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The marketing plan for They Hershey Company to expand into the United Kingdom has been made to see the future of this company’s direction. Through this marketing plan you will be able to see what The Hershey Company goals are, the analysis of the company, who their competitors are, who they are targeting, a marketing mix strategy for the United Kingdom, and an estimate of financial projections. This new distribution will create amazing opportunity to The Hershey Company.
Milton S. Hershey, the inventor of the famous Hershey’s Chocolate, was not someone who started out as a success. He apprenticed with a candy maker as a teenager and knew he wanted to be in the candy business, but unfortunately, he started two candy businesses that both failed. After failing twice, he finally got it right by starting Lancaster Caramel Company. Hershey became interested in theGerman’s chocolate-making machines, so he bought two machines of his own and made what is now known as the Hershey’s Chocolate bar (This Is Hershey, n.d.).
The Hershey Company was incorporated in 1927, as a successor to a business founded by Milton S.
Hilton in 1894 (This Is Hershey, n.d.). Hershey’s has grown tremendously since then. The five-cent chocolate bar has become a brand that includes eighty different candies. Some including, Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup to name a couple popular ones. The small business that Milton Hershey started now has eighteen thousand employees worldwide.
Hershey’s wants to continue to share the brands and values that define the company across even more locations around the world.
Hershey’s mission is to be a purpose-driven organization. The company is busy on not only improving their company but also by giving back. They focus deeply on their customers, employees, retail partners and shareholders. This also goes along with their vision statement: “Spreading goodness in all the right directions.” (Ready To Be Heartwarmed?, n.d.).
The company’s goals are to increase their profitability and also make the world a better place by continuing to do the right thing while expanding into the United Kingdom. The Financial goals for Hershey’s is to indulge to wholesome snacks to increase profit margin and to continue to expand to increase profitability. The Nonfinancial goals of this company is to have environmental stewardship within their 25 by 25 campaign and to bring basic nutrition to children in need.
The marketing environment in the United Kingdom has incredible opportunities. Hershey’s has been growing more and more every year with its loyal customers. It is possible to continue this tradition in the United Kingdom. Below you will see a SWOT analysis of the company. This will be able to identify the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Hershey has the leadership that brings perspective and expertise to the company. Steven Schiller, the President of International business, has the experience in global markets that will continue to help expand this company. Having a brand so popular in multiple countries with eighty different candies, will help the company to continue to grow. They also have the potential to grow in their revenue because of expansion. Another strength is they want to bring joy to as many people and in every way they can. They do this not only by their products, but also by giving back.
This corporation employs over eighteen thousand people. It is extremely hard to get every one of those employees on the same page when it comes to Hershey’s mission and values.
Hershey’s has many loyal customers all over the world, therefore expanding to the United Kingdom would be a great opportunity. Also, bringing more products to this market that accommodate more to these peoples wants will help to grow profits for specific products that may not sell in other countries.
The United Kingdom has many popular candies that are made there that would be competitors to Hershey’s if they expanded there. The chocolate bars in the United Kingdom have a taste that the local population are used to, so bringing a chocolate bar that is different than what they are used to could potentially hurt the sales of that product.
In the United Kingdom, Nestle is one of the major brands of candy. Nestle has the chocolate bar named Aero, which is one of the most popular chocolate bars in the United Kingdom (Brands, n.d.). This is going to be one of Hershey’s biggest competitors. Nestle is the biggest food and beverage company in the world with over two-thousand brands. The size of their company is a result of all of the products they sell. They are more than just candy, unlike Hershey’s.
Another big competitor is Mars. Like Nestle, Mars sells more than just candy. They sell candy, other snack foods and dog food (Our Brands, n.d.).
Hershey’s has advantages over both of these companies. Their advantage is that Hershey’s only focusses on candy, where Nestle has products in all food and beverage categories and Mars has products in the dog food industry as well as other food. Hershey’s has multiple kinds of candy and snacks; they are the perfect amount of variety, but their focus on those specific products is one thing that sets them apart.
The target market for Hershey’s in all countries is families. Hershey’s history has shown that their products have brought happiness to personal moments and family gatherings. Milton Hershey left a legacy to help people to enjoy chocolate as much as he did and to help children in need. Kids are a big part of the target market of families. He wants to bring joy to kids all over the world with his products.
The following discussion details the marketing mix for Hershey’s products in the United Kingdom.
Hershey’s has over eighty products they offer; including chocolate, candies, mint and gum, nuts and caramel a more. Hershey’s strategy in the United Kingdom and all other global markets is to provide choices in all kinds of categories of candies and snacks. This can include sweet, savory, smooth, crunchy, indulgent and wholesome. Hershey’s says, “Our beloved and delicious candy, sweets, mints and gums are joined by growing family of sweet and salty combinations and better-for-you snacks, popcorn and chips.” (Shared Goodness, n.d.). Hershey’s wants it customers to enjoy the products so much they continue to purchase the products and become a loyal customer.
Currently Hershey’s is distributed globally through many countries which include Brazil, Canada, Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, and United Arab Emirates (They Hershey Company, 2018). The United Kingdom is not a part of that list as you can see. All of these countries have some type of grocery store, merchandiser, drug store, vending company or convenience store that sells candy, including Hershey’s products. The United Kingdom has four very popular grocery stores that Hershey’s could distribute to. These stores are Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons (List Of Supermarket Chains In The United Kingdom, 2018.). Seventy-three percent of UK grocery market share fall within these four stores, so this would be the best way to distribute Hershey’s products fast throughout the United Kingdom.
To come up with the best promotional strategy, it means you have to understand who you are trying to entice with advertisements. In the section Target Market, we talked about our market being families, especially kids. Using an image that is new to the eye, will attract a lot of potential customers, like kids that notice more. According to Hofstede’s Dimensions , the United Kingdom scores low in uncertainty avoidance (Country Comparison, n.d.). This tells us a few things, but one of those is that people there are willing to try things that are different and new. So, using Hershey’s products that are more noticeable to the eye, such as the Hershey Kiss because of its shape, or any other products that have packaging that does not blend in with others is something that should be used. Children in the UK are taught to think for themselves, so advertisements on television, billboards, online, and more methods will be extremely important in the promotional strategy for this company.
These products would be posted on the typical advertisements, but where Hershey’s will be able to really sell people is face-to-face communication about the products (Top 6 Benefits Of Doing Business In The United Kingdom, 2018.). Hershey’s will have to have workers in the grocery stores to let people try the most popular products for free, while also getting to explain even more products in the process.
In the United Kingdom people act as they please and spend money as they wish, according to Hofstede’s Dimensions. Pricing is not based on beating their competitors with a low price, nor is It beating their competitors with setting higher prices to seem luxurious. Hershey’s is unique in its products and its company mission. They are using a differentiation strategy. The pricing would be mutual with its competitors. This is because with the right promotions and distribution, Hershey’s should be able to sell their products at the same price and still be successfully profitable within the first few years they are in the United Kingdom.
Through the history of Hershey’s Company, majority of retail confectionery market continued to grow. Within global markets that Hershey’s is already in, retail sales grow more every year. Depending on the geographic location, some of those sales are based on chocolate sales while others are based on non-chocolate or gum. No matter the category, the numbers almost always are increasing. Based on other global markets , Hershey’s is projecting similar results for the United Kingdom.
Marketing Plan for Hershey’s in the United Kingdom. (2021, Sep 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/marketing-plan-for-hershey-s-in-the-united-kingdom-essay
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