Chocolate bliss product Gourmet truffles with fruit, herb, and flower extract infusions.

1. Explain, in one paragraph, how your product should be marketed in relation to meeting the needs and wants of your persona. Include the features and benefits of your chosen product that directly address your persona's needs and wants. ( SARAH 35, She lives in North Oaks, Minnesota, and owns her own house. She is married and has two children, ages two and six. She works as a marketing professional and earns more than $75,000 annually. She has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. Her interests and hobbies include cooking, baking, trying new restaurants, yoga, and spending time with her family. Sarah is looking for gourmet chocolate that is unique, made with quality ingredients, and visually appealing. Sarah is looking for a chocolate that will be a special treat for herself, her family, and her friends. She is willing to spend more on high-quality chocolate and prefers to shop at specialty stores or online retailers. Sarah is health-conscious and prefers products made with natural ingredients, and she is also environmentally conscious and prefers sustainably sourced products.)

Project Scenario

Chocolate Bliss started as a small family-owned store in Seattle, Washington, in 1976. While once a boutique chocolatier selling handmade "secret family recipe" chocolate bonbons, the company today has a wider variety of product offerings, including boxed chocolate candies, chocolate baking products, and carob (chocolate alternative) candies and health bars. Chocolate Bliss products are sold online and in their stores to consumers and other businesses, specifically grocery stores, throughout the Northwest.

The company has maintained its "secret family recipe" brand, even as it has expanded its product offerings, and today enjoys strong brand awareness in the states where it is sold.

The company's primary competitors are:

• Ghirardelli Chocolate Company: Chocolate Bliss's higher-price-range baking products, sold to grocery stores, compete directly with Ghirardelli. Chocolate Bliss also competes with Ghirardelli for its boxed chocolate candies sold in their stores and online to consumers, and sold to grocery stores.
• Nestle: Chocolate Bliss's mid-price-range baking products, sold to grocery stores, compete directly with Nestle.
• Rise Bar: Chocolate Bliss competes with Rise Bar for its carob (chocolate alternative) products sold in their stores and online to consumers, and sold to grocery stores.

Chocolate Bliss is financially healthy and has plans to expand into the Midwestern United States. This expansion will include the launch of a new product.

You have been with the company for a few years and have been selected to be on the team that will develop a marketing plan for the new product launch. The executives at Chocolate Bliss will use the marketing plan to make decisions about how to best use the marketing budget to ensure a successful product launch, so you need to have sound research and reasoning to support your work that will contribute to developing a marketing plan. You also realize that the marketing plan is not just about a successful product launch; it is about building the Chocolate Bliss brand and positioning the company strongly against its competitors, especially when it comes to price point.

2. Describe, in one paragraph, how bringing this product to the marketplace can help support and build the Chocolate Bliss brand. Explain how offering Gourmet truffles with fruit, herb, and flower extract infusions is in alignment with the brand and how bringing the product to the marketplace will help the company promote public awareness of their brand.