MKT5001 : Ben and Jerry’s : Case Study - Management Assignment

Internal Code : MAS4016

Business Management Assignment

Case Study : When Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield met in a gym class in 1963, they realised that they hated running, but loved food. They also agreed that it was no fun being in business just to earn a living – they wanted to enjoy themselves and make a difference too. In 1977 they enrolled in a $5 correspondence course in ice cream and a year later they started their Ben & Jerry’s business in a renovated petrol station. Over the years more and more people discovered the delights of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and by the end of the 80s, they had over 80 ice cream scoop shops in 18 American states. The following decade Ben & Jerry’s went global, launching in the UK in 1994, then Ireland in 2000, closely followed by the rest of Europe. Ben & Jerry’s operates on a three-part mission which aims to create linked prosperity for everyone that’s connected to the business. In 2013 Ben & Jerry’s launched an interactive social media hub for fans as part of wider push to recruit more advocates. This has proved very successful, and enabled them to identify who their advocates are and engage with them. They utilise advertising, including TV, newspapers and outdoor, with a major campaign running across London Underground. Their advertising is delivered in a quirky, playful, fun, humorous, and approachable tone that matches the personality of the brand. Questions : 1) Analyse Ben & Jerry’s internal and external environment (using appropriate models and secondary information sources). Your analysis should include some of the key issues which form part of Ben and Jerry’s internal and external environment 2) Identify the top 5 marketing challenges facing Ben & Jerry’s. (10 marks, 2 marks for each suitable marketing challenge identified) 3) Describe how Ben & Jerry’s position themselves relative to their competitors 4) Set suitable marketing objectives which will enable Ben & Jerry’s to continue their growth in the UK – objectives should be SMART, relevant to your analysis and be fully justified 5) Evaluate Ben & Jerry’s current marketing mix (4 P’s) and recommend how this could be improved over the next twelve months to achieve your proposed marketing objectives: a. Evaluate Ben & Jerry’s current product offering, and recommend how this could be improved over the next twelve months to achieve the proposed marketing objectives b. Evaluate Ben & Jerry’s current pricing approach, and recommend how this could be improved over the next twelve months to achieve the proposed marketing objectives c. Evaluate Ben & Jerry’s current place/distribution strategy, and recommend how this could be improved over the next twelve months to achieve the proposed marketing objectives d. Evaluate Ben & Jerry’s current promotional offering, and recommend how this could be improved over the next twelve months to achieve the proposed marketing objectives 6) Suitable presentation and written style plus the quality of the research gathered. You will be marked on the quality, volume and depth of information and research gathered, in addition to the information presented in the case study.