Japanese Market and Recommendations Essay Example

Analysis to determine Ben & Jerry’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, followed by Options for Entering the Japanese Market and Recommendation.

SWOT Analysis Strengths: 1. Ben and Jerry’s donates seven and a half percent of pre-tax profits to social causes, which helps send the message that they care about the community, as well as advertises their products 2. Ben and Jerry's Scoop Shops are franchised worldwide 3. Strong brand name; ice cream flavors like “Cherry Garcia” have established a brand name customers want to buy 4. Ben and Jerry Homemade, Inc. is a publicly traded stock, “BJICA” 5. This helps the corporation raise money for future projects and the development of new ice cream.

Similar essay: Haagen Dazs Marketing Mix Strategy And Beechdean Dairies

Weaknesses

1. Lack of professionalism in management 1. Need to hire serious members to discuss future growth, create a strategic plan, and to separate their business from their social issues 1. Unclear clear mission statement 1. Hurts the company entering into new markets 1. If they do not know what direction they are headed in, they will fail at maintaining a successful business strategy in a new foreign market 2. They need to enter new ventures with the end in mind.

1. Their focus on social responsibility issues could hurt the company by: 1. Shifting focus away from important business matters and not being able to capitalize on new markets if they do not fit in with their social beliefs 2. Adding unnecessary costs; the money spent on social issues may be better invested in a strategic management team Opportunities1. Market to health conscious consumers by introducing fat-free and healthy ice cream/frozen yogurt products  2. Expand existing product lines to compete with the private, in-house brands offered by

supermarkets, which controls twenty-nine percent of U.S. ice cream sales 3. Develop a strategic management team and continue international expansion.

1. Ben ; Jerry’s may enter new markets, such as Brazil, South America, and China, and thus expand their customer base, and increase profits 1. Merge with a company to gain more advantage in the industry Threats 1. Target market is changing because of customer preferences 1. Customers are wanting to prevent obesity 2. Customers are more apt to buy substitute products due to the current state of the economy 1. Contamination of the food supply 1. Milk 2. Egg (contamination, like e-coli) 1. Cost of supplies could potentially increase, thus causing the price of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to increase as well.

Options for Entering the Japanese Market Ben ; Jerry’s had a couple different options for entering the Japanese market. Their first option was to gain distribution through the use of Domino’s Pizza/Mr. Yamada, or partnering with 7-Eleven/Mr. Iida, or simply not entering the market at all. We have created the following list of pros and cons to determine which option best suits the needs of Ben ; Jerry’s.