Pop chips is a new brand of healthy chips. Unlike the greasy chips or those nasty baked ones pop chips is exactly what the name implies this chips are popped. The brand has seven flavors that include the normal chip flavors such as bbq, sour cream and onion, and salt and vinegar. The brand is based in San Francisco, California. This brand has expanded quickly since its start in 2008 and hopes to have revenue of $40 million of which they are hoping to break even this year. Last year the brand tripled revenue from the year before at $19 million. They are doing this by expanding to big cities such as Boston, Chicago, and Miami. The company is very small the headquarters in San Francisco only has 35 employees. Their ad campaign is "love. without the handles." (http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/entre/2010-04-12-popchips12_ST_N.htm">http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/entre/2010-04-12-popchips12_ST_N.htm)
Something interesting about the company is that the CEO Keith Belling responds to every email personally. Which is unheard of in today’s business, which doesn’t make sense the CEO, should know what is going in the company and see the feedback that they are receiving from their customers. Karen of New York city would know she sent in an email just expecting a generic response and maybe a coupon but got back much more than that. “…It was a simple letter, just saying thanks and how much I enjoyed their product. Within hours I got a personal response from the CEO, not only thanking me for my letter, but also offering to arrange an in person meeting with their NYC marketing manager so we could discuss any ideas I might have. As someone who was hoping for a coupon... I just got out of meeting with Whitney, the marketing manager, who presented me with a huge box full of popchips bags and graciously offered to provide snacks and supplies to a weekly pub trivia night I host…” (http://consumerist.com/2009/06/popchips-turning-loyal-customers-into-cult-like-snack-food-following.html)
The brand is aware of their competitors from the big brand of Frito-Lay to smaller brands such as Sensible Portions. They have their rivals products cramped in the back office of CEO Keith Belling. The company goes above-and-beyond so that they build a loyal following, which is needed at $1.29 for a single serving bag since a release according to Information Resources’ 2010 State of the Snack Industry report that one in four consumers, has cut back on snack spending. What makes the brand so unique is that the ships are not fried nor baked but popped. It is like a cross between a rice cake and a chip. The company President Turpin handles the bulk of productions anything to financials to manufacturing. The two met in 1999 where they worked on a different project and in 2007 “they found a manufacturing firm that made rice cakes and other snacks — and soon discovered that with heat and pressure, they could pop other starchy food, such as potatoes. They bought the plant, and in 2007, the duo officially launched Popchips.” (http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/entre/2010-04-12-popchips12_ST_N.htm)
The campaign is done my Pereira & O’Dell which is also in San Francisco. “Ads in the campaign carry whimsical headlines like “Love. Without the handles,” “Regret. Nothing,” “Tastes like it should be bad for you,” “Sandwich. Meet your new B.F.F.” (as in “Best Friend Forever”), “Snack. Smile. Repeat” and “Snack like nobody’s watching.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/business/media/29adnewsletter1.html?_r=1)
The brand also is expanding its consumer base with a Twitter and Facebook page as well as a Youtube. Also “ads on the video screens in taxi cabs; a sampling program with its own “mobile snack tour,” with a goal of giving away 500,000 bags of Popchips; public relations by Formula PR in New York; and an outreach to trend-setters
that seeks to generate positive buzz.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/business/media/29adnewsletter1.html?_r=1) The brand also features Ashton Kutcher as a spokes person. Here is a link to their web-sight to fond out more http://www.popchips.com/
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