Standing besides the Pirie Street, I was thinking about which brand to choose?

Hudson’s Coffee , Coles , Hungry jacks , Quantas , Telstra , Trims , Target , Arnott's , hello
mobile , Haigh’s Chocolates - A crowd around the store attracts my attention, there I go. Haigh’s
Chocolates.

The very word “chocolate” stirs the taste buds of most of us. What if it’s the Haigh’s? Haigh’s
Chocolates is family owned business since 1915, a national brand across Australia. It has stores
across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Therefore it follows Store based
retailing across the nation.

Haigh’s have targeted the niche segment of upper social class who is ready to pay premium
price for the quality services. Niche market customers buy these chocolates because of its higher
perceived value over the other brands .The customers perceive the product's unique benefits as a
status symbol .The factors which include in the brand benefits are very delicious taste ,
ambience of the store , the way of product presentations- the attractive packaging. People
are inclined to this Manufacturer’s brand because of its attractive packaging which is different
every year from the previous occasions Christmases. Hence promotes occasion based selling.

The people trust the brand because of its premium quality of the imported cocoa beans, the
special hand made designs, the excellent services at store, which are far better than the
prevalent supermarkets. These factors have led to brand loyalty and brand equity. The word
of mouth has mapped haighs high on goodwill in the minds of customer. Because of all the
reasons people are ready to pay a higher price.

It is best known for milk chocolates and dark chocolates amongst locals. Milk chocolate frogs
and milk scotch almonds being the population’s favorite – the best sellers of the stores. It
provides 100’s of variety in the each range of chocolates.

Haigh faces a strong competition in terms of cost, quality and variety in the range of
chocolates it offers. People not falling under affluent class prefer to buy it occasionally or
purchase the chocolates which fall in their pocket’s range from supermarket. The supermarket
seems to be a major competitor to providing a great variety of alternatives all at one place.

The Haighs though have tried to explore and encash overseas markets in the past but could not
succeed due to their business model. Therefore if they change their business model the Haigh can
go global and profit centre across the globe. Moreover, they have a limited variety available for
the price sensitive people. If they concentrate over this segment they can be mass market
players which can surely reflect on their profits.

References: http://haighschocolates.com.au/q_and_a/chocolate.html

http://www.safoodcentre.com.au/rss_feeds/outgoing_feed/news_items/general/final_issue_2010/haig
hs_sweet_strategy