Lily O’Briens have produced a new product and want to get it known, they could send out a sample with every order. Some people might be unsure or afraid to try new things so this would be a wonderful way to promote a new product Social media is the best platform for promoting a business. Lily O’Briens could run regular competitions where users will like, comment, and share the page in hopes to win a prize.

Future Promotional Strategy in The Irish Market. Many suggestions for Untapped groups in relation to Lily O’Briens Chocolates including: Kids, Hot beverage drinkers, and Couples in relationships. Kids can be a perfect consumer group for any fast-moving food product. Kids can be advertised to through TV and YouTube. Kids can be advertised to very simply through Bright, positive coloured advertisement for example. Lily O’Briens should tap into this consumer group if they really would want to increase sales. Potential products include. Shaped chocolate (Santa’s or other festive shaped Chocolate).

Future Promotional Strategy in The Irish Market. Hot beverage drinkers are another untapped consumer group in this case. Lily O’Briens could potentially try and produce a hot chocolate range which can be made from home, which has its same luxurious chocolate but as a drink. To guarantee sales even more, they could look at a potential partnership with PS Coffee Roasters. A local coffee brand to Kildare, which prides itself in Quality and customer satisfaction. Potential products include Hot chocolate powder Couples in relationships often buy each other chocolates, but very rarely are they personalised. Lily O’Briens could tap into this consumer group with once – off personalised chocolate. (Imagine a bar with a beautiful heart felt message from a significant other) this would surely make sales increase massively Potential products include. Heart shaped boxes and chocolates, Bars with personalised messages.

End. Thank You for Watching!.