Ben and Jerry's Competitors and Competitive Rivalry
In the market of premium ice cream Ben and Jerry's have a strong rival. Haagen Dazs is currently the main competitor in the concentrated market place for super premium ice cream. Substitutes, however, are available. There are other ice creams not in the super premium category. To an extent these are real competitors. However for the market Ben and Jerry's caters for, the 25-40’s with a high disposable income, their strategies should not have a great impact on Ben and Jerry's.
Dealing with other substitutes is not that simple. Expensive or not, chocolate, cakes, croissants and other post meal consumables are realistic options for the consumer as opposed to ice cream. Ferrara Rocha, a competitor, will assure you that their product is the perfect accompaniment to any meal. Ben and Jerry need to be wary of this. How the consumer makes the decision for ice cream as opposed to chocolate, super premium as opposed to premium or ordinary, and Ben and Jerry's as opposed to Haagen Dazs, is essential.
Both Ben and Jerry and Haagen Dazs shared 42% of the market share in 1996. At this point and time no other seems to have the ability or financial backing to challenge this. But new entrants in the marketplace is a possibility. However there are two problems to be overcome. The brand and distribution is the first. One has to keep in mind that these are up market consumers where by cheap alternative are not necessarily sought, for then the key element is the brand. The brand and the associated image are something currently only Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry's have. The emotional tie related to Ben and Jerry's and Haagen Dazs, and everything it possesses is something that will be difficult to emulate. It is a question of “I wouldn’t be caught dead eating another ice cream.” As opposed to “This is cheaper and tastes kind of like Ben and Jerry's so I will buy this from now on.”
The other barrier concerns distribution. Ben and Jerry's is a fresh ice cream and by nature difficult to transport. Consequently distribution to stores around the U.S. and globally will be expensive and require partners such as Dryers that have extensive transportation networks. Of course this is a concern for Ben and Jerry's because they are having a rival manufacturer distributing their ice cream.
Product: The company produces a physical good – Cookies/Crackers. In doing this, the company became diversified by the use of several product lines, not just one line of cookie or cracker. Also, in acquiring other businesses, the company thought it best to keep the originating firm’s brand name vice-carrying its name on the new product (i.e., Sunshine company). In thins regard, Sunshine’s Cheeze-It cracker line would not risk losing customers who are accustomed to that logo on the product or the name being used in association with the product.
Staying in touch with their customers would not enable Ben and Jerry to be as successful as they have become if their ice cream was not high quality as well. The second value the company espouses is to use only wholesome, natural ingredients. They began their operation on this premise, utilizing fresh Vermont milk and cream to create their frozen concoctions. During a period of volatility in the dairy market in 1991, the company went so far as to pay a dairy premium totaling a half million dollars to combat Vermont dairy farmers’ losses. This helped protect the family farmers who supplied the milk for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
...alented young managers in this area need to be aggressively obtained for long term growth. For a quick fix, this service should be outsourced to handle current needs. Distribution channels need to improve as well. Currently, competitor’s products are easily found at major retail channels. Nestle is in the position to gain a strong hold on the home dessert market for ice cream. Ice-fili needs to compete more aggressively in this portion of the market. In addition franchises and fast food chains should be targeted for partnerships or joint ventures so Ice-Fili’s ice cream can grow in association with a post meal dessert opposed to simply impulsive snack purchases. A key avenue to explore is an Initial Public Offering. This would generate enough funds to continue capital investment in technology desperately needed as well as promoting international market growth.
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream is a brand name company known worldwide. With superior marketing techniques Ben and Jerry's has positioned themselves to be the leader in manufacturing premium ice cream products. They have successfully targeted their market, and there by achieved a strong customer base. The mission statement of their product line is "to make, distribute, and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream while incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the earth and the environment".(1)
The European Vice President of United Cereal (UC), Lora Brill, is confronted by a dilemma: to launch a new product called Healthy Berry Crunch as the first ‘Eurobrand’ or not. A wrong decision may destroy her career, especially since Healthy Berry Crunch is not only a new concept of healthy cereal, but also a pioneer of United Cereal’s Eurobrand, which is different from the company’s usual standards. On the other hand, if she makes the right decision, she may be able to grow the company to a whole new level.
Focusing on the well being of the customers should be the main focus of any major company, especially fast food companies. By reducing the amount of unhealthy choices for children and replacing them with nutritional foods, the nation’s youth will benefit.
Key success factors in the industry are a strong brand presence, maintaining customer loyalty as exploring new markets and distribution channels as well as offering a diversified product line. Implications of these factors are strong competition and dependency of company’s behavior and marketing strategies on competitors’ behavior. This is especially true for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo since their flagship products are very much alike in look and taste.
The Dunkin brand has two major companies Baskin Robins and Dunkin Donuts. For this business analysis I will be focusing in on Dunkin Donuts of the Dunkin Brand. Dunkin Donuts is one of the leading companies in the coffee industry that is growing rapidly each day. Though the coffee is rapidly increasing, can Dunkin Donuts keep up and compete with top rivals?
The threat of new entrants is moderately strong. Incumbents do not strongly contest entry of newcomers, but existing industry members are consistently looking to expand their geographic reach and offer a broad product assortment. Brand awareness and customer loyalty are high and greatly important i this industry.
The Russian Ice Cream market is worth $ 500 million, with Ice Fili as the market leader. The industry concentration, determined by the market share of the four largest firms in a sector is low for Russian ice-cream industry. It indicates that the industry is highly fragmented and competitive. The industry has experienced a low growth rate of ~ 3.5 % for the last two years and the other factors influencing the overall market size, like the population and the per capita consumption of ice cream have been stagnant over the years. The external factors like the shrinking frozen-foods imports market coupled with low entry barriers caused increase in the number of new entrants into the ice-cream market.
Demographics of the area show the largest consumer base as professional adults and students ages 24-54 with household income of $52,000 and up. The primary target market are the professional wage earners, which will be a high proportion of customers that will have a greater demand for the product, the age and income breakdowns show that a large portion has enough disposable income to be able to patronize Rooms for Dessert upscale dining and entertainment. Sub-segment market is based on the heterogenous approach, “The heterogenous approach taps into the differences between consumer demands. Segmenting the market into bite-sized chunks allows your company to cater to individuals” (Bradley., N.D.). Rooms for Dessert will target customers desiring a sweet treat not necessarily a high-end dessert such as customers who are generally not concerned about health or
In terms of competition the three closest competitors together only control approximately 6% of the market (2% each) while McDonald’s holds about 19% of the fast food burger market. Whereas, Jack in the Box and Burger King have remained cyclical in terms of their menus outward growth (both companies menus are comprised of mainly burgers and fried items, with little to no healthy alternatives). On the other Hand, Wendy’s and McDonald’s have embraced the value of healthier menu items whether out of necessity or to avoid potential litigation in the future.
PepsiCo is one of the most recognized names in the snack and beverage industry, with brands like Frito-lay, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Quaker, however, it is best known for its flagship soft drink brand - Pepsi and its rivalry with Coca-Cola. To begin, PepsiCo first caught my Interest in the way it manages its business and markets its products. PepsiCo being a relatively young company compared to its rival Coke, has proven to be a formidable opponent going “head to head” with one of the biggest companies in the world (Coca-Cola). Now, when I notice PepsiCo’s growth, the first thing that came to my mind was that it is thanks to its great marketing campaigns, that Pepsi has grown to become the globally recognized brand that it is today. I also admire PepsiCo because I think the there is a high level of entrepreneurship in the way they acquired smaller brands like Gatorade thereby eliminating their competition before they become competition.
The ice cream market growth picked up after de-reservation of the sector in 1997. Of the total size of Rs 15-16bn, around 30-32% is in the hands of organized sector valued at Rs 4.9bn, rest all is with the unorganized sector. Among the major players in this industry Hindustan Lever has a market share of around 50%, represented mainly by Kwality Walls brand. Amul with an estimated market share of 35% is rapidly gaining market share and lastly Vadilal is the player in the national market with 8-9% of the market share.
be brand conscious and hence would prefer having premium ice cream such as London Dairy which