Darling Chocolate should first introduce chocolate boxes to the St. Petersburg confectionary market. Chocolate boxes target a wide range of consumers and occasions where sharing and word-of-mouth are important. An advertising campaign should feature a remix of a Russian folk tale set to music by Russian DJ Smash, projecting an image of tradition blended with experimentation. The media plan allocates most of the $200,000 budget to TV, outdoor, and print advertising featuring Russian celebrities to build awareness and familiarity with Darling's blended domestic-international heritage. Darling's chances of market share capture depend on appealing to those seeking new varieties while honoring traditional quality craftsmanship.

1. Rahua Hagos Melles
MKT 4530
4/15/14
Darling Chocolate Media Planning For Russian Launch
Case questions
1 Describe the general situation in the food market of the northwest region of Russia.
What is the market situation for chocolate in this region? What characteristics of the
market do you consider to be most important regarding the introduction of new
chocolate products into the St. Petersburg confectionary market?
Food market in the region
-In the monthly expenditure staple foods table, meat, bread and milk are respectively
ranking number 1, 2, and 3 with expenditure of 37-45 millions on meat, 25-30 millions on
bread and 16-19 millions on milk.
-The chocolate and candies category is ranked number 13 with an expenditure of 5-6
millions.
-There is a great preference for domestic products in most categories with chocolate and
candies ranking number one as the most preferred domestic product closely followed by
seafood.
-Macaroni and salted nuts are the product categories where imported products are
strongly preferred with soft beverages being the third highest imported product of
preference
-Imported foods are chosen because of more attractive package design and heavier
advertising support

2. -Generally, domestic and imported products are considered of equal quality.
Chocolate market in the St. Petersburg region
-Russian chocolate consumption 4kg per year
-Consumption per segments: Heavy 12% once per week, Medium 21% 1 or 2 times per
month Light 67% rarely
-product consumption:
-Chocolate bars and candies: mass consumption with demand for variety
-Chocolate boxes: situation driven purchase (holidays and other occasion, consumed
among friends, deliberate and involved purchase)
-competitive environment (3 major domestic brands):
Krupskaya: traditionally local (historical heritage name), 140 kinds of candies. Ecologically
pure chocolate with three generations of loyal customers. Nine new products positioned to
gain market share in health conscious low fat, low calories product seeking segment
Azart: 130 kinds of candies, 60 of which contains caramel. It targets the healthy conscious
segment with the objective to capitalize on healthy lifestyle trend. It has a
curative/medicinal market positioning. It offers candies made for diabetics, with plant
extract that strengthens the immune system and bars that are high in nutritional value
Red October: Largest company in Russia, more than 200 types of candies. It Owns 20%
market share.
It has a network of affiliated companies and enterprises to assure the company domestic
blanket coverage. It has excess capacity to serve smaller confectionary factories that
produce complementary products.

3. Most important market characteristics regarding the introduction of a new chocolate
product
-Preference high quality cacao bean made chocolate
-Strong preference in domestic chocolate
- Demand for variety
2 Which darling chocolate company products should be first to enter the St.
Petersburg confectionary market? Give reasons for your recommendations.
-Chocolate boxes:
-To target heavy, medium and light consumers.
-Opportunity to serve multiple income level (different weight, styles and sizes)
-consumption habits favor purchase with word of mouth capability (more involved in
decision because of sharing and purchase occasion).
- Gift giving is a very common practice in Russia
40% of purchases are b/c word of mouth, 15% of purchases b/c advertising (package
design/ ad support).
3 develop a general strategy to help Carl Hansen penetrate the St. Petersburg
confectionary market assuming the chocolate products selected in the previous
question. Describe the profile of the best prospective customer for the company.
Describe the characteristics and main activities of a Successful advertising campaign
for products of the company.
Prospective Customer profile
-18 -35 years old and tries new things that have a sense of familiar
-Likes traditionally high quality made chocolate and is curious about exploring varieties

4. similar to current preferences
-Gift/share/occasion chocolate box purchaser for informal environments where warmth
and sharing are part of the occasion
Characteristics and main activities of a Successful advertising campaign for Darling
-Introduce the brand personal history to induce curiosity and exploration of a product that
also has domestic roots.
-Leverage Russian chocolate heritage expertise along with French one to establish
presence.
-Introduce the brand personality through musical Russian presence on the international
music DJ scene.
(See question 4 in the assignment part of the homework for main activities of a successful
advertising campaign for Darling)
4 in your opinion, what are darling's chance of capturing a major share if the Russian
chocolate market, assuming that the company makes a successful entry into the St.
Petersburg market.
The chances depends on how well darling is able to capitalize on its Russian and French
heritage while introducing the current brand personality to keep with the strong domestic
appeal chocolate has in Russia, leverage the French connection in the brand while
introducing the successful and high quality product in St. Petersburg.
The three major brands present in the St. Petersburg area have a very distinct Russian
legacy of quality and to acquire market share Darling will have to appeal to traditional
chocolate handcrafting enthusiasts and consumers willing to try new products alike, with

5. effort to focus on actions that may increase the chance of participative word of mouth
experience.
Darling chocolate online assignment
1. How should the company differentiate itself from competitors? Should they focus on:
the product attributes (reason why), the consumer benefits or the needs, wants or desires
or some combination.
-Sense of honor in the inclusiveness of domestic tradition in the heritage of the high quality
product to be shared with affection and generosity during local and traditional occasion.
-More chocolate variety to choose from compared to the same three major companies that
have served the region for generations.
2. How should Darling be positioned in the St. Petersburg market?
- As a mix of domestic and French heritage along with Danish chocolate handcrafting
expertise
- Emphasis on continuity of culture with using the “bringing it back home” factor via
Denmark through the brand history
Positioning statement: To consumers who love tries new things that have a sense of familiar
and likes traditionally high quality made chocolate Darling chocolate will deliver a mix of
domestic and international quality product to share with friends and family dear to them.
3. What image should it try to project to achieve its sales goals? Be as specific as you can,
including a well- known celebrity.

6. The international heritage of the brand lends itself to be leveraged in a market where
consumers have the strongest preference for domestic product. To achieve sale goals it
would be advisable to include a Russian celebrity that has a global reach. Since musical
talent crosses borders with ease, it would be advisable to enlist the collaboration of
DJ Smash, the most successful and highest paid Russian DJ. He is a Musician, Producer and
Multimillionaire Businessman that is popular in the EU and the USA where he plays in
Festivals and popular clubs (London, St. Tropez and New York).
The idea of using a DJ for the brand works with presenting the brand as a “remix” of
tradition to meet consumer preference without losing the company identity. It can also
represent a reflection between the brand (domestic-international) and the DJ (domestic-
international) personal stories.
In addition, the above-mentioned DJ has a Russian song called
“Long distance love,” in collaboration with Vera Brezhneva, a sex symbol of Russian show
business that used to be part of the popular girl group VIA-GRA in keeping with the theme.
4. Develop a media plan for the entry phrase that is based on a careful analysis of the pros
and cons of each media alternative and how much of the media budget should be allocated
to each media alternative.
-Multimedia campaign Creative theme: "Long distance love" based on the DJ Smash song
with the campaign telling a story loosely based on the Russian folk story "The Apples of
Youth and the Living Water" set in current time with an alternative ending including
elements relatable to the history of the brand.
Tale Summary
An old king, who is ill, heard about the apples of youth and each of his three sons goes on a

7. quest for the magical apples for their father. The first two fail because even though they
follow directions, they are not pure at heart. Ivan, the youngest does not entirely follow the
advices of the magical helpers he finds on his path, but he manages to find the apples along
with a prospective wife to whom he vows he will marry in three years. On his way back
from the mission Ivan decides to look for his brothers who, while he was sleeping, steal the
apples from him and bring them back to their father who is finally cured and he is very
proud of his sons. Meanwhile Ivan makes its way back to the kingdom empty handed and
unaware his brothers where the thieves who stole the apples from him. He turns into a
drunk living among his newly found peers until three years later hi prospective wife shows
up with their children to marry him. The woman's powerful methods convince the king to
"give up his son" and send both the elder sons to her, one after another, without being able
to pacify her warmongering wrath while both sons betray their real character. Lastly, Ivan
shows to her abode and they move together to her kingdom where they live happily ever
after.
Remix of the story
A father runs a chocolate factory and has to decide to which of his three sons he will leave
his business. He wants to leave it to his youngest son Ivan because he shows to be the most
promising in keeping the legacy of the business alive, but he is distrustful of the foreign
woman he wants to marry so he is making his other two sons his priority in business. The
couple has been living apart for three years while they experiment with the company
traditional ways of handcrafting chocolate to prove that they can not only maintain the
legacy alive, but they are also willing and able to take it to the next level. After three years
of trial and error while working together remotely, the couple finally comes up with

8. chocolate products that they though was sure to delight and impress the young man's
father. His older brothers intercept a missive with the new chocolate recipe and try to pass
it off as their own. Luckily for the couple the recipe alone is not enough for the two
brothers to reproduce the original product so they give themselves away as impostors. The
father is so infuriated by the fact that disinherits them completely and leaves the family
business to Ivan and his wife to be because of their courage in pursuing their personal and
family goals with honor and courage of conviction.
Budget: $200,000
• 60% on TV ($120,000) because it had the widest reach to create brand awareness and
generate sales
$30,000 spot production cost included.
3 ads per week (3 different shows) for 90 days at an average cost of $2500 per 60 second
ad to be aired on the St. Petersburg 5 TV channel. TV spot will tell the remix of the story set
to the theme song beat with an emphasis on the long distance part of the relationship.
Ideally, Vera Brezhneva would play the girl in the story to reference the song and grab the
viewer’s attention on multiple dimensions.
• 17.5% outdoor presence ($34950) to build awareness and present brand personality.
$8,500+20%VAT 10 billboards at 850 each for one month
$750 bus presence deal for 3 months
$24000 subway billboards. 200 billboard package for 3 months at $120 each (1.96 sq.
meters each) at $60/sq meter spread between the 60 station subway system and the inside
of the riding cars. Blanket coverage works because the average traveler spends 15 minutes
riding the train which probably average to a 3 stop ride.

9. Outdoor advertising will present the brand through elements of the campaign matching
elements between the tale, the alternative ending and the brand history. EX: the two lovers
in different settings with outfit that will help discern that there is distance between them
while focusing on the chocolate products they are creating. Since print will cost less than
video production it would be great to obtain Vera Brezhneva and DJ Smash for the outdoor
campaign roles of the couple.
• 8.3% on magazines ($16,600).
$8300 for the Avtopilot a quarterly newspaper supplement of high circulation.
$8,300 in cosmopolitan, including a promotional idea to measure effectiveness of one time
ad to see if worth repeating. Ex: store coupon.
Magazines will have a photo a brief history (3/4 lines) of the brand with the slogan "it takes
real passion to experiment with tradition" with an image that conveys the lusciousness of
the product and Vera Brezhneva positioned as the brand history teller on Avtopilot and DJ
Smash telling it on Cosmopolitan.
• 7.74% on newspaper ads ($15,480) because of high circulation in the region (70%) to
create brand awareness.
$15,480 for a 150 sq.cm ad based on the $4.30/sq. cm. 1 weekly ad on Reklama Chance and
Extra-Balt based on measured effectiveness and share of advertising volume, they
respectively rank number 1 and 3.
Newspapers will have a photo a slightly longer history (5/7 lines) of the brand, compared
to the magazine ad, with the same slogan "it takes real passion to experiment with
tradition” with Vera Brezhneva positioned as the brand history teller.

10. • 5.94% on radio ($11,880) for three months for ads broadcasted on two radio stations,
Europe plus and Modern which both have 14% radio audience, at an average of $90 per 60
seconds spot airing 5 days a week for three months.
Radio will tell a summary of TV spot story in 60 seconds narrated by Vera Brezhneva.