Analyzing The Problems Faced By Kraft Foods In Launching Their Variation Of The Product, Vegemite, An Essay.

In this assignment consumer behaviour case to be analysed. In their analysis, they will be expected to demonstrate their understanding and application of some key consumer behaviour concepts and theories and present their findings in a written report.

Analyse and explain individual and group behaviour within an organisation and how these behaviours influence the achievement of
organisational effectiveness.

The Problems Faced by Kraft Foods

In the competitive world of today, every company wants to be ahead of its competitors. This is achieved through various methods. However, the most crucial part of any company is its consumers. The consumers rule the roost for any company under any industry. The consumers are the indirect and influential decision makers for any company. This write up identifies and analyses the problem faced by Kraft Foods during the launch of the variation of the product, Vegemite. It generates and evaluates a range of alternative solutions for the problems faced by the company. Then it comes up with recommendation and implementation of the steps that is necessary to avoid further damage in the future marketing procedure.

The major problems that the company faced were that the company directly asked the consumers to name the product rather than asking for ideas as to what kind of product is to be launched or any sort of product ideas. Another problem that arose in the company was that the management of the company underestimated the power of the consumers.

The consumers are responsible for deciding the popularity and in the longer run, the profitability of a company. The company needs to be careful and aware about the preferences and the choices of the consumers. The consumers, after careful observation takes a decision either in favour or against the product marketed by a particular company. This concept is further broadened by the theory of Reasoned Action. This theory, proposed by the theorists, Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein, says that the consumers are individuals who have a rational way of thinking. They have the ability to create and receive a particular outcome (Montano and Kasprzyk 2015). The theory stresses the fact that in the process of decision-making, the specificity is mandatory. The consumers decide on a specific product that is to be bought from the market. This theory propagates the rationality of the consumers, highlighting their power of taking rational decisions, which suit their self-interest the best (Tsai, Chen and Chien 2012).

The consumers nowadays actively participate in gathering information about a certain product that is newly launched in the market. They refer to external sources to gather new information about the product.  Many factors and variables influence the consumers to take the decision whether or not to purchase the newly launched product. The consumers have the power and the capability to form an opinion based on the information that they can get their hands on (Palma and Hong 2014). In this case, the management of the company underestimated the power of the consumers in the decision making process of the marketing procedure of the new variation of Vegemite. In this case, the EKB (Engel, Kollat and Blackwell) model of consumer behaviour can be put into context. The action of just asking the consumers to name the product rather than being more involved in the marketing strategy of the new product. This was a wrong move especially after the company came up with the decision of asking the consumers about their ideas on with what they are keen on having the product.

Consumers and their Importance in Marketing

For the initial problem, the measure that the company could have taken was to encourage a more direct engagement of the consumers. Kraft Foods should have asked for a more direct participation and involvement from the consumers of the product. The company could have asked for some ideas as to what type of products they would like. It should have followed the theory of Reasoned Action before formulating the first marketing strategy for the propagation of the new product variation of Vegemite. The Engel, Kollat, Blackwell (EKB) model states that there are many steps that are involved in the absorption of a new product by the consumers in the market. Firstly, the consumer sees the product, and then he collects the available data on the product (East, Wright and Vanhuele 2013). The consumer then compares the product with other existing products and then moves on to processing the information gathered through all these stages with the reference of the experiences that he has had. During the preliminary stage, the marketers must provide the customers with adequate information (LeBlanc 2015). The company should have provided the consumers with adequate information before coming out with the new product in the market. Another alternative solution to this problem is that the company could have come up with a strategy that asked the consumers for ideas about the new product that they were going to launch.

The underestimation of the consumers by Kraft Foods in marketing their new product was a major error on their part. For this error in judgment on the part of the company, the company should have consulted the consumers for each step of the decision making process for this product. Since Kraft Foods initially began the process by asking for opinion of the consumers, it should have stuck to the format and involved the consumers in each step of decision-making. Since the brand is an iconic one to the people of Australia, and is loved by a majority of the population, coming out with a new variant of the much loved and popular product should have been consulted with the consumers. The company, for their name-deciding contest for the new product, should have decided the name of the new product through a consumer poll in the first place and not chosen the name with the help of the experts of the company (Jisana 2014).

To recommend it can be stated that the company can choose a combination of the solutions that is proposed in the above paragraphs. Kraft Foods should have provided adequate information about the launch of the product and should have consulted the consumers for each step of the marketing procedure of the product. The theory of Reasoned Action should have been in the minds of the management of the company. The company should have involved the consumers in each step of marketing the product as in the world of today, the consumers rule the roost for any industry.

Alternative Solutions to the Problems Faced

The implementation of these strategies is essential to avoid any further disastrous marketing ventures that the company can undertake. Distribution of leaflets carrying information about the upcoming product or the future step that the company is going to take must be distributed in the supermarkets targeting the interested buyers. The marketing team should consult with the advertising team and formulate a catchy plan to attract the attention of the customers. This level is essential and should cost averagely to the company (Dawson 2014). Then the marketing team should formulate an online poll asking the consumers about their opinion about what the product should be including its main ingredients and the name of the product. This can be done through an online poll or a poll conducted in the supermarkets. This step will cost a major share of the budget to the company. All these steps must be done in order to avoid any future marketing debacle, which might cost the company its popularity.

Conclusion:

To conclude we can say that the consumers are the most important aspect for any company in any industry around the world. Companies should pay attention to the demands of the consumers if they want to be ahead of the competition game in the industry. The marketers should be aware of the psychology of the consumers. The marketers need to identify the target consumers, should also value their sentiment, and thought process in order to gain popularity and success. The companies should always take the input that the consumers give before marketing a product.

References: 

Dawson, J.A., 2014. The Marketing Environment (RLE Marketing) (Vol. 1). Routledge.

East, R., Wright, M. and Vanhuele, M., 2013. Consumer behaviour: applications in marketing. Sage.

Jisana, T.K., 2014. Consumer behaviour models: an overview. Sai Om Journal of.

LeBlanc, R.P., 2015. An Exploratory Investigation into the Relationship Between Evoked Set Decisions and Final Puchase Choice. In Proceedings of the 1989 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 7-11). Springer International Publishing.

Montano, D.E. and Kasprzyk, D., 2015. Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, and the integrated behavioral model. Health behavior: Theory, research and practice (.

Palma, F. and Hong, S.G., 2014. Triggers That Increase Co-Creation Risks: A Consumer Perspective. In Advances in Computer Science and its Applications (pp. 261-271). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Solomon, M.R., 2014. Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.  

Tsai, M.T., Chen, K.S. and Chien, J.L., 2012. The factors impact of knowledge sharing intentions: the theory of reasoned action perspective. Quality & Quantity, 46(5), pp.1479-1491.