Kraft should use both the Maxwell House and Nabob brands for coffee pods to capture a larger market share and compete against P&G's Folgers brand. While there is currently no marketing plan in place, Kraft should target consumers aged 25-54, use a penetration pricing strategy, offer 6 or more flavors, and prioritize trade shows and print advertising. Direct-to-store delivery would be the best distribution channel as it provides control and lowers costs compared to using intermediaries. If the coffee pods fail due to manufacturing issues, Kraft needs to recall the product, identify the causes of failure, increase testing, and invest in advertising to regain customer trust. A dual marketing channel approach could increase market coverage by
A SIMULATION CASE STUDY ON DATA DRIVEN MANAGEMENT OF BLUE DETERGENT
BLUE – Key laundry detergent product for Kelsey-White.
K-W managers took decisions regarding manufacturing and marketing based on gut feeling or experience.
They did not have any support for the decisions taken.
Hence a need was identified by the CEO to take data-driven decisions.
A SIMULATION CASE STUDY ON DATA DRIVEN MANAGEMENT OF BLUE DETERGENT
BLUE – Key laundry detergent product for Kelsey-White.
K-W managers took decisions regarding manufacturing and marketing based on gut feeling or experience.
They did not have any support for the decisions taken.
Hence a need was identified by the CEO to take data-driven decisions.
This slideshow was created to showcase the marketing research involved in the strategic decision-making process. This presentation represents a decision for the marketing team at Barco Projection Systems, on how to combat the incoming Sony 1270 projector model. This presentation includes a brief history, situation analysis, options for Barco, and an ultimate decision based on this research. This Powerpoint presentation was completed for a Marketing Management & Strategy course.
The carbonated soft drink (CSD's) industry was dominated by Coca Cola and Pepsi vying for market share. The CSD organizations gained market share in the U.S. and in global markets extending their brands’ recognition and capturing sales from new markets. The shift in consumer beverage preference and the expansion into global markets proved to uncover new opportunities for growth and profitability. In addition the changes in the organizational structure of business for these companies have allowed them to sustain growth beyond CSD’s.
A group case study project as part of the Marketing Management Post-Graduate course work exploring the acquisition of Snapple by Quaker and then Triarc.
This slideshow was created to showcase the marketing research involved in the strategic decision-making process. This presentation represents a decision for the marketing team at Barco Projection Systems, on how to combat the incoming Sony 1270 projector model. This presentation includes a brief history, situation analysis, options for Barco, and an ultimate decision based on this research. This Powerpoint presentation was completed for a Marketing Management & Strategy course.
The carbonated soft drink (CSD's) industry was dominated by Coca Cola and Pepsi vying for market share. The CSD organizations gained market share in the U.S. and in global markets extending their brands’ recognition and capturing sales from new markets. The shift in consumer beverage preference and the expansion into global markets proved to uncover new opportunities for growth and profitability. In addition the changes in the organizational structure of business for these companies have allowed them to sustain growth beyond CSD’s.
A group case study project as part of the Marketing Management Post-Graduate course work exploring the acquisition of Snapple by Quaker and then Triarc.
We can learn how the define our competitive market and the good point of putting the right positioning. Don't forget to spend time for analyze your competitor. Happy Learning!
executive report part a The report comprises of th.docxgitagrimston
executive report part a
The report comprises of the strengths and weaknesses of the target company which is Krispy Kreme. The company operates in the food and beverage industry, and is a well-known, global doughnut company and coffee house with multiple chains.
Contents
Ability to Gain Market Share 3
Weakness 3
Financial Weaknesses 4
Operational Weaknesses 4
Strengths 5
Range of Merchandise 6
Financial Strengths 7
Concentration 8
Product differentiation 9
Consideration 9
References 10
Ability to Gain Market Share
Krispy Kreme believes that they have the ability to gain market share on a global scale. First, they plan to infill markets that they are already in by expanding existing franchise partners and growing existing Company-owned markets. They believe this approach will permit them to leverage supply chain efficiencies and capitalize on their strong brand awareness. Second, they intend to pursue expansion opportunities with new franchisees to grow their shop footprint in both underpenetrated and new markets. Third, they plan to evaluate new markets, regions, and areas where Krispy Kreme has limited or no existing market presence. They expect to announce new development agreements in the future as they seek to increase the number of new shops that franchisees have contractually committed to open. In the past two fiscal years, they have announced new shop development agreements with domestic franchisees in Dallas, Houston, Maryland, northern Virginia, Arkansas, and southern California; and internationally in South Korea, Colombia, Taiwan, Bangladesh, and Russia. In addition, the Company opened new shops in a number of existing Company markets. They have a suite of shop formats to fit individual market needs, which they believe will facilitate Company and franchisee shop expansion. Their goal is to achieve annual, double-digit percentage growth in their system wide unit count over the next several years.
New competition within any industry is a threat for every company. With the ease of entry of new companies into the market; they, however, don't straightforwardly affect Krispy Kreme’s business. On the other hand, their entrance builds the general competition in the industry, which decreases price control in the market. One of the biggest concerns with Krispy Kreme’s competitors is that they have greater resources; which allow them to react faster to the quick-changing food service industry. Another concern with new competitors is a more aggressive price range with a wider range of products for customers to choose from.Weakness
One weakness for Krispy Kreme is a portion of their revenues come from franchisees that are independently owned and operated. These franchisees could take action that harms their business. Even though Krispy Kreme takes steps to properly train and support their franchisees, those franchisees operate their restaurants independently. Franchisees may operate their business in a manner that is not ...
* In an increasingly copy-cat economy, the new basis of competition is business model innovation.
* Unfortunately, the work of business model innovation is too often left undone, at great cost to the organization's longer term growth opportunities and its profitability. This gap is the outcome of marketing's role increasingly being defined around demand generation and brand communications in increasingly fragmented channels, roles that have required many new marketing subspecialties.
* The CMO is ideally suited to facilitate business model strategy decisions, decisions that must be made by the leadership team as a whole.
* Deploying the CMO to facilitate business model innovation will align brand and business strategy, benefiting the success of both.
“Guard” is facing multiple challenges in terms of location, awareness, selling, position in market and brand image but the main question to bring solution to this question is where to allocate budget of marketing.
Digital vs. Traditional Marketing The Debate that Shouldn’t E.docxlynettearnold46882
Digital vs. Traditional Marketing: The Debate that Shouldn’t Exist
June 6, 2014 Jessie Gould
Content Marketing & Content Strategy, Mobile Marketing & Strategy
Really, it’s getting old.
It’s true that in the early days digital marketing was the wild child in the marketing world,
always experimenting with bizarre banner ads and keyword-stuffed webpages. In recent years,
however, the cards have flipped. It’s now popular to laud the accomplishments of digital
marketing and condemn traditional avenues as ineffective. In reality, neither perception is
correct. Here’s why.
Traditional marketing is still effective
Take a moment and imagine a billboard ad you’ve seen recently. Anything specific come to
mind? If so, you can rest assured that billboard advertising is alive and well. Now think of a
commercial, a magazine ad.
Contrary to what some marketers are shouting from the rooftops, traditional marketing is not
dying. In fact, it’s not going anywhere until paper, television, and commutes are no longer a part
of daily life. That’s assuredly a long time from now.
The marketing playing field is evening out. As digital rises in popularity, traditional is of course
taking a hit. That’s not to say that traditional will become irrelevant. Each medium has its unique
functions, able to reach different people in different ways.
Time to break down the walls
While traditional marketing isn’t dying, it is changing.
The division between digital and traditional is blurry at best, and arbitrary and unhelpful at
worst. Take an ad inside an ebook, for example. Is this traditional or digital? What about a
commercial that plays both on TV and before a YouTube clip?
It’s time to change the way we think about traditional and digital channels. One isn’t better or
more effective than the other; each has a role to play. Your goal as marketer is to determine what
roles those are and how to use them effectively.
The bottom line
If you’re trying to determine your budget for digital vs. traditional marketing, start with your
target audience. Where are they spending their time? Half of the battle is the message; the other
half is actually getting your message to your customers. Once you have found your audience, let
their preferred channels guide your budget decisions.
Stop thinking digital and traditional. Think customer service, and think results.
LaneTerralever is the agency of the future. A full-service agency is like a good mechanic, able to
utilize the right digital and traditional tools in any situation. See what we can do to get your
message to your audience and drive your bottom line.
HBR.ORG DECEMBER 2013
REPRINT R1312G
When Marketing
Is Strategy
Why you must shift your strategy downstream,
from products to customers by Niraj Dawar
This document is authorized for use only in Faculty's From Marketing Strategy to Execution - WMBA 6667/MRKT 6900-NEW course at Laureate Education - Baltimore, from Aug.
Retail Media Allocation by Bobsled, an Acadia companyMarcos Pueyrredon
Estudio sbre Retail Media Allocation realizado por Bobsled Marketing que brinda información práctica y valiosa para las marcas, informando sus decisiones estratégicas relacionadas con todo lo relacionado con los medios minoristas (asignación, inversión, etc.).
El mensaje clave de este reporte es:
"Las marcas deben construir una estrategia en torno a su verdadero objetivo a nivel de marca, producto o minorista, y la etapa de embudo en la que se encuentran sus consumidores".
More communication and technological advances have made it possible than ever for companies to offer their services and products internationally. Today, to achieve success, even the smallest businesses ought to plan on their global marketing strategies in order to attract consumer interests outside of their local markets. You can learn more by visiting our blog. https://www.laowaicareer.com/blog/contrast-global-marketing-strategies/
It is a case analysis of a Harvard Business School Case. This ppt shows how a shift has taken place from upstream to downstream activities in the business.
How to Use AI to Write a High-Quality Article that Ranksminatamang0021
In the world of content creation, many AI bloggers have drifted away from their original vision, resulting in low-quality articles that search engines overlook. Don't let that happen to you! Join us to discover how to leverage AI tools effectively to craft high-quality content that not only captures your audience's attention but also ranks well on search engines.
Disclaimer: Some of the prompts mentioned here are the examples of Matt Diggity. Please use it as reference and make your own custom prompts.
It's another new era of digital and marketers are faced with making big bets on their digital strategy. If you are looking at modernizing your tech stack to support your digital evolution, there are a few can't miss (often overlooked) areas that should be part of every conversation. We'll cover setting your vision, avoiding siloes, adding a democratized approach to data strategy, localization, creating critical governance requirements and more. Attendees will walk away with actions they can take into initiatives they are running today and consider for the future.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
The digital marketing industry is changing faster than ever and those who don’t adapt with the times are losing market share. Where should marketers be focusing their efforts? What strategies are the experts seeing get the best results? Get up-to-speed with the latest industry insights, trends and predictions for the future in this panel discussion with some leading digital marketing experts.
The digital marketing industry is changing faster than ever and those who don’t adapt with the times are losing market share. Where should marketers be focusing their efforts? What strategies are the experts seeing get the best results? Get up-to-speed with the latest industry insights, trends and predictions for the future in this panel discussion with some leading digital marketing experts.
5 big bets to drive growth in 2024 without one additional marketing dollar AND how to adapt to the biggest shifting eCommerce trend- AI.
1) Romance Your Customers - Retention
2) ‘Alternative’ Lead Gen - Advocacy
3) The Beautiful Basics - Conversion Rate Optimization
4) Land that Bottom Line - Profitability
5) Roll the Dice - New Business Models
SEO as the Backbone of Digital MarketingFelipe Bazon
In this talk Felipe Bazon will share how him and his team at Hedgehog Digital share our journey of making C-Levels alike, specially CMOS realize that SEO is the backbone of digital marketing by showing how SEO can contribute to brand awareness, reputation and authority and above all how to use SEO to create more robust global marketing strategies.
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
AI-Powered Personalization: Principles, Use Cases, and Its Impact on CROVWO
In today’s era of AI, personalization is more than just a trend—it’s a fundamental strategy that unlocks numerous opportunities.
When done effectively, personalization builds trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your users—key factors for business success. However, relying solely on AI capabilities isn’t enough. You need to anchor your approach in solid principles, understand your users’ context, and master the art of persuasion.
Join us as Sarjak Patel and Naitry Saggu from 3rd Eye Consulting unveil a transformative framework. This approach seamlessly integrates your unique context, consumer insights, and conversion goals, paving the way for unparalleled success in personalization.
Monthly Social Media News Update May 2024Andy Lambert
TL;DR. These are the three themes that stood out to us over the course of last month.
1️⃣ Social media is becoming increasingly significant for brand discovery. Marketers are now understanding the impact of social and budgets are shifting accordingly.
2️⃣ Instagram’s new algorithm and latest guidance will help us maintain organic growth. Instagram continues to evolve, but Reels remains the most crucial tool for growth.
3️⃣ Collaboration will help us unlock growth. Who we work with will define how fast we grow. Meta continues to evolve their Creator Marketplace and now TikTok are beginning to push ‘collabs’ more too.
The Forgotten Secret Weapon of Digital Marketing: Email
Digital marketing is a rapidly changing, ever evolving industry--Influencers, Threads, X, AI, etc. But one of the most effective digital marketing tools is also one of the oldest: Email. Find out from two Houston-based digital experts how to maximize your results from email.
Key Takeaways:
Email has the best ROI of any digital tactic
It can be used at any stage of the customer journey
It is increasingly important as the cookie-less future gets closer and closer
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
Financial curveballs sent many American families reeling in 2023. Household budgets were squeezed by rising interest rates, surging prices on everyday goods, and a stagnating housing market. Consumers were feeling strapped. That sentiment, however, appears to be waning. The question is, to what extent?
To take the pulse of consumers’ feelings about their financial well-being ahead of a highly anticipated election, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey. The survey highlights consumers’ hopes and anxieties as we move into 2024. Let's unpack the key findings to gain insights about where we stand.
Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services using digital channels to reach and engage with potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of online tactics and strategies aimed at increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, and ultimately, converting those leads into customers.
https://nidmindia.com/
Digital Commerce Lecture for Advanced Digital & Social Media Strategy at UCLA...Valters Lauzums
E-commerce in 2024 is characterized by a dynamic blend of opportunities and significant challenges. Supply chain disruptions and inventory shortages are critical issues, leading to increased shipping delays and rising costs, which impact timely delivery and squeeze profit margins. Efficient logistics management is essential, yet it is often hampered by these external factors. Payment processing, while needing to ensure security and user convenience, grapples with preventing fraud and integrating diverse payment methods, adding another layer of complexity. Furthermore, fulfillment operations require a streamlined approach to handle volume spikes and maintain accuracy in order picking, packing, and shipping, all while meeting customers' heightened expectations for faster delivery times.
Amid these operational challenges, customer data has emerged as an important strategy. By focusing on personalization and enhancing customer experience from historical behavior, businesses can deliver improved website and brand experienced, better product recommendations, optimal promotions, and content to meet individual preferences. Better data analytics can also help in effectively creating marketing campaigns, improving customer retention, and driving product development and inventory management.
Innovative formats such as social commerce and live shopping are beginning to impact the digital commerce landscape, offering new ways to engage with customers and drive sales, and may provide opportunity for brands that have been priced out or seen a downturn with post-pandemic shopping behavior. Social commerce integrates shopping experiences directly into social media platforms, tapping into the massive user bases of these networks to increase reach and engagement. Live shopping, on the other hand, combines entertainment and real-time interaction, providing a dynamic platform for showcasing products and encouraging immediate purchases. These innovations not only enhance customer engagement but also provide valuable data for businesses to refine their strategies and deliver superior shopping experiences.
The e-commerce sector is evolving rapidly, and businesses that effectively manage operational challenges and implement innovative strategies are best positioned for long-term success.
2. Q.1 Should Kraft use both the Maxwell House and Nabob brands for coffee pods?
Why? Why not?
Kraft Canada should use both Maxwell House and Nabob for coffee pods because it
would allow Kraft capture a larger market share position and aggressively act towards the
potential of P&G ability to capture more of the market from a spill over effect caused by
its Folgers brand and Home Café system. So, it means that if P&G go ahead the success
would spill over into the standard roast and ground coffee business.
If Kraft does not take this opportunity to increase market share position in the Canadian
coffee market would be inadequate considering the demand trend consumptions of coffee
in Canada. Thus, an early launch can help to maintain market share as well as gain
penetration into segments of the market that are not currently part of Kraft’s primary
costumers bases.
On its mission of achieving leadership in market it served which it pursued by fostering
innovation, achieving high product quality and keeping a close eye on profit margins,
Kraft foods achieved a world leader position in coffee with strong brand portfolio, strong
distribution network and well-earned reputation of developing innovative products and
food application. Kraft food can benefit from the established brand awareness of
Maxwell House and Nabob to launch the coffee pods. Although coffees pod was a new
product, being launch under well-known brand as Maxwell House and Nabob could
leverage the sales.
3. However, currently there is no marketing plan in place for the launch of coffee pod,
which involves branding strategy, pricing strategy, flavor offering, distribution, and
promotion strategy and also there is budget constraint to build awareness and articulate
the product benefits and value over the competition.
If Kraft use Maxwell House and Nabob for coffee pod should take some actions:
Target consumers between ages of 25-54 who are well-educated, high income,
married, and live in population rich urban areas characterized by high levels of
consumption.
Kraft is known for providing a better quality product at the right price compared
to the competition. So, Kraft should utilize a penetration pricing strategy.
Offer 6 or more flavors of coffee to compete with some brand such as with the
Melitta one-to-one SSP machine that offers 6 flavors, catering to the customer
demand for variety. So, consumers with different tastes can enjoy their own type
of coffee.
Prioritize trade shows and printing advertising, has it give more opportunity to
costumers get demonstration of how the product is easy to use as well as a sample
coffee.
In conclusion, despite of marketing plan constraint and budget limitation, Kraft should
use its existing two brands for coffee pods, so that could meet consumers trend and
compete with strong companies such as well as maintain leadership of Canadian coffee
market share.
4. Q.2 Which Channel of distribution would work best for single-serving coffee units:
direct to consumes, the use of intermediaries, or both? Why?
Both distribution channels (use of intermediaries and DSD) seem to show advantages and
disadvantages for Kraft. In that sense I will analyze the implications of each distribution
Channel and final address my opinion.
Intermediaries
Under this system Kraft is responsible for delivering all merchandise to the costumer’s
warehouses from this warehouses retailers distributed to individual stores. All inventory
were stocked at retail, however Kraft had to pay $200,000 for national listing fees.
The advantage of using this system is that Kraft does not need to monitor and track
inventories, distribution and stock. At the same time, by using distributors Kraft can
5. easily access to many retailers across the country, and respond to increasing demand in
peak season.
However, this system also shows some disadvantages. The first constraint is that even if
inventory-storing cost is low, using intermediaries Kraft has to pay national listing fee.
The second problem is that Kraft will have less control over product displays, obtaining
information about end users and exercising control becomes more difficult as the number
of channel levels increases. The third problem is related to the speed of distribution,
meaning that it will take long time to reach the end costumers comparing to DSD.
Finally, if Kraft considers earning the same profit in both channels, by using
intermediaries Kraft coffee pods retailing would be relatively expensive comparing to the
DSD where the number of intermediaries are reduced.
Direct-to-store delivery (DSD)
Manufacturer
Retailer
Costumers
6. Under DSD Kraft would be responsible for delivering merchandise to individual stores,
holding inventory and restocking shelves.
The advantage of using DSD was that this system was been using by Kraft for Mr.
Christie cookie product and they could joint and thus lowering the cost for coffee pod to
$150,000 by reducing supply chain expenses and minimizing inventory holding cost.
Under DSD Kraft have more control over product displays and freshness, improve
costumer service and collect insights from retailers. DSD also seems to be speed to
market, especially in peak season, has a result of eliminating warehouse on the network
distribution channel.
However, the down side of DSD is that since Kraft has limited space in its distribution
and limited delivery track, how to maintain the approach if coffee sales pod increase.
Additionally, with many stores across the countries, how would Kraft address the demand
in peak season and how would retailers receive DSD system.
In conclusion, since one of Kraft‘s major constraints is limited budget I would
recommend to use DSD that shows cost advantages compared to the use of warehouse.
Use direct-to-store delivery to lean the supply chain and establishing last relationships
with retailers who can provide benefits of better product display and promotion display in
stores. This would lower costs and ensure freshness of product. DSD would also allow
Kraft to compete by price and increase its sales revenue and also allocate remain budget
7. to advertising and promotional activities. In future, if demand increases Kraft should
increase its capacity or raise prices to lower demand or utilize existing intermediaries.
But, the last option is not appropriate in short run when the brand awareness of coffee
pod is relatively low. So, in short run DSD might the most appropriate to strength Kraft
brand portfolio.
Q.3 Presuming the primary problem with the launch had been the coffee makers
rather than the consumer acceptance of the single-serving size. What steps should
Kraft take to correct the problem?
When companies launch a new product and fail at product development or manufacturing
stage, the impact on brand image is critical because consumers that were loyal to its
brand can lose trust and then switch to competitor’s brand. The negative impact might be
extended on finance, as a result, of losses from recall.
In case of Kraft, if the new coffee pod fail as a result of coffeemakers mistake, the
company should immediately ask for recall and publicly apologize to costumers. This
would avoid misunderstanding that might be propagated by media and some competitors
that would take advantages of the problem, as well as Kraft would reduce the damage of
its brand image.
Immediately after recall Kraft should inspect the recalled coffee pod, analyze it and
identify the possible assignable causes. After finding the reasons of failure, Kraft should
8. do many trials and test as much time as possible and thus reducing the risk for failure. At
this stage prevention should prioritized rather than inspection because it is costless.
Kraft’s target costumers are educated people with high income and this segment is very
sensible and selective. In order to persuade them to buy Kraft’s coffee pod some extra
investment in print, web, TV advertising, would necessary. Kraft should emphasis coffee
pod on its magazine shared with subscribers. Additionally, Kraft should offer some price
promotions a little bit lower than competitors’ price. Finally, Kraft should offer some
coupons or sample of coffee pod along with existing products of its brand.
In conclusion, Kraft should re-launch the coffee pod, emphasis on prevention rather than
inspection of the product and focused advertising and promotional activities would be the
key factor of success in short run.
Q.4 An alternative strategy to selling coffee pods to consumers first would have been
to market them to other business, such as hotels, restaurants, and convenience
stores. Discuss the implications of using a dual channel marketing approach
Dual marketing channel would allow Kraft to reach the end-user costumers by using
more than one distribution channel. Kraft could at the same time reach its consumers
through a direct market or sell to another other business, such as hotels, restaurants, and
convenience stores that will reach the consumer through another channel or resale.
“By adding more channels, companies can gain three important benefits. The first is
increased market coverage—companies often add a channel to reach a customer segment
9. that its current channels cannot reach. The second is lower channel cost—companies may
add a new channel to lower the cost of selling to an existing customer group (selling by
phone rather than personally visiting small customers). The third is more customized
selling—companies may add a channel whose selling features fit customer requirements
better (adding a technical sales force to sell more complex equipment)” (Kotler: pp246).
Kraft can take advantage of all benefits listed above, but the first benefit might fit best
with Kraft intension of increase its market share. It means that trough dual channel Kraft
would reach many costumers that may not find under DSD and selling trough
intermediaries. Is important to recall that this range of costumers includes restaurants,
hotels and convenience stores, and the demand for coffee in this segment is relatively
significant. Kraft might take this opportunity to assign exclusive contracts with some
well-known restaurants and hotels offering them some discounts on exchange of
advertising Kraft coffee pod and thus leveraging its brand.
However, new channels typically introduce conflict and control problems. Different
channels may end up competing for the same customers. E.g. Convenience store Vs.
retailers. Additionally, as the new channels become more independent, the company may
have difficulty maintaining cooperation among all of the members. This might happen to
Kraft as a result of excessive competition in Canadian coffee market.
To sum up, dual distribution may bring advantages as well as disadvantages for Kraft. At
early stage of coffee pod, DSD seems to be more suitable for Kraft, but in long run
depending on market condition (demand and competition) Kraft may switch or increment
additional distribution channel.