Manufacture and Marketing of a New Breakfast Cereal in Australia

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MARKETING STRATEGY FOR NEW CEREAL

Manufacture and Marketing of a New Breakfast Cereal in Australia

Abstract

                                                                                                                         The challenge is to introduce a new breakfast cereal and to seek to market it in Australia.  In order to do so current marketing theories are briefly examined, and the marketing strategy is developed against the constraints imposed by changes in the following six macro-environments outside the organisation: demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural.  Also, having regard to the virtual dominance of the breakfast cereals market by five major companies, attention is focussed on special characteristics of the product which could ensure some market penetration.

Manufacture and Marketing of a New Breakfast Cereal in Australia

Introduction

         The product is a new breakfast cereal called “GoodHealth”, and it differs from those already on the market in two important respects: its ability to remain crisp for longer when milk is added, and its lower salt content (Oakenfull, 2009).  The product will be manufactured to complement the existing range of food products already produced by “PolyFoods”, a small company founded in 2001 and located in the outskirts of Canberra.  The first intention is to market GoodHealth throughout Australia, and then to expand into the global marketplace.  In order to achieve this aim attention will be given to exploiting modern marketing theories as they apply to the appropriate macro-environment outside the organisation.

The application of marketing theory

       The aim of marketing is to sell the product and over the years a number of theories have been developed to identify the factors which are necessary for the construction and implementation of an effective marketing strategy.  Shannon (2000) suggests that traditional practices promoting brand loyalty, as advocated by Kotler et al. (2009), may have limited future success and highlights ‘Salience’, or achieving awareness and use as the key to brand growth.  Linn (2010) offers the thought in “General Theory of Marketing” that the central feature is the ‘Transaction of buying and selling’ based on the perceived ‘value’ of the  product by the buyer.  This perception, which is underpinned by ‘brand image’, is subject to such fluctuations as needs, financial situation, experience and taste.  Linn (2010) offers a dual model of the process ‘Price Asked < Perceived Value’ and states that “The condition for the transaction being performed is, in principle, that the buyer values the product to equal or

more than the price asked” (Linn, 2010).  It is now appropriate to consider the six main macro-environments which will affect the target market for the product and consequently hte company’s product strategy.  

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Analysis of the macro-environment

Demographic

       In the late 1990s 49% of Americans ate cereals at breakfast – almost 20% more than any other product or combination (Topher, 1997).  Statistics gathered in Australia at about the same time (AUSSTATS, 1999) found that over 65% of the population ate cereals daily, although there was no clear breakdown into easily identifiable products.  However, the figures showed that children in the age range 2-15 years consumed more breakfast cereals – as did adults over 45 years – than the age group 16-44 years.  These trends indicated some marketing target areas. ...

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