Write a white paper on a company of your choice and discuss the market segmentation within that industry along with the target market for the company and the selection process for that target market.

Company background

The company is a relatively new company known as Britannia which has been  formed after the acquisition of another company ,BonBon Inc.The distribution was strengthened due to this takeover.The company mainly operates in the biscuits segment and aspires to be one of the greatest in the race.On the operations side it had made many conquests  and it has also ventured into the dairy products segment.It aspires to be the biggest brands with the innovation it has introduced in their business strategy which includes adoption of new technological advances in their warehouse and product manufacturing segment.It has been one of the most deserved brands and has conducted highly successful campaigns for its products which have been judged by the likes of Ogilvy and Mather.

Strategic mission

Nutrition is the basis of life sustaining activities and through our efforts we shall uphold the values and provide quality food to our stakeholders with innovation and continuous improvements in our value chain.

The foreign economy targeted is India.The reasons are listed below:

GDP growth consistently above 5%, thereby increasing the purchasing power of the population

Ø  Increase in literacy rate (75% in 2011) arousing health consciousness

Ø  R&D activities resulting in the launch of new products from companies like Britannia, Frito Lay and etc.

Ø  In India, Healthy snack is a misnomer. Anything packaged is considered unhealthy. It is a difficult category to build. Presently only 5% of the market share is held by Health Snacks.

Ø  Health conscious people don’t consider either biscuits or chips to be healthy as they have high sodium content

Ø  As Indian consumers eat in smaller quantities (compared with advanced countries) they are sure of what they want to eat—when they feel like having chips they go for chips and when they feel like having biscuits they eat biscuits

Ø  Insight

Ø  Huge untapped potential in the market.

Ø  No established major competitor in the market.

Competitor analysis suggests Failure of competitors mainly due to failing to communicate the health benefits.

Ø  Sales dropped by 60% from December 2010 to Jan 2013.

Ø  Causes of failure:

Ø  Promoted the product as a snack rather than driving in the health benefits. Flavours not appealing to Indian Taste buds.

Withdrawn from market in August 2011.

Causes of failure:

Advertised it as a baked product. No scientific explanation of health benefits provided.

Target Market and Positioning

The first segment we will call as the The Conscious Corporate.

Target: The Target segment consists of the Urban Executives who are in the higher echelons of power and hold offices .The age of the segment will be around 35-55 years.

Location: They will mainly be located in the Tier 1 cities

Characteristics of the target segment

·         Educated and Affluent.

·         Prone to Coronary diseases owing to lifestyle.

·         Sharp rise in health consciousness.

Key Focus:

·         Drive in the benefits of removal of transfats in snacks in reducing cholesterol.

·         The Ailing Snacker

The second target segment will be theMiddle aged and Senior citizens in the age range of 50-70 years.

Location:They will be mainly located in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities

Characteristics:

·         Loves snack bites but cannot do so owing to health issues (specially cardiac problems).

·         Possess adequate purchasing power.

Key Focus:

Project the appealing tastes without compromising on the health front.

The third target segment will be called the The Globalised Lady

Target: Here we will have the Urban Woman, Housewives and Working Ladies in the age range of 20-40 years.

Location: The location chosen for this target segment will be the Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities

Characteristics:

·         They are well educated.

·         Figure conscious and ready to spend adequately for maintaining her physique

Key Focus:

Focus on the harmful effects of transfats in obesity and female infertility.

Product  positioning

•          Leverage the companies image of being an “Honest and Trusted” brand

•          Launch the transfat free product under the Brand name of “Britannia” as “Britannia Snackies”

•          Project the product’s health benefits coupled with flavours satisfying  Indian Taste buds

•          Highlight the malefic effects of other snacks available in the market

•          Brand Ambassador

•          “Fit and successful”

•           Soothing personality appealing to both corporates and urban elites

SWOT analysis of the company

Promotionional activities and Branding

Televison advertisements

•       Product placement

•        Soap – Indians are very prone to family values and ethics and have a high viewership on television soaps

•       TVC –  New ads portraying new positioning

•        TV owing households – 110 million in cable and satellite category

•        Target- The Globalised Lady

Print media

•       Focus on Business  (e.g. Business Today)  and Women oriented magazines (e.g. Grihashobha)

•        Target- The Globalised Lady and The Conscious Corporate

Events

•       Be a co-sponsor of “Mumbai Marathon”

•        Useful in promoting product visibility among the corporates and general public. Event in line with the “healthy” proposition presented by the product.

•        Target- The Conscious Corporate

Resources:

•       Crofton,E.C. , Markey, A. & Scannell,A.G.  (2013).Consumers’ expectations and needs towards healthy cereal based snacks: An exploratory study among Irish adults. International Food Journal, 115 ,8-15

•       Rahman,Z.  &  Bhattacharyya,S.K. (2003) .First mover advantages in emerging economies: a discussion. Management Decision, 41 , 141 - 147