Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges Claudette Harrington Professor Kelly MKT100078VA012*1118*001 (Principles of Marketing) Fall 2011 Date (put in date of submission) 1. Describe the type of consumer buying decision that best describes the choice to indulge at Ethel’s. The type of consumer buying decision that best describes the choice to indulge at Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge is limited decision making. This type of decision making requires low level involvement (although higher than routine decisions) because the consumer expends only moderate effort in looking for information or in considering other alternatives. Also limited decision making happens when the consumer has previous product experience but they might be unfamiliar with Ethel’s brands.
Cowgirl chocolates cater to both Chocolate lovers and spicy food lovers with the final product being packaged in custom tins, bags, buckets and boxes. Despite having award winning packaging designs and a high quality chocolate, many consumers and retailers are reluctant to purchase or retail the product. Both consumers and potential retailers have mentioned that the chocolates are too spicy. To help expand her market base, Marilyn has created a non-spicy chocolate called mild-mannered. It is believed that only 10-15 percent of American consumers currently eat hot food.
This is the reason why creating alternative products for the company is necessary . Even though the company is focused on promoting spicy chocolates , it should always create an alternative to cater to the needs of those who might not like the said type of product .COMPETITION BASED PRICING : What other products are in the market and what does the company product have in advantage ? The good points as well as limitations of the produced items should be carried into consideration as the pricing is being decided upon . For cowgirl chocolates , most competition in the industry comes from the businesses producing sweet chocolates . An advantage maybe is that the Cowgirl
| Company Analysis of Mega Food | MGT 6671 | | | | There are several ethical issues to take into consideration when formulating a recommendation on whether to relocate the chocolate candy facility to the country of Frostburg. For example, the labor laws in the country of Frostburg are not well developed. This could possibly mean workers are not paid minimum wage, exposed to chemicals, or dangerous machinery. From an ethical perspective, we must ask ourselves: Is Mega Food comfortable putting employees at risk? Not only do poorly treated workers typically make poor-quality goods, but U.S. companies that aren’t careful about sweatshops could face the costly job of reputation repair if a watchdog group links their brands to workplace abuses (Viedermann, 2007).
Flare Fragrance Case Analysis Competency "Lindt & Sprungli of Switzerland" (an example demonstrated in class) a super-premium chocolate company entering Canada were facing tough competition. The company did not have enough resources to take on its rivals. So it withdrew and choose a different approach by positioning itself in a desert category (with the concept of chocolate-wine pairing) instead of snack category. Similarly, as per analysis Flare has less or no competitive advantage against its rival company Aromatique in an already crowded market and hence Flare cannot launch Savvy as such. Flare could position Savvy differently by marketing to a different (broader or niche) segments, or create point of difference for Savvy (product differentiation), or take the help of family brand (line extension), or explore other options to flourish (channel expansion, acquiring the competitors, etc).
Because of the initial unsuccessful testing of the blueberry based cereal, Healthy Berry Crunch was not put through the normal testing to ensure complete customer acceptance, it did show good results in limited testing. Because of budget restraints, Health Berry has not gone through the typical UC testing. Strategically, introducing Healthy Berry as a Eurobrand is very risky. As shown in the data, cereal consumption varies greatly through Europe. From a total consumption of 8 kg/year in the UK, to only 0.5 kg/year in Italy.
In order for Mr. Parkhill to achieve the board of director’s request he will need to determine Rogers’ Chocolates core competencies and use them to create a competitive advantage. Rogers’ Issues There are various issues that are facing Rogers’ Chocolate ranging from marketing to production of the product. The first major issue that Rogers’ is confronted with is the matter of the production. The first issue in the production of the chocolate that has no meaningful measures of productivity efficiency in the plant and thus no real knowledge of whether the day was successful in the level production. This can be observed by the fact that the firm is using dated equipment in the production of the chocolate; this causes a significant cost due to the cleaning of the equipment before and after shifts.
“Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges: Back to the Future?” 1. Describe the type of consumer buying decision that best describes the choice to indulge at Ethel’s. The type of consumer buying decision to indulge at Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges would depend upon brand familiarity and/or experience with the “chocolate lounge” concept. A consumer who has never heard of, or visited a chocolate lounge, and unaware of Ethel’s connection to the Mars chocolate brand, may engage in extensive decision making before making a purchase, especially when perusing the menu and expensive prices. Once the consumer found the experience enjoyable, they could shift to limited decision making when considering the different items to purchase during their next visit, or when comparing Ethel’s to other establishments like Starbuck’s or Godiva.
Ethel's Chocolate Lounges MKT100 Strayer University January 29, 2012 Consumer Buying Decision The type of consumer buying decision that best describes the choice to indulge at Ethel's is routine response behavior. This type of decision making typically deals with low-cost goods and services and require little decision time. Consumer involvement is a significant factor in buying decisions. Consumers are usually familiar with the different brands of the product being considered. In this case, the familiar product would be chocolate.
From experimenting with the idea of combining hot and spicy flavor with fine imported chocolate Marilyn has developed an intriguing product mix of hot and spicy chocolate bars, a hot and spicy caramel dessert sauce she personally makes herself, and chocolate truffles in several distinctive flavors including, plain chocolate, mint, orange, lime tequila, and espresso. With the object to be suitable for gifting her packaging was par excellence aimed at a slightly higher than average consumer market. With a sassy “Go ahead Hot Shot” her logo helps to identify her product as not your ordinary chocolates. Marilyn’s chocolates have won many awards for excellence; however she has struggled to get her product represented in supermarkets and specialty shops throughout the U.S. and the U.K. with marginal success. She has also seen some success on her web site.