Nutrasweet in China-Sb
-Case Study Analysis- | NutraSweet in China | Sandra Burga |
MARKETING MANAGEMENT 658.22
Professor Stephen Rapier
Pepperdine University
MARKETING MANAGEMENT 658.22
Professor Stephen Rapier
Pepperdine University
I. History
Back in 1994 NutraSweet’s Consumer Products division (CPD) considered entering the growing China market. Their intent was to take advantage of the growing Chinese market and expand their brand developing a new sector of brand followers.
The CPD perceived three main opportunities: leverage the product brand, leverage marketing & manufacturing competencies and capitalize on China’s post-Cultural Revolution.
One of the enticing driving factor’s for NutraSweet (NS) was the low sugar consumption numbers in China, based on this perceived notion NutraSweet was posed with a couple of questions: Should NutraSweet enter the Chinese Market? If so, what will be the Risk vs. Profit opportunities? In addition, they also needed to consider their timing and strategy to enter the market. In doing so, they will have to carefully consider their Positioning and their Indirect versus Direct Distribution.
NutraSweet assigned Eve Stacey a recent Harvard Business School grad, formerly of Ingredients Division, to head the project. According to the information provided for the case, Ms. Stacey was given only 3-months to prepare recommendations. There is no additional information provided on the case that tells us if Ms. Stacey was already familiar with the Chinese culture or if she had a good understanding of the market as it related to NutraSweet. What we know if that she sought the help of a company called SRG to do door-to-door interview of 200 Chinese consumers. Overall, this was a very small sampling of the Chinese market to be able to access the need.
Back in the early nineties, NutraSweet’s Consumer Products division was responsible for tabletop sweeteners under the brand names of Equal®, Canderel®, and NutraSweet®, brands
MARKETING MANAGEMENT 658.22
Professor Stephen Rapier
Pepperdine University
MARKETING MANAGEMENT 658.22
Professor Stephen Rapier
Pepperdine University
I. History
Back in 1994 NutraSweet’s Consumer Products division (CPD) considered entering the growing China market. Their intent was to take advantage of the growing Chinese market and expand their brand developing a new sector of brand followers.
The CPD perceived three main opportunities: leverage the product brand, leverage marketing & manufacturing competencies and capitalize on China’s post-Cultural Revolution.
One of the enticing driving factor’s for NutraSweet (NS) was the low sugar consumption numbers in China, based on this perceived notion NutraSweet was posed with a couple of questions: Should NutraSweet enter the Chinese Market? If so, what will be the Risk vs. Profit opportunities? In addition, they also needed to consider their timing and strategy to enter the market. In doing so, they will have to carefully consider their Positioning and their Indirect versus Direct Distribution.
NutraSweet assigned Eve Stacey a recent Harvard Business School grad, formerly of Ingredients Division, to head the project. According to the information provided for the case, Ms. Stacey was given only 3-months to prepare recommendations. There is no additional information provided on the case that tells us if Ms. Stacey was already familiar with the Chinese culture or if she had a good understanding of the market as it related to NutraSweet. What we know if that she sought the help of a company called SRG to do door-to-door interview of 200 Chinese consumers. Overall, this was a very small sampling of the Chinese market to be able to access the need.
Back in the early nineties, NutraSweet’s Consumer Products division was responsible for tabletop sweeteners under the brand names of Equal®, Canderel®, and NutraSweet®, brands
References: Yoshino, Michael and Knoop, Carin-Isabel (1996). NutraSweet in China (A), Cambridge: Harvard Business Review Koetler Keller. (2012). Marketing Management 14th edition. New Jersey, US