Cowgirl Chocolates Case Study

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Chris Olang BUAD 6300 Case 6-16 Cowgirl Chocolates 10/6/2010 Before spending an additional $3,000 on an advertising campaign in the March/April edition of Chile Pepper Magazine, Marilyn Lysohir is considering what she needs to do in order to achieve her goal of becoming a profitable company. She needs to analyze consumer perceptions and pricing strategies. She also needs to identify and gain access to effective distribution channels and effectively use the company web site. Since the inception of a spicy chocolate recipe, Marilyn Lysohir has been trying to grow a profitable business but, every year she has loaned the company money to keep it running. 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. In addition, the average consumer of spicy hot foods is male, yet in contrast Marilyn’s target market is female. This trend indicates that although the current target market is high-energy and risk-taking this target will not necessarily identify with a cowgirl country theme or be completely satisfied with just the effects and tastes of hot pepper spices. Another area that requires analysis is pricing. Although none of Cowgirl Chocolates competitors carry a full-line of exclusively hot spiced chocolates, Marilyn indicated that she prices her line of bars similar to Seattle Chocolates bars. She further expressed concern over the fact that the tins

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