Case Summary

United cereal as company was born in 1910. The company was established by Jed Thomas
who was an immigrant grocer from England. The first product it sold was a packaged mixed
of cracked wheat, rolled oats and malt flakes which he used to sell from his grocery store in
Michigan. By 2010 its business was of around $9 billion with breakfast cereals accounting
for one third of the UC’s revenue. The company used to follow 4 basic principles which were
as follows:

1. Commitment, diligence and loyalty,

2. Listen to the customer,
3. Spot the trend, make the market,
4. Honoring the past while embracing the future.

Eventually they ventured into snacks, dairy products, drinks and beverages, frozen foods, and
baked goods. During its 100 years History, its R&D labs had more products and process
patent than any other competitors. The company pioneered in “Brand Management”. The
company was among the top 5 player’s which accounted for the 80 % of the market acquired
by the top 5 companies. In the recent times the company has been facing challenges which
were as follows:

1. Each European country has their own breakfast traditions

2. Consumption of cereals varied significantly across markets
3. Channels varied widely across by country.

Now they are facing real challenge of launching a product in the French market which has
been termed as “Euro brand” on which the case revolves around.

Q1. As Lora brill’s united Cereal’s European VP, would you authorize jean Luc
Michel’s request to launch of healthy berry crunch in France?

SOLUTION

The following answer can have 2 perspectives, that Is, Laura can approve or can’t approve
the launch of the healthy berry crunch in France. The first strategy is to enter the market first
and acquire a market leader position before large competitors such as Cheerios do. The
second strategy is to increase the global pool of different managerial resources. Good talent is
hard to come by, but expanding the places from which talent is sourced can assist bring in
more stable management. In the first few months, UC had exported roughly 40% more
volume than expected. They also outperformed their share projections in September and
October. Jean-Luc is also very close to the market, and it appears that he intends to offer the
Healthy Berry Crunch cereal in France. So going by this perspective Laura should give
confirmation for launch of healthy berry crunch in France.

However, In November, the product's share price and shipments both plummeted.
Furthermore, their research revealed that more than 30% of survey respondents disliked the
product's appearance and consistency. They become more convincing which I consider the
reasons for not launching Healthy Berry Crunch as a Euro brand. The variations in tastes
across Europe are obvious, and a single product may not be able to satisfy them all. The
market structures of different countries are distinctive to make overcome entry barriers
challenging in each case. Even if the cereal-making process is unified, the cost of shipping
and transit across Europe will be exorbitantly high. Lora should conduct market research in
each country if she wants to abide by the company's regulations. That, too, will be too
expensive.. The cost of launching a new product might be rather substantial. I believe the
organization prefers to use tried and true methods, and I believe they would feel lot more at
ease if they were able to do more market studies if the product's form and consistency issues
were resolved. Lora shouldn't have to think twice about following the company's rules. These
rules will most likely shield her from the humiliation of a market flop. Furthermore, if the
Berry Burst Cheerios story is true, it might have disastrous consequences for Healthy Berry
Crunch's sales if the company does not have a sound plan in place to fight the well-known
and recognized Cheerios brand name. So from this angel Laura should not approve the launch
of Healthy Berry crunch as the risk and probability of failure is very high.
Q2 what do you think of brill’s eurobrand proposal’s ?should she authorize the launch
Healthy berry crunch as the eurobrand? What concern’s do you have ? how would you
resolve them

Q3 how might united cereal implement your recommendations ? what do you think of
eurobrand team peoposal.