netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Marketing Research of Whirlpool Corporation : Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is a Fortune 500 company and a global manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances with its headquarters in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States, near Benton Harbor, Michigan.[2][3] The company has annual revenue of approximately $18.4 billion, more than 70,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator Garage Works, Inglis, Estate, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Consul, and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world.
After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, Whirlpool Corporation passed Electrolux to become "the largest home appliance maker in the world."
Founded in 1911, Whirlpool is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2011.
Marketing research is considered as one of the most important process in the entire operation of the business, because the data and information gathered from the said process can be used as an initial input in the process of deciding on the different medias and effort to be exerted in the marketing activities. In the case of Peninsula Hotels group, because of the fact that the company is a huge one with different hotels, restaurants and other businesses in other parts of the earth, the company is using external organizations in order to manage the marketing research as well as media buying and planning. Thus, it helps the company to have updated and precise information, which comes from reliable resources.
D. Strategic Orientation
In terms of strategies orientation, the company is connected to an external marketing expert, which enables the company to gather updated and reliable information are the right time, thus, the said information can be used in the process of decision making, which considered it as effective marketing strategy.
E. Operational Efficiency
All of the marketing efforts and strategies of the company are all handled by one department and controlled by the General Manager for marketing. As a result, it enables the company to focus on local and international marketing strategy based on the international or global standards of the groups. The said, centralized control enables the entire management to manage its marketing resources, at the same time, focus on the development and innovation.
V. Strategic Marketing Planning and Marketing Strategy
A. The Boston Consulting Group Approach (BCG Matrix)
There are 9 important business units for the Peninsula Hotels, which are grouped according to the city or country that the specific hotel is located: Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, Beverly Hills, Tokyo, Bangkok, Beijing, Manila and Shanghai.
Market Structure
The market for convenience food is continually being extended with new companies and solutions entering the field many small firms adding niche brands and products. At the same time, large food corporations are constantly expanding their own product lines and packaging. In terms of packaging, the range is very broad. A convenience food snack item could be sold as a single item, packaged as a dozen or more or even sold in bulk form in ‘big-box’ stores such as Costco or BJs. Large supermarket and hypermarket chains also continue to add new products and focus continually on testing for new trends. The recent move toward green, natural or environmentally friendly foods has greatly advanced the advent of the organic food marketplace - or at least those with essentially organic ingredients. Conversely, these products may likely also have a reduced shelf life. Again, though the market contains many large corporations, there are also thousands of niche providers.
New products are continually introduced. The following estimate was made for new product introductions in 1999 for example:
Product Type New Product Introductions
<pre>Sweeteners/sugars 83
Weight control products 48
Breakfast cereals 114
Beverages 1,576
Confectionery 1,273
Desserts & ice cream 450
Dairy 544
Snacks 710
Processed meat/seafood 646
Soup 254
Spreads 295
Condiments/seasonings 1,298
Meals & entrees 543
Bakery 1,126
Side dishes 421
Fruits & vegetables 254
Baby food 21
Industry Definitions
Enzymes - the chemicals that are naturally present in food. They can spoil the food by decomposing the elements.
Pasteurization - a type of mild temperature treatment which destroys the activities of pathogens and other few enzymes.
Pathogenic Microorganisms - microorganisms that can cause diseases. They are normally formed in infected food.
Psychrophilic Microorganisms - microorganisms that grow in foods saved in cold temperature.
Solutes - basic chemicals in solid form. It dissolves in the liquids.
Conduction - a heat transmission event. As a heat wave moves from a hot material to a cold material, it is an example of conduction.
Ionizing Radiation - breaks down molecules in food.
Loss Factor - a measurement of the amount of microwave energy absorbed by few foods. The loss factor and the microwave energy are equivalently related.
Non-Ionizing Radiation - a typical radiation process of various microwave machines. By this radiation the atoms and molecules of the materials are not ionized.
Penetration Depth – the measurement of how deep a microwave enters into food.
Market Metrics
The convenience food market is a very stable and profitable industry. From a financial standpoint, on average, returns on equity exceed many other industries.
The convenience foods market by 2010 in the United States has been estimated by industy observers at approximately US $45 billion: fresh foods at US $27 billion and frozen foods at US $18 billion. Although the industry is relatively fragmented, it is also of strong margins, especially at the premium brand level.
Some sample statistics from typical large industry participants are as follows:
Company Revenues Operating Margin Return on Equity
Kraft $35.4 B 14.5% 9.6%
Heinz $ 9.1 B 16.2% 39.9%
Campbell $ 7.7 B 16.4% 50.2%
General Mills $12.4 B 17.0% 20.6%
Key Players
Some representative players in sample sub-categories are as follows:
Adult lunch packages - StarKist Foods & Campbell Soup
Crockery foods - Golden Grain, Unilever Foods
Prepared, micro-wavable and frozen food - Deli Express, Jimmy Dean Foods
Prepared lunch and snacks – Kraft, Reichel Foods
Prepared cereals, drink and desserts - Kellogg's, General Mills, Keebler
Ready-to-use food - Breakaway Foods
Prepared salads - Fresh Express Farms, Dole Food.
Other global key players - Nestle (Switz), Unilever, Heinz, Cadbury (UK), Wessanen (Netherlands), Kamps (Germany), Talosto (Russia)
Trends and Recent Developments
Since 1992, the world snack food market has grown over 25 percent, and it is projected to reach almost $55 billion by the year 2000. The United States continues to be the largest market, accounting for about a third of the world total; Japan and the United Kingdom together account for another quarter of the world total.
The spread of western eating habits to other parts of the world continues as lifestyles in those parts of the world become busier and traditional family mealtimes become a thing of the past. Asa result, the demand for snack foods continues to increase, especially for healthier types that are lower in fat. Many manufacturers around the world are responding to this trend.
In 1990, a major portion of the standard diet of the US and UK household was comprised of convenience food. Almost every U.S. household was estimated to use convenience food in some form or the other.
There is growing controversy on the value of convenience foods and the dangers of preservatives, etc. The growing green movement and rapid rise or the organic food market continues to fuel the debate. There is the constant question about general or childhood obesity and the impact of convenience and snack foods on that. How much if a negative impact is there from a key preservative, salt, on children? What is the impact of fast foodss in general – which may indirectly negatively impact convenience foods as well.
At the same time, many communities have initiatives to remove convenience foods from schools, including vending machines. The most significant impact, however, is likely to come from the increased trend towards environmentally friendly or organic foods. This trend is growing very rapidly. The conundrum is that by their own implied value proposition, convenience foods are intended to be stored and consumed - quickly. What will be the long term impact on the growth of the convenience food market?
Almost all foods, including convenience foods have faced a drop-off in early 2009. There has been a surprising fall in the sales of almost all foods in late 2008 due to the growing economic recession. It is unclear what the impact will be on sales for all of 2009, but at least the U.S. market is off to a poor start to the year.
After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, Whirlpool Corporation passed Electrolux to become "the largest home appliance maker in the world."
Founded in 1911, Whirlpool is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2011.
Marketing research is considered as one of the most important process in the entire operation of the business, because the data and information gathered from the said process can be used as an initial input in the process of deciding on the different medias and effort to be exerted in the marketing activities. In the case of Peninsula Hotels group, because of the fact that the company is a huge one with different hotels, restaurants and other businesses in other parts of the earth, the company is using external organizations in order to manage the marketing research as well as media buying and planning. Thus, it helps the company to have updated and precise information, which comes from reliable resources.
D. Strategic Orientation
In terms of strategies orientation, the company is connected to an external marketing expert, which enables the company to gather updated and reliable information are the right time, thus, the said information can be used in the process of decision making, which considered it as effective marketing strategy.
E. Operational Efficiency
All of the marketing efforts and strategies of the company are all handled by one department and controlled by the General Manager for marketing. As a result, it enables the company to focus on local and international marketing strategy based on the international or global standards of the groups. The said, centralized control enables the entire management to manage its marketing resources, at the same time, focus on the development and innovation.
V. Strategic Marketing Planning and Marketing Strategy
A. The Boston Consulting Group Approach (BCG Matrix)
There are 9 important business units for the Peninsula Hotels, which are grouped according to the city or country that the specific hotel is located: Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, Beverly Hills, Tokyo, Bangkok, Beijing, Manila and Shanghai.
Market Structure
The market for convenience food is continually being extended with new companies and solutions entering the field many small firms adding niche brands and products. At the same time, large food corporations are constantly expanding their own product lines and packaging. In terms of packaging, the range is very broad. A convenience food snack item could be sold as a single item, packaged as a dozen or more or even sold in bulk form in ‘big-box’ stores such as Costco or BJs. Large supermarket and hypermarket chains also continue to add new products and focus continually on testing for new trends. The recent move toward green, natural or environmentally friendly foods has greatly advanced the advent of the organic food marketplace - or at least those with essentially organic ingredients. Conversely, these products may likely also have a reduced shelf life. Again, though the market contains many large corporations, there are also thousands of niche providers.
New products are continually introduced. The following estimate was made for new product introductions in 1999 for example:
Product Type New Product Introductions
<pre>Sweeteners/sugars 83
Weight control products 48
Breakfast cereals 114
Beverages 1,576
Confectionery 1,273
Desserts & ice cream 450
Dairy 544
Snacks 710
Processed meat/seafood 646
Soup 254
Spreads 295
Condiments/seasonings 1,298
Meals & entrees 543
Bakery 1,126
Side dishes 421
Fruits & vegetables 254
Baby food 21
Industry Definitions
Enzymes - the chemicals that are naturally present in food. They can spoil the food by decomposing the elements.
Pasteurization - a type of mild temperature treatment which destroys the activities of pathogens and other few enzymes.
Pathogenic Microorganisms - microorganisms that can cause diseases. They are normally formed in infected food.
Psychrophilic Microorganisms - microorganisms that grow in foods saved in cold temperature.
Solutes - basic chemicals in solid form. It dissolves in the liquids.
Conduction - a heat transmission event. As a heat wave moves from a hot material to a cold material, it is an example of conduction.
Ionizing Radiation - breaks down molecules in food.
Loss Factor - a measurement of the amount of microwave energy absorbed by few foods. The loss factor and the microwave energy are equivalently related.
Non-Ionizing Radiation - a typical radiation process of various microwave machines. By this radiation the atoms and molecules of the materials are not ionized.
Penetration Depth – the measurement of how deep a microwave enters into food.
Market Metrics
The convenience food market is a very stable and profitable industry. From a financial standpoint, on average, returns on equity exceed many other industries.
The convenience foods market by 2010 in the United States has been estimated by industy observers at approximately US $45 billion: fresh foods at US $27 billion and frozen foods at US $18 billion. Although the industry is relatively fragmented, it is also of strong margins, especially at the premium brand level.
Some sample statistics from typical large industry participants are as follows:
Company Revenues Operating Margin Return on Equity
Kraft $35.4 B 14.5% 9.6%
Heinz $ 9.1 B 16.2% 39.9%
Campbell $ 7.7 B 16.4% 50.2%
General Mills $12.4 B 17.0% 20.6%
Key Players
Some representative players in sample sub-categories are as follows:
Adult lunch packages - StarKist Foods & Campbell Soup
Crockery foods - Golden Grain, Unilever Foods
Prepared, micro-wavable and frozen food - Deli Express, Jimmy Dean Foods
Prepared lunch and snacks – Kraft, Reichel Foods
Prepared cereals, drink and desserts - Kellogg's, General Mills, Keebler
Ready-to-use food - Breakaway Foods
Prepared salads - Fresh Express Farms, Dole Food.
Other global key players - Nestle (Switz), Unilever, Heinz, Cadbury (UK), Wessanen (Netherlands), Kamps (Germany), Talosto (Russia)
Trends and Recent Developments
Since 1992, the world snack food market has grown over 25 percent, and it is projected to reach almost $55 billion by the year 2000. The United States continues to be the largest market, accounting for about a third of the world total; Japan and the United Kingdom together account for another quarter of the world total.
The spread of western eating habits to other parts of the world continues as lifestyles in those parts of the world become busier and traditional family mealtimes become a thing of the past. Asa result, the demand for snack foods continues to increase, especially for healthier types that are lower in fat. Many manufacturers around the world are responding to this trend.
In 1990, a major portion of the standard diet of the US and UK household was comprised of convenience food. Almost every U.S. household was estimated to use convenience food in some form or the other.
There is growing controversy on the value of convenience foods and the dangers of preservatives, etc. The growing green movement and rapid rise or the organic food market continues to fuel the debate. There is the constant question about general or childhood obesity and the impact of convenience and snack foods on that. How much if a negative impact is there from a key preservative, salt, on children? What is the impact of fast foodss in general – which may indirectly negatively impact convenience foods as well.
At the same time, many communities have initiatives to remove convenience foods from schools, including vending machines. The most significant impact, however, is likely to come from the increased trend towards environmentally friendly or organic foods. This trend is growing very rapidly. The conundrum is that by their own implied value proposition, convenience foods are intended to be stored and consumed - quickly. What will be the long term impact on the growth of the convenience food market?
Almost all foods, including convenience foods have faced a drop-off in early 2009. There has been a surprising fall in the sales of almost all foods in late 2008 due to the growing economic recession. It is unclear what the impact will be on sales for all of 2009, but at least the U.S. market is off to a poor start to the year.
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