Development of a New Snack - Case Study Example

This puts pressure on the manufacturers of children's snack products to rethink their advertising and marketing strategies for this market group, and it also alters the process of product development by introducing new factors into their external environment analysis. The British Medical Association (2005) has also expressed its concern with regards to the increasing levels of childhood obesity in the country, which are a result of poor nutrition and exercise. Snacks probably of concern to the BMA as well as a result of their advertising and marketing which is targeted at children.

This is supported by research conducted by the BMA (2005), the EU and the University of Strathclyde which demonstrated that marketing is influential in the decisions made to purchase particular foods. Another finding of this research was that children were not able to assess the nutritional quality of foods advertised to them, which further supported the actions of other European countries who have taken a step further by prohibiting advertising aimed at children (BMA 2005). The systematic review conducted by the University of Strathclyde highlighted that food advertising to children in the UK was higher, the food advertised was less healthy and that food promotion was affecting children's preferences, behaviour and consumption (BMA 2005).

This brief summary of the UK highlights the potential prob. ing public pressure and regulation is bound to affect the external environmental analyses that are undertaken, which will adversely affect profits and revenue. To further understand the potential risks faced by children's snack product developers, it is necessary to undertake a brief analysis of the external environment in this industry. 2.0 The External Environment AnalysisThe external environment analysis is important for organisations as product development is often influenced by the needs of the consumer and the ability of the organisation to meet the consumers' needs (Brassington and Stephen 2005).

In other words, the external environmental analysis prioritises the most important influences in the product market. For organisation involved in the production of snacks for children, the external environmental analysis is even more important, as their target market is one which does earn income, which means that the focus is then placed on those able to purchase the products, such as the parents. This analysis also defines the scope for the organisation, with which they can influence the needs of children by targeting their parents and other channels which children are often exposed to.

Therefore it would follow that parents and marketing channels will prove to be the most influential in meeting their goals. However, recent consumer and government pressure is forcing children's snack producers to re-evaluate their external environment analysis. As the analysis will focus on external influences, the most appropriate tool is the PEST analysis which stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technology (Sullivan and Adcock 2002). 3.0 Children's Snack Product MarketIn the UK advertising snack products to children has fallen by approximately 15%, which