United Cereal Case Study

1. Discuss the pros and cons to launching the Foxy brand in the United States.

This report examines the UK market for Breakfast Cereals. The market has grown substantially in the last 5 years with a high demand for quick meals in the morning due to busy lifestyles. This has had an advantage to the sales of the market.

The cereal industry is very adamant on using a differentiation strategy to make one’s brand stand out in the minds of certain people. The companies break down the public into different target markets; and then make products that will be attractive to their target markets. Companies make different brands for young kids, teenagers, adults, and people who are health conscience. Currently, there are 387 different brands of cereal sold in the United States and each family is estimated to purchase 17 different brands per year. (O’Connor, Amy) Companies continue to brainstorm for new product ideas to attract the various market segmentations.

The threat of customers finding substitute products from other manufacturers in the food industry is high. In the ready-to-eat breakfast cereals segment, General Mills’ primary business focus, there are a variety of similar products being

The value chain, Appendix B, in the RTE cereal industry consists of branded manufactures and private labels that receive their raw materials from suppliers and then distribute their product to food stores, drug stores, and mass merchandisers where the end consumer can eventually purchase the cereal product. Private labels rely on wholesalers and third-party distributors to get their product on the store shelves where the end consumer can purchase these items.

3. What is your evaluation of the company’s internationalization strategy under Tony Massaro’s leadership? Is it likely to be more successful that the previous offshore initiatives? If so, why?

According to Exhibit 5, from 1985-1989, Orange crushes’ market share decreased from 22% (1985) to 8% (1989), this data shows that prior to the entrance of Coca Cola’s Slice and Pepsi’s Minute Maid, Orange Crush had more of the market share which at the time, they were positioned toward groups between the ages of 13-40. Since 1985, Crush repositioned itself to target individuals between the ages of 12-17.

1. Discuss the pros and cons to launching the foxy brand in the United States.

Question 1: What are the key marketing challenges facing Guari Nanda? How would you prioritize them in terms of which are most crucial to effectively bringing her new product to the market? (Answers listed in order or priority)

The case focuses on Kellogg’s Special K brand and considers how the marketing of this has changed over time. Marketing is not static – it must be developed as market conditions and customer expectations change.

Sales of private label cereal grew 50% from 1991-1994 in the Ready-to-Eat breakfast cereal industry. Some of the factors that contributed to the entry of private label cereal manufacturers and their subsequent growth include - lower costs related to manufacturing, packaging, marketing, R&D compared to the Big 3 cereal companies, product quality approaching that of branded products, higher margins for grocers, lower priced products. Some observers blamed higher prices and elaborate expenditure on coupon printing, distribution, redemption and reimbursement of grocer's handling fee for market share gains made by private label cereal products. The policy of "price up and spend back" seemed to hurt the Big 3 firms.

b. Launch Healthy Berry Crunch as United Cereals First Eurobrand – if this alternative is chosen, United Cereal will save between 10 to 15% in research and development over a period of 3 years. By being the first to launch a healthy product like this all over Europe, it will create a big advantage over United Cereal competitors and reduce the threat of competitors entering the European market. Although Healthy Berry Crunch tests were only performed in France, the overall European culture is becoming similar in that they are trending towards healthier eating habits. Therefore, the likelihood of this product being liked by the rest of the population is great.

1) What was good/bad about the way Four Seasons entered the French/Paris market? Why do you say this?

By October 2012, it had been over 15 months since Apollo Foods, a global consumer packaged-goods firm, had obtained the rights to distribute the well-known European chocolate company, Montreaux, in the United States. Andrea Torres, the director of new product development at Montreaux Chocolate USA, is presented with the

Do you approve of how Karen Edwards has promoted the Yahoo! brand? Why or why not? How would you improve Yahoo! marketing? Explain why.