NIELSEN CASE COMPETITION

2019

CASE STUDY: HUNGRY FOR A CHANGE IN SNACKS

Copyright © 2017 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary.

THE COMPANY
Taystee Corporation

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Taystee is a global snack company that entered the Singapore market 10 years
ago. While they have a range of snack products in their global portfolio, Taystee
plays primarily in the potato-based snack category in Singapore. This is no
surprise, given that the Taystee potato chips is the most successful product range
in their portfolio, and is known to be made from quality Russet potatoes sourced
from the rich fields of Massachusetts.

Taystee’s product took the market by storm with its affordable mass pricing and
wide distribution; their product became a hit among children and adults alike.
Years riding on the popularity of this product, they became a top player in
Singapore for potato-based snacks.

However, Taystee has been noticing a decline in their sales, despite potato-based
snacks as a category growing more popular than before.

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 2

CHARACTERS

Daisuke Morinaga | CEO of Taystee Corporation

● Newly appointed as CEO in 2018
● Been with Taystee since 2005
● Prefers having concrete and clear cut business strategies based on insights,
and has little patience for plans that are not actionable

Lydia Lee | Insights Manager of Taystee Corporation

● Accumulated 10 years of experience with Nielsen Singapore’s Retail
Measurement Services (RMS) team before moving to Taystee
● Propagated Taystee’s initial partnership with Nielsen RMS and now has
expanded to include other Nielsen solutions

Walter Wong | Brand Manager of Taystee Corporation

● Understands the necessity of having solid consumer insights to support any
brand decisions
● Works closely with the Insights Manager to execute brand activities.

Fadhly Johari | Senior Manager of Nielsen Singapore RMS

● Specialises in the food and beverage category, more specifically the growing
portfolio of snack brands he manages

Denise Tan | Head of Nielsen Singapore Consumer Insights

● Believes deeply that understanding consumers and their motivations is most
critical for any company to make decisions

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 3

EVENTS
September 4, 2019, 10:00AM at Taystee Headquarters

Walter: If we keep going in this trajectory, Taystee’s shares will not just stagnate,
but we will plummet with the influx of new competitors and product innovations.
We have been cruising on our best-selling potato chips for the past decade, with
little adaptation to the changes in trends we are noticing around us.

When I step into a supermarket, I see many categories offering new products
accommodating to a healthier lifestyle. Even for snacks, we have been seeing new
aisles dedicated to healthier options, and even new brands specialising in
healthier products in the past years. Furthermore, external factors like education,
social push and government initiatives are all championing healthy living. Our
current offering does not align with Singaporeans’ changes in lifestyle habits,
which is why I believe it is being picked up less frequently.

Lydia: I agree that Taystee needs to revitalise our offerings to regain shares, but
this is not necessarily confined to healthier options. Studies have shown that a
large part of savoury snack purchase is still aimed at satisfying their taste and
indulgent cravings. Consumers are now seeking out new experiences and these
innovations encourage them to share these pleasures with others, regardless of
in-home, out-of-home or festive occasions. Just satiating their appetite with basic
offerings is not enough for them anymore.

There is definitely a lot of potential for a new launch even within the potato-based
snacks category, which is still noticing growth. While a new opportunity has been
presented, we should not neglect our core portfolio.

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 4

EVENTS
September 4, 2019, 10:00AM at Taystee Headquarters

Daisuke: As we move into the last quarter of the year, we can take this
opportunity to conduct a holistic review of our offerings and identify opportunities
for Strategy 2020. With the trends you have shared, there are many different ways
we can go about improving our brand health and recovering our market share. We
would need a lot more concrete evidence and data to support before we can
commit to any approach.

Lydia: We completely agree. That is why we have already reached out to our
Nielsen contacts. Hopefully they will be able to offer us insights that support our
initial findings across different departments.

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 5

EVENTS
September 6, 2019, 2:30PM at Nielsen Singapore

On a proposal call between Lydia and Walter from Taystee, and Fadhly and
Denise from Nielsen Singapore

Walter: ...so you can see our quandary. On the one hand, we are noticing more
exciting, diverse and indulgent snack options, but on the other hand, consumers
are also making consumption choices driven by their health consciousness. There
is an overwhelming influx of competitors playing in our space. We are not sure our
current offering is able to stand its ground with these market changes.

Fadhly: Indeed, the snacks category has been seeing lots of movement in recent
years. We do see adjacent categories like fruit crisps and vegetable-based chips
gaining traction, alongside greater variety offered. Even within the potato-based
snack category, we have seen the emergence of new flavours and preparation
methods. Does the Taystee team have any particular product or target consumer
in mind?

Lydia: We are currently open to trying something new, if the data proves the
market to be lucrative. But I do agree that there are many opportunities within
potato-based snacks as well. It would be helpful if the Nielsen team could put
together a proposal on which direction we should take moving forward.

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 6

EVENTS
September 6, 2019, 2:30PM at Taystee Headquarters

Denise: Definitely. We would first look into RMS data to identify the opportunities
that lie within the potato-based snack industry. Additionally, we would tap into
Innovation, Consumer Insights and Neuroscience practices reports to understand
what consumers are seeking in the snack category to identify new spaces that we
can venture into. We will put together in a deck our key findings and share it with
Taystee next week.

Lydia: That sounds good. Looking forward to the team’s proposal!

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 7

THE CHALLENGE: CASE STUDY
Hungry for a Change in Snacks

Imagine that you are a part of the Nielsen Singapore team

As per Taystee’s brief and business issue, create a concise, insightful and
actionable business case to help Taystee’s team and CEO by

● Analysing and justifying if a new launch is recommended.

● If so, how should the new launch be positioned, and who should the target
market be.
● If not, what should Taystee do to regain market share in the potato-based
snacks category.
● Proposing a clear strategy for Taystee, including both the short and long
term plans

You are encouraged to use and integrate different Nielsen solutions. Do not only
rely only on the datasets we have provided you, and engage your own primary and
secondary research to substantiate your proposal. You are advised to keep the
proposal short with key insights, and to embrace the use of infographics and
visuals to clearly convey your findings.

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 8

POINTS OF CONSIDERATION
Hungry for a Change in Snacks

As with all real business cases presented to clients, please consider the
following:
● Prioritise your recommendations in accordance to the key objectives and
problems presented in the case, while keeping in mind realistic resource
limitations
● Findings should be substantiated by market data and trends
● All data used in the proposal should be cited, both where it was used on the
slide and once more in the Appendix
● Financial forecasting is NOT necessary

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 9

 ABOUT NIELSEN
Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance
management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of
what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides
media and advertising clients with Nielsen Total Audience measurement
services for all devices on which content — video, audio and text — is
consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods
manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail
performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and
Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen also provides its clients
with analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500
company, has operations in over 100 countries, covering more than 90%
of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

Copyright © 2019 The Nielsen Company. Confidential and proprietary. 10