2. Blue Apron Background

3. Blue Apron Background
“We named our company Blue Apron because chefs around the world
wear blue aprons when they’re learning to cook, and it has since
become a symbol of lifelong learning in cooking, which we hope to
help inspire in our community.”
Blue Apron also helps to eliminate food waste as everything is perfectly
portioned.
In 2015, Blue Apron expects to ship more than 1 million meals
monthly.

4. Meal Plans
2 Person Plan:
3 recipes per week
$9.99 per person
$59.94
4 Person Plan (Family Plan): Launched in December 2014
4 recipes per week
$8.74 per person
$139.84

5. Situational Analysis
Current Users: Young families and professionals
Geography: Nationwide
Seasonality: All year round
Purchase Cycle: People purchase meals weekly

6. Communication Objectives
How Blue Apron is seen: A tool for people who enjoy cooking from novice
chefs to experts. The key demos are young professional couples and
young families of four.
How we want Blue Apron to be seen: Inviting to families who have less
time to prepare meals and want a family experience.
Objectives:
- Increase sales of Blue Apron’s core food service by focusing on the four
person plan (family plan).
- Raise awareness of Blue Apron Products to young parents.

7. Target Audience

8. Primary Target Audience
Millennial professional parents (specifically mothers) ages 26-
37
- Young professionals who work in an urban environment
(whether it be commuting or living in the city, they take public
transportation)
- They want some level of involvement in cooking and preparing
the food they eat

9. Secondary Target Audience
Young professional couples (without kids)
- The "evolved eater," a 31 million strong segment of the American
population that cares deeply about the quality of their food and has
enough disposable income to invest in eating well.

10. Millennial Parents/Mothers
● Households where both parents work
● Little flexibility in work schedule
● Moms are most likely to make the purchasing decisions in
household
● 43% of moms feel pressure to upkeep their
families/household
● 38% of moms see themselves in the ads that portray other mothers
● The modern mom uses a variety of resources to research products
and make purchases. This includes her smartphone, social media,
family and friends, and experts…

11. Commuters
- The following is a list of United States cities of 100,000+ inhabitants with the 50
highest rates of public transitcommuting to work, according to data from the 2010
American Community Survey. The survey measured the percentage of commuters who
take public transit, as opposed to walking driving or riding in an automobile, bicycle,
boat or some other means.
- 1. New York City, New York - 55.66%
- 2. Jersey City, New Jersey - 45.82%
- 3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 39.19%
- 4. San Francisco, California - 34.05%
- 5. Boston, Massachusetts - 32.82%
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._cities_with_high_transit_ridership

12. Cooking In Families
Cooking together is beneficial in many ways. Research shows
that involving kids in family meals helps to foster family
togetherness, prevents behavior problems, and leads to
better results for children in school
By working with their parents and each other, children practice
cooperative learning. They can experience the pride that
comes with producing a product that is enjoyed by people who
are important to them. This spirit of team-work will carry over
to other aspects of their lives.

13. The Consumer Wants..
● Convenience
● Affordability/Value
● Healthy eating and transparency of food origin
● Easy cooking and sense of achievement in making
culinary meals
● Social connectedness with friends and family

14. Convenience
● The majority of Americans are cooking less because they are too
busy
● When asked about factors they consider when making a purchase,
45% of young parents say convenience and saving time
influences their decisions.
● This year, Americans have spent more money eating out than
grocery shopping than any previous year
● Grocery deliveries have become a more popular and viable option
● Parents use more online food delivery than non parents
● 53% of parents willing to pay more for faster service

15. Affordability/Value
● 25% of parents say eating out with their family costs too
much
● Value includes the quality of the ingredients, not just the
cost of the food
● Convenience tends to outweigh cost, though cost is
important to many young parents/mothers

16. Healthy Eating/Transparency of Food Origin
● Growing trend towards “eating clean”
● Consumption of fresh foods — fruits, vegetables, meat,
poultry, fish, and eggs — grew by 20 percent
● 77% of millennials wish food manufactures were
transparent
● Millennials are likely to avoid buying processed foods all
together

17. Easy Cooking And Sense of Achievement
● Moms want to feel empowered
● Moms want to provide a healthy enjoyable meal
for their family without having to completely
sacrifice all of her time
● Moms want a variety in her family meals

18. Easy Cooking And Sense of Achievement
“I'd really like to kick it up a notch and be able to produce some more
ambitious, globally-inspired and healthful food, but I just can't
seem to figure out how to squeeze it all in.”
“ I don't want to become a meat and potatoes and mac and cheese
family because I think I'd die of boredom.”
“Nevertheless, I'm looking for some concrete strategies for how to find
the time to do more scratch cooking. I've started to fall back on
making some compromises --buying pre-cut or frozen vegetables, for
instance.”

19. Social Connectedness
● Eating has become highly individualized, even when living
in a household with other people
● However, there is a growing desire among mothers and
families to sit down and have meals together
“For many Americans, life happens in the kitchen. Whether it’
s cooking for the family while the kids do homework or drinks
with the girls, everyone congregates in the kitchen.”-Mintel

20. Discovery: Slow It All Down
● There is a counter-trend developing against modern technological
and fast-paced lifestyles
● Mothers are feeling overwhelmed
● Mothers feel pressured to be a “good mother” and feel guilty
when they make household decisions that do not reach that
standard
● 39% of young parents say they do not have enough time to be the
kind of parent they want to be
● Moms still want tricks that will allow them to cut corners but do not
want give up the “experience”

21. Category Insight

22. Category Insight: Meal-Kit Service
● Young market that began in 2012 (U.S.)
● Meal-kit service segment of the market growth estimated to be between $3
billion-$5 billion over the next 10 years-Technomic, food industry
consulting firm
● Blue Apron, HelloFresh, and Plated are the top companies in the market
● Blue Apron: $58 million in funding
● HelloFresh: $67.5 million in funding
● Plated: $6.4 million in funding
● “Investors in startups like Blue Apron, HelloFresh, and Plated are wagering
hundreds of millions of dollars on the idea that dinnertime is just too
hard to manage” -Fast Company

23. Competitive Insight
● “A Better Way to Cook”
● Positioned as a service that
focuses on the joy of cooking
culinary meals
● 2 person plan: 9.99/serving
● Family plan: 8.74/serving
● Number of recipes only range
from 3-4/week
● Offers wine, cookware,recipe
books
● “Make More than A Meal”
● Focused on health/nutrition
● Offers vegetarian boxes
● Contains canned food
● Offers family plan
● 3 recipes/week for 4 people
● 3-5 meals/week for 2 people
● 8.75/meal for family
● 10.75/meal for classic box
● 9.00/meal for veggie box
● “Eating Well Made Easy”
● Focused on simplicity/ease
● $12 per meal (most expensive)
● Recipes customizable, range
from 2-7/week
● Meals only serve 2 people
● Offers more options for beef,
poultry, seafood, or vegetarian
preferences
● Offers desserts

24. SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weakness
Threats Opportunities
● The most affordable of its
competition
● Prepackaged ingredients and
instructions leave little room for
failure
● Offers a variety of ethnic/seasonal
cuisines
● Market is becoming saturated and
more niche for diet needs ( vegan,
vegetarian, high protein, etc.)
● Restaurant delivery is very popular
among people 18-24 years old
● Meal kits currently constitute one
quarter of one percent of food
sales
● Waste from packaging
● Portioned ingredients don’t
allow room for mistakes
● “Exotic” recipes may be
intimidating for novice chefs
● Meal kit delivery service is still
a young market
● Blue Apron can be positioned
as a foundation for family
togetherness, bring back the
“family dinner”

25. Manifesto
Blue Apron isn’t just a meal-kit service, we are a personal professional
chef that is there to help out 24/7, as well as a caring parent that wants
to pass on a new recipe, and the health-conscious friend that doesn’t
want to sacrifice taste.
We aren’t afraid to try new things, no matter how foreign or spicy.
We love to travel and meet new people.
We care about families and want to make sure that everyone gets to
enjoy good food that is good for them.

26. Strategy

27. What is the purpose of this communication effort? Expanding/
increasing sales of Blue Apron’s core food service. Raise awareness of Blue
Apron Products to millennial parents.
Who are we talking to, and what is their mindset? Young millennial
parents (specifically moms) ages 26-37 Wants: Convenient, affordable and
healthy meals, transparency of food origin, easy cooking and a sense of
achievement in making culinary meals, as well as social connectedness with
friends and family
What problem, need, or desire does this communication effort need
to address? - Convenient cooking for people who are too busy to make
something from scratch, but want to make enjoyable meals with their
families
Creative Brief

28. What is the essential point the audience is supposed to take away?
Blue Apron gives people who are busy at work and have no time to go
grocery shopping/prepare food, the means to cook and spend time with
their family
What makes this believable? There is a growing desire among mothers
and families to sit down and have meals together, and Blue Apron’s easy-
to-follow instructions and portioned meals make this possible.
What is the desired personality of the brand? Warm, caring,
trustworthy, and a partner for parents and families
Creative Brief

29. Creative Statement
Blue Apron sets the foundation for family togetherness with convenient,
quality cooking.

30. Ad Strategy
Blue Apron combines convenience, family time, and quality cooking, in
one box:
- Symbolic toy box
- Convenience and Simplicity
- Deliveries and Gifts
Blue Apron: A box of family time
#FamilyTimeMadeEasy

33. Seasonal Blue Apron Ad

34. Strategic Mix of MarComm Disciplines
- Mommy blogs
- Instagram
- Facebook
- Tent at Farmer’s market
- Podcast
- Public transportation ads (the T, subways)
- Native Advertising on Buzzfeed

35. Mommy Blogs
- The modern mom utilizes an assortment of tools and resources to research products
and make purchases
Top Mommy Blogs Include:
Firsttimemomanddad.com
ninjamomdiaries.com
mommykatie.com
- Sponsored review of Blue Apron to market
toward young mothers
- Bloggers would include
#FamilyTimeMadeEasy for subscribers to
know about the Instagram competition

36. - Effects on Brands:
- Direct link to consumers’ lives
- Photos and videos create and promote real experiences
- Foodstagramming:
- Instagram compliments the rise of the “foodie” community
- Foodies view food as a type of art
- Instagram is a (free) way of displaying this art
- Product Promotion:
- Showcasing products in appealing ways
- People socializing while using Blue Apron products promotes the
social and cultural characteristics of food

37. Campaign
- Implement a hashtag competition
- Sponsors and the official Blue Apron account would start the
sweepstakes with, #FamilyTimeMadeEasy
- Goal being families and couples taking pictures of themselves using
Blue Apron products
- Enter the competition by putting #FamilyTimeMadeEasy in
the caption
- 50 winners get 1 week of free Blue Apron Boxes

38. ● Who: Active Facebook users (29%) are between 25 and 34 years
old.
● Reason: Raise awareness
● What: Sponsored Advertisements on Facebook
○ Page Post Link Ad
○ Blue Apron’s Official Page will post the advertisements as well
Hashtag: #FamilyTimeMadeEasy

40. Tent at Farmer’s Market
-Who Are the Consumers?
-Top Reasons for Shopping: High quality of
products, socialize,entertainment, opportunity to
eat
-Our Event: A Blue Apron tent with
samples, cooking demonstrations,
and information on the product.

41. Transportation Ads
- Young professionals commute to the city for work
- Demands Attention:
- Can’t change its channel
- Can’t walk away from it
- Reaches commuters no matter what they’re listening to
- Offers exclusive advertising space

42. Campaign
- BuzzFeed is redefining online advertising with its social, content-
driven publishing technology
- 50% of viewers are 18-34 year olds
- 3.04 daily pageviews per visitors
- 5:58 daily time spent on site
- Sponsored quizzes

43. Campaign
- Quizzes:
- Which Blue Apron Box are You?
- Which Apron are You?
- Incorporate the hashtag and competition in results of
the quiz
- Lists:
- 31 Recipes to Get You Ready for Spring
- 15 Ways to Make Cooking More Fun for The Kids
- Parent’s section under Buzzfeed Life

44. Podcasts
- Innovative Technology: In-car technology makes on demand listening easy
- Every iPhone comes with a podcast app
- Influencers: “Serial,” podcasting’s first mega-hit
-Six months after airing, nearly 40 million people listened to podcasts at least
once a week
- Listeners: Estimated 46 million Americans over the age of 12 listen to podcasts
monthly
-Half of listeners in the US are between 12-34 years old
-Dedicated
-Personal connection with the hosts

45. Podcast
This American Life, Freakonomics, Serial, Power of Moms,
Simple Mom
- Advertisement would appear at the beginning of the podcast (15 seconds)
Script:
Do you have difficulty doing day-to-day tasks?
Do you have trouble sleeping?
Do you want quality home cooked food to eat with the family but don’t have time to
go to the store?
Well Blue Apron can help you solve one of those problems. For everything else you
might want to see a doctor. Blue Apron is a quick and easy way to make high quality
meals that the whole family can enjoy. Blue Apron: A Box of Family Time

46. Schedule/ Timing

48. Budget Allocation
● Mommy blogs
○ $75 per $1000 pages views/day
○ $75 x 3 blogs= $255 a day
○ December-February= 91 days (91 x $225)
○ Total: $20, 475
● Instagram
○ Self-promotion: $0
● Facebook
○ CPC (click per cost) - $24 to get 100 people on average
○ $0.24 x 15,000 = $3600.00
● Tent at Farmer’s market at Copley Square
○ $15 to rent a space (after we get an approval)
○ $200 for tools (cooking tools, table, tent, and etc.)

49. ● Podcast
○ $18 for 15 seconds
○ $18/ week=$72/month
○ $72 x 6 podcast= $432/ month
○ Total: $1,296 for 3 months
● Transportation ads (the T)
○ $150 interior subway ads for 4 weeks
○ $1,000 for station wall ads for weeks
○ $1000+150=$1,150 , $1150 x 30 ads/ city=34,5000
○ 30 x 5 cities (see commuter slide for cities)= $172, 500
● Buzzfeed
○ A typical advertising campaign on BuzzFeed costs at least $100,000, which
includes several custom-made listicle posts.
Budget Allocation

50. Budget Total
● Mommy Blog: $20, 475
● Instagram: Self-promotion: $0
● Facebook: $3600.00
● Tent at Farmer’s market at Copley Square: $215
● Podcast : $1,296 for 3 months
● Transportation ads (the T): $172, 500
● Buzzfeed: $100,000
Total: $298,086 / $600,000

51. Questions?

52. Sources
● http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/insight_zones/16/
● http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/26768/1/36010192.pdf
● http://www.businessinsider.com/blue-apron-plated-hello-fresh-difference-2015-4
● http://maximizesocialbusiness.com/whos-listening-podcasts-2015-18213/
● http://www.cjr.org/first_person/the_economics_of_the_podcast_boom.php
● http://www.edisonresearch.com/podcasting-bigger-think/
● https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol6no1/08GinsbergEJSpring15.
pdf
● http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/homepages/sector_overview/2/
● http://www.fastcompany.com/3046685/most-creative-people/the-5-billion-battle-for-the-american-dinner-
plate
● http://www.fastcompany.com/3046685/most-creative-people/the-5-billion-battle-for-the-american-dinner-
plate
● http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/homepages/sector_overview/2/
● http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/26768/1/36010192.pdf
● http://www.businessinsider.com/blue-apron-plated-hello-fresh-difference-2015-4
● https://rivalfox.com/blog/the-fresh-ingredients-delivery-services/
● https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/2015/five-consumer-trends-shaping-the-
future-of-the-food-and-foodservice-industries/
● http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/homepages/sector_overview/3/
● http://www.bluelinemedia.com/bus-advertising/bus-exterior

53. Sources
● http://time.com/4108515/millennials-live-at-home-parents/
● http://www.forbes.com/sites/thehartmangroup/2015/04/28/scratch-the-home-cooking-americas-consumers-are-
cooking-less-yet-seeking-fresh-healthier-options/
● http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2015/01/21/birchbox-blue-apron-and-bark-box-are-creating-connected-
experiences-with-millennial-consumers/2/
● http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-14/americans-spending-on-dining-out-just-overtook-grocery-sales-
for-the-first-time-ever
● http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/food-and-drink/mintel-serves-up-5-key-food-and-drink-trends-for-2015
● https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/2015/from-mixing-a-salad-to-completely-cooking-
from-scratch-the-definition-of-homemade-cooking-varies-greatly/
● https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/05/the-slow-death-of-the-home-cooked-meal/
● http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/homepages/sector_overview/2/
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._cities_with_high_transit_ridership
● http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/display/732762/?highlight#hit1
● http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/display/715803/?highlight#hit1
● http://www.fastcompany.com/3046685/most-creative-people/the-5-billion-battle-for-the-american-dinner-plate
● http://www.thekitchn.com/3-occasions-when-meal-kits-come-in-handy-206527
● https://www.youtube.com/user/BlueApronMeals
● http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/buzzfeed-sponsored-quizzes/
● http://incomeschool.com/how-to-get-podcast-advertisers/
● http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/buzzfeed-sponsored-quizzes/
● http://www.topmommyblogs.com/pages/index.php