Brim-case study in marketing strategies
beverage 700 years ago, coffee was a food, then a wine, and then a medicine. Coffee moved from Arabia to Turkey during the 1500’s and to Italy in the early 1600’s. Coffeehouses sprang up throughout Europe in the 1600’s and became meeting places for discussion. Coffee came to America in the 1660’s and coffee growing was introduced to Brazil in the 1700’s.
There are three general groups of coffee-Brazils, Milds, and Robustas. Most coffees are named for the region where it is grown or the port from which it is shipped. The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine. Caffeine is a substance that acts as a stimulant on the nervous system. Research has shown that prolonged use of coffee in substantial quantities may lead to certain heart disease and increase the risk of potential heart attacks.
Market
In the mid and late 1970’s the overall coffee market was in decline. The coffee market had many characteristics of a mature market. Total coffee volume had plateaued and was beginning to fall; however, the total decaffeinated segment was expected to double by 1980. General Foods acquired Sanka, the first decaffeinated brand of coffee in 1932. Sanka held a 92% share of the decaffeinated market, but it was vulnerable because of one major weakness: poor taste. Research showed the main reason people were unwilling to switch to decaffeinated coffee was its perceived poor taste, and in particular, Sanka. General Foods felt that to protect their stronghold on the decaffeinated market they had to employ a defense strategy. The chosen strategy was to use innovation to develop a product that operated in the same decaffeinated niche as Sanka but made up for it’s taste shortfall.
Product Defined
According to Kotler, a product is defined as anything that can be offered to satisfy a need or want. Occasionally, other terms are used in place of product such as offering or solution. Decaffeinated coffee was offered as a solution to customers who required the taste of coffee without the ill effects of caffeine.
Brim’s Position
Product Characteristics
Product Life Cycle
Four points must be asserted to say that a product has a life cycle: (1) products have a limited life; (2) product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different challenges, opportunities, and problems to the seller; (3) Profits rise and fall at different stages of the product life cycle, and (4) products require different marketing, financial, marketing, purchasing, and human resource strategies in each stage of their life cycle. A product’s life cycle typically portrays its sales history following a distinct bell shaped curve. This bell shaped curve can further be divide into four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Branded products can have either a long or short-run product life cycle.
Brim is in the mature-decline stage of its life cycle. The Life-Cycle pattern it most clearly resembles is the Growth-Slump-Maturity pattern.
Competition
During every pioneer’s product life cycle, the product will enter a competitive cycle. In this cycle, competitors [next page]