UNITED CEREAL CASE SOLUTIONS

UNITED CEREAL CASE SOLUTIONS

Questions

1. As Lora Brill, UC’s European VP, would you authorize Jean-Luc Michel’s request to launch of Healthy Berry Crunch in France?

2. What do you think of Brill’s Euroband proposals? Should she authorize the launch of Healthy Berry Crunch as the Euroband? What concerns do you have? How would you resolve them?

3. How might UC implement your recommendations? What do you think of the Eurobrand Team proposal?

SOLUTIONS

The case gives a brief idea about the company’s confusion over a new product launch in Europe. United Grain was first established in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1910 and has stepped into other markets, such as drinks, frozen food and cooked food. But the trend of breakfast cereals came into play soon. It was very necessary for the company to do a full research before launching a new product. There were strong values and policies that the company had to follow for its managers. Breakfast was a pot of corn, a pot and a Kellog, which was just a great opponent. As the demand for cereals grew, the company was in a highly competitive sector. Developing a new brand is both expensive and time consuming. After 30 years, the company has stepped into the European market in the business world. He first grew up introducing American products after receiving local market distribution. The European market has become a complex market. The market varied in each of these countries. There were a variety of different breakfast traditions and national flavors. The distribution channels for these countries were also different. Over time, margins were put under pressure due to stagnation. This led to lower prices with more efficient operations. Lora Brill faces a challenge to bring a new product to the European market.

1. As Lora Brill, UC’s European VP, would you authorize Jean-Luc Michel’s request to launch of Healthy Berry Crunch in France?

The opening of the HBC in France is very badly affected. There was a sharp decline in stocks and shipments of the product in November; Researchers showed that more than 30% of respondents did not respond positively to product form and consistency. Moreover, the product should be developed and tested longer; By the approval of the Head of Department, the budget would mean a huge amount of money. In addition, the Berry Burst Cheerios rumors can have devastating effects on HBC sales if they do not have a solid plan to resist the well-known and respected Cheerios brand.

However, I start the HBC in France. It depends on some facts. UC sent about 40% more volume than they estimated in the first few months. In September and October, the share was above its targets; In addition, France showed interest in healthy nutrition. The test results of the HBC BlueBerry version in 6 French cities were 64% intentional and an extraordinary number considers it a new product; Moreover, Kellogg's strawberry specialty K has been the only competitive product in the French market in this new segment since last 4 years. Competition in this new segment is still challenging, but new entrances are coming, so new winners will have some advantages. For this reason, the product must first be exported to the market in France; Finally, given the 10-15% savings in overall European overall costs, Healthy Berries Crunch seems to meet the strategy of raising the market, making the company more efficient in its European operations and product matrix. In addition, the innovation in products was at the core of UC history, and the lunch of Health Berry Crunch would be parallel to this basic value.

2. What do you think of Brill’s Eurobrand proposals? Should she authorize the launch of Healthy Berry Crunch as the Euroband? What concerns do you have? How would you resolve them?

Eurobrand is a Europe-wide coordinated strategy for product marketing that has developed products for UC. When consumer pleasures are close together, old habits disappear and EU regulations dissolve market differences; Products, as well as marketing, advertising and advertising, can be standardized and the potential for product homogeneity across Europe can be seen. The launch of Eurobrands can lead to a potential loss of the "customer listener" of the UC route. Unless the UC tests the Healthy Berry Crunch across Europe, it never knows whether the customers in Europe want it. Launching Healthy Berry Crunch in France alone will cost at least 20 million dollars, twice the approval level of Lora Brill and 10 times the approval level of Southern Europe Deputy Chief Jean-Luc Michel. Moreover, there is a difference between UC's views on this strategy and many subsidiaries continue to get rid of stagnation, which will create future obstacles for Eurobrands to succeed as European strategy. However, if we start Eurobrands, UC can reduce product development and marketing costs by 10% to 15% in 3 years. If this idea is successful at the same time, UC will gain a strong market penetration. This launch will also broaden the responsibilities of managers of many countries that need to be interacted across the country. This interaction will bring UC employees closer and make it a true European presence. My concern is, the size of the "test market and consumer panel results" is too small. In Europe, consumer tastes come together because of market differences. For this reason it would not be realistic to assume that the Healthy Berry Crunch would be well received across Europe. The UC will have to change its organizational structure to support the Eurobrand, which may cause some friction within the company. Changing the existing structure in UC, a vertical structure with a long authorization channel. Eurobrands will need a very flexible governance structure to adopt these countries. There is a very short time to make Lora's decision, and it makes sense to show Lora's first European brand, the Healthy Berry Crunch, a green flag when the augurs weigh heavily. Therefore, it should allow Healthy Berry Crunch to be launched as Eurobrand.

3. How might UC implement your recommendations? What do you think of the Eurobrand Team proposal?

The UC should follow the implementation steps:

The "Eurobrand Team", which broadens CM responsibilities as a multinational interaction, will need to be created. This interaction will bring UC employees closer and make it a true European presence.

The failure of "frozen juice product", called "disaster", reminds all the staff in the company.

By convincing CMs of their support that their entries will be judged on Eurobrand teams, and taking advantage of the fact that they are not a challenge for their authorities.

UC could gradually spread the Eurobrand strategy to other European countries to Germany and Benelux as long as this approach succeeded in France.

Test the Eurobrand approach and compete with Cheerio's Berry Burst by driving the Healthy Berry Crunch product in France to the market.

The "Eurobrand Teams", which expand multinational interaction and CM responsibilities, will be built by Bill's conceptual UC. The proposal of these teams is to determine the product formulation, market positioning, packaging, advertising, pricing and promotions, as well as ways to reduce costs and increase profitability. This offer has many advantages. First, these teams were modeled on the ETT, which proved to be so effective in the past. Brill's concept can then be used to ensure that the most important resources are used in the best possible way, as well as the coordination, control and overall appearance of all UC's European affairs, thus resolving the challenges of UC in Europe. In addition, Brill's bid structure can save between 10% and 15% over 3 years. Eurobrand Teams can also be negatively affected. First, CMs can raise suspicions that it is a challenge for their authority, and that a large number of member teams can function effectively, and so they will resist this strategy. Personally, I think this is a good alternative to UC's effective implementation of Eurobrand because creating a team instead of a failed product will help the company succeed in the European market. Although the structure of Lora's proposal is somewhat logical for UC's general and Eurobrand strategies, the organizational structure should still strengthen teamwork. The implementation of the new strategy can be effective, but is recognized only by the managers and employees in the organization structure, which is teamwork and communication. Moreover, contrary to the responsibility of one person, "European Forces" is a matrix structure. This structure of the company will become more complicated. Therefore, Bill must be sure that every employee has a clear division of labor and responsibility. But in this way the process is clear and effective.

If I were Lora Brill, I would let HBC go to the market in France. Based on the pluses and minuses of the launch and delay I analyzed above, opportunities are generally higher than in the French market and threats to launch HBC as a European brand. Moreover, when many European countries are free from recession, it is a good time to start Eurobrand, and this will evaluate the first buyers of UC against competitors and increase competition on the European market. In addition, UC will be able to save 10% to 15% in costs within 3 years by launching Eurobrand, a major advantage to its competitors in price strategy.