Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Research - Essay Example I believe that Paradise Foods should discontinue its promotion of LaTreat and instead get behind the concept of Sweet Dream. Barbara Mayer has her own self-interest at heart when she says that LaTreat should be the sole focus of the company’s strategic efforts. LaTreat has now been established in the market for a few years, but the product’s growth rate is slowing down. For Paradise Foods to retain a stake in the frozen desserts market, a new product needs to recapture some of the customers who were once loyal to LaTreat but have since grown tired of it. In addition, there has been increased competition in the market, and this has had an adverse effect on the sales of the product. The frozen desserts market has expanded significantly since LaTreat first entered the market, and in fact the market has since outgrown the product. This can be evidenced by the fact that revenues for the product did not grow at all in 1986 and 1987. My recommendation to you is that neither La Treat nor Sweet Dream is discarded, but rather both products are promoted together. While this may seem like cannibalizing, in fact both products can work in tandem to pick up customers who fall through the cracks. From the BehaviorScan data, I have managed to break down the customers of LaTreat into four main categories: Loyalists, Trial Users, Accelerators, and Switch-on-Deal customers. Currently, LaTreat is only picking up customers of the latter two categories. Many of the current customers of LaTreat do not feel any long-term loyalty towards the brand or only make purchases when promotions are on offer. For any product to grow long term, these are not the types of customers who will help contribute to this success. This is, however, where Sweet Dream comes in and fills a gap. Loyalists and Trial Users are extremely hard to pick up through using an already existing product because the â€Å"wow† factor has gone. However, Sweet Dream is a brand new product to the market an d is likely to experience a â€Å"honeymoon† period during the first few months after release. The customers who remain loyal to one brand for a sustained period of time are highly sought after, so everything should be done to not only attract them, but keep them as loyal customers. The initial data that I have gathered around Sweet Dream suggest that the product has the potential to be a hit. The data show that Sweet Dream received a three market share in Midland and Pittsfield after only six months. The trial rate was 15 percent, while the repurchase rate was 45%. These figures are all astounding, and even if the product could not sustain these numbers over the long term, it would still capture a significant portion of the market share. To sum up, my recommendation to you is that the committee reconsiders Sweet Dream, except this time in conjunction with LaTreat. While there would have to be competition from an outsiders’ point of view, the two products could be mark eted to different sections of the market. The competition between the two products would be minimal at best; this would be to try and build up the brand image of Paradise Foods rather than result in the promotion of one product line. I would even be willing to work with Barbara Mayer to