Pringles Market Overview - Case Study Example

Name Course Lecturer Date Executive Summary This market research project seeks to collect market data in order to gather more information regarding Pringles. In conducting this research, it is anticipated that the information gathered will be of great assistance in the marketing strategies to be employed. In order to initiate a successful marketing strategy, a market research is of paramount importance. This helps in initiating informed decisions on the business marketing research hence reducing the cost of irrelevance on the research plan. Cost cutting and prudence in market research is key for product and effective result. Any business that wants to reduce its loss and increase its sales and market research is the only tool in business that can ensure such results are achieved. This research plan seeks to map out a plan that will enable the sales of Pringles to increase significantly based on data collected on the ground. Market Research Plan • Objective This market research plan entails the following objective: i. To define and understand the problem ii. To uncover the issues causing the problem iii. Finding solutions iv. Understanding the data v. Making informed business decision • Findings i. New markets are available for the sale of Pringles ii. Pringles is only accessible to 20% of the entire global population iii. The market share in the snacks and fast foods industry is highly competitive iv. Pringles have kept up with the emerging market trends v. The Kellogg comes second after PepsiCo. • Recommendations on timing and budget This research will be done by the team members and it is anticipated to take three to four weeks to hand in a conclusive report. The budget for the research is estimated to cost about US$ 1000 or less depending on other unforeseen factors. Introduction & background This is a market research for Pringles, a food product that has been in the market for quite some time. The research is particularly focused on some of the marketing problems associate in with the product. This will involve consumer perceptions, available alternatives, competition, distribution and costing. These are fundamental issues that affect a product’s market significantly. Pringles were originally a product of Procter and Gamble and it was first introduced in the market in 1967 (McKee 2013). However, the brand was acquired by Kellogg in 2012 and still runs under the company to date. The plan seeks to advice the marketing team on the on the best available options in terms of market target, advertising and consumer retention strategies. All of these recommendations will be based on a thorough market research undertaken to support the recommended claims. • Market Overview Owned by the Kellogg Company, Pringles have gained popularity in the US and this has consequently translated to increased sales of the product. In terms of distribution and product presence, Pringles are sold around 140 countries (McKee 2013). In monitory value, the product accumulates a yearly turnover of US$ 1.4 billion for the company in estimates (McKee 2013). The growth in the total market share of Kellogg was greatly influenced by its acquisition of the Pringles brand. Its market share tripled in 2012 soon after it had acquired the brand. This acquisition process hurled the company to a second place in the global snack market (KnowThis.com: Planning for Marketing Research 2014). The leading company in the market remains to be PepsiCo. According John Bryant, the CEO of Kellogg, the company has more potential to become the leading company in the market. The company’s success is greatly attributed to its strategy of employing young and new talents. This has significantly helped in developing new markets especially in Europe, Latin America and the Asia pacific (McKee 2013). Kellogg is doing better than some of the already existing players in these regions • Size & Trends The size and trends of the Pringles have had historic changes in packaging and size depending on the market trends at a particular period. From 1986-1995, packet had its first identity logo of a head with a the letter Pringles written across as seen in the diagram below, Today the logo has changed to represent the current trends and it looks even more attractive and modernized. Below is a copy of the modern and most current logo on the Pringles packing packs. The most current trends in fast foods packaging is the use of hard paper boards in place of polythene bags. This is one of the most important and significant advantages of the Pringles. The product is widely known and admired for its stylish tubular paperboard pack. The pack has an aluminum interior lining and a similar plastic lid. Their popularity has been mainly influenced by this particular packaging that beats the conventional bag packaging. The neatly arranged potato chips are packed in a very enticing pack to lure the customer. This type of packaging is the most modern and trending packaging style currently. Other fast foods companies are also trying to come up with similar packing strategies. Nonetheless, Pringles remain to be the pace setter in terms of packaging trends. • Target Market Considering the estimates projected by the company’s CEO, 80% of Kellogg’s total sales are only enough to satisfy 20% of the world’s population (McKee 2013). This validates his claim that the company has a greater potential and opportunity to grow into a bigger entity. Some of the targeted markets currently include Brazil and India (McKee 2013). These two markets are however dominated by cereal but Kellogg is determined to build up slowly and create a demand for Pringles. Another market that will be pursued is the Middle East and Russian all of whom will give Pringles a different platform to grow. In addition to these markets, the company will seek to pursue the Chinese market and conduct test-market phases in the different cities in the country. To enhance its presence in Asia, the company has pledged to construct a manufacturing plant in Malaysia and at implausible price of US$130m (McKee 2013). • Product/Sale/Ads Currently, Pringles advertises tits product in its original market bases, the US, Canada, and in the UK and in Ireland (KnowThis.com: Planning for Marketing Research 2014). The product uses a very catchy slogan that is captivating to here and easy to remember, “Once you pop the fun don’t stop” (KnowThis.com: Planning for Marketing Research 2014). The original slogan initially was “once you pop you don’t stop” (KnowThis.com: Planning for Marketing Research 2014). In advertising, Kellogg is known to always use one strategy, comparing their product the normal potato chips. For instance, the current advert compared the Pringles with other chips. This is cleverly hidden in the slogan "Other potato chips just don't stack up" (KnowThis.com: Planning for Marketing Research 2014). In terms of the target population, Kellogg seeks to tap into the neglected young men and women. This population has been neglected over the years by the fiber cereal and breakfast food manufacturers. By focusing on this target group the company hopes to increase it sales and market influence significantly since the young people market has a great potential considering rise in the percentage of the youth. Management decision problem Management decision problems are the challenges that the management or decision makers face while performing their duties. With that in mind, Pringles as a product has been in the market for very many years although some negligible changes might have occurred on its packaging as well as its ingredients. In essence, most of its initial features have been retained over the years. The management is faced with a challenge on whether to rebrand the product and re-introduce it in the market afresh or should it keep the product in its current form (Taylor 2013). Market research problem The market research problem in this case is to find out whether it will be most prudent for the company to continue the production of Pringles in its current form or to rebrand it as a new product. In this case the management has to put into consideration issues like consumer retention strategies, consumer preferences and loyalties, as well as the cost involved in both actions. Rebranding may mean more cost incurred through marketing and creating awareness for the new product to accumulate demand (Goodwin, Wright & Phillips 2004). A thorough market research should be carried out to help the management in making sound and informed decision that will translate into more sales and profits. Market research objectives i. To identify the implications of rebranding the product ii. To establish consumers’ loyalty on the current form of the product iii. To ascertain that a change in the current brand would cause a market change in the demand of the product iv. To get consumers view on the intention to rebrand the product v. To establish the product’s popularity in the new proposed markets vi. To identify the areas of concern in terms of product satisfaction to the consumer vii. To gather data that will help in development and creation of new markets Management decision criteria Define and understand the problem The management should have the appropriate information in order for an informed decision to be made. This can only happen if the problem is well define and understood by the decision maker. Uncover the issues causing the problem In order to make a decision, the management must be able to point out the problems that are likely to arise in the event that the Pringles is rebranded as a new product. This may include factors such as pricing, change in production cost, losing markets out of customer loyalty to the existing product among other factors. Finding solutions With the data collected with regards to Pringles market and the problem defined, the management will begin establishing for possible and feasible solutions. This includes exploring possible approaches to solve the problem at hand. Understanding the data Before one can make a feasible decision, a careful study and comprehension of the data is vital. The market data collected must be critically analyzed to ensure that the decision made is informed by the real situation on the ground (KnowThis.com: Planning for Marketing Research 2014). Making an informed decision After a careful analysis of the situation, the management will be able to make a reasonable decision based on facts according to the market research data collected. Research design rationale This research is important for the marketing of Pringles in the new established markets and for its sustainable growth as well. The products maximum potential has not been exploited yet and it through this research that the management can be able to achieve that (Egan 2013). The research aims at trying to understand the new markets in order to maximize the opportunities created in specific entries. Proposed research design (mixed-mode survey) This research will be best carried out if a survey on the markets situation was done. This will include online surveys, mobile surveys, telephone surveys, face-to-face surveys survey (Bradley 2013). Mobile, telephone, and online surveys will help in saving time while face-to face have the advantages of ascertaining that some of the information given is correct. Field work / data collection Data collection in this research will be through the phone, online data, and the use questionnaires on face-to-face surveys. Audio recording could also been used in the process to capture audio responses from the respondents. Data analysis The data analysis method proposed in this research is the cross tabulation method. This method is very effective in clearly showing the relationship among different variable. This easily helps to analyze different variables for instance male ratings against female and so on. Reporting In reporting the research findings, it is important to beginning by outlining the objectives of the research, the methodology used and the findings therein. This report will be broken into four stages, the introduction, literature review, methods results and decision, and lastly conclusion Timing plan / project management Feature Driven Development, FDD, project management method will be used in this research (Bradley 2013). The main reason of using this methodology is because it allows us to make futuristic assessments on the market performance. In addition, the scheduling and implementation of the project is based on the features. Budget This research is estimated to cost around US$ 10,000 cater for travelling and research materials for the entire activity. Conclusion This paper has propped research plan for the proposed product, Pringles. This рrороsеd market rеsеаrсh has outlined the objectives that the research anticipates and the finding therein. The paper also has some recommendations on timing and the budgetary allocation cumulatively. In order to understand the product better, the paper gives its historical background. The management problem has been defined as well as the marketing research problem. The paper goes on to give a list of the research objectives as well as outlining the proposed management decision criteria that best suits this research. Survey has been proposed as the best research design for this project while data collections through the phone, online and face-to-face have been chosen. This report also has proposed the data analysis method and the strategy to be used for reporting as well as the project management methodology. In addition these, the budget estimate have also been proposed in this report. References Bradley, N 2013, Marketing research: tools and techniques, Oxford University Press, London. Egan, G 2013, The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping, Cengage Learning, New York. Goodwin, P., Wright, G & Phillips, L. D 2004, Decision analysis for management judgment, Wiley, London. KnowThis.com: Planning for Marketing Research 2014, McKee, S 2013, How to Develop a Market Research Plan, viewed 12, November 2014. Taylor, D. W 2013, Decision Making and Problem Solving1, Handbook of Organizations, New York. Read More