Overview & Problem Definition Natureview Farm is a small yogurt manufacturer with annual revenues of $13 million. It ro!

uces three !ifferent si"e cu s # $ o". cu % 3& o". an! ' o". (u multi ac). *owever% Natureview+s goal is to increase its annual revenue to $&, million in two years. -ith a soli! relationshi with its current% successful strategy in the natural foo!s channel it is consi!ering e. an!ing into the su ermar)et channel. (onversely% it !oes not want to hurt the com any bran! it has create! as a remium yogurt bran! in the natural foo!s mar)et an! betray those loyal% natural foo!s customers who ma!e their business what it is to!ay. /lternatives In the case% Natureview is consi!ering three o tions to e. an! its o erations to reach its $&, million annual goal0 1. an! si. 234s of the $5o". ro!uct line into one or two selecte! su ermar)ets. 6he reasons behin! this o tion are0 1ight5ounce cu s re resent the largest !ollar an! unit share of the refrigerate! yogurt mar)et% rovi!ing significant revenue otential. Other natural foo! bran!s ha! successfully e. an!e! their !istribution into the su ermar)et channel. /s a lea!ing natural foo!s bran! for yogurt% they can ca itali"e on the growing tren! in natural an! organic foo!s in su ermar)ets. / ma7or Natureview com etitor lans to e. an! into the su ermar)et channel. 2u ermar)et retailers woul! li)ely only have one organic yogurt bran!. 6herefore% there is a first5mover a!vantage. 1. an! four 234s of the 3&5o". si"e nationally. 6he reasons behin! this o tion are0 (urrently generate! an above5average gross rofit margin for Natureview 8'3.9: vs. 39.,: for the $5 o". line;. Fewer com etitive offerings in this si"e an! Natureview ha! a strong com etitive a!vantage in their ro!uct+s longer shelf life. /lthough slotting e. enses woul! be higher% romotional e. enses woul! be lower since the 3&5o". si"e was romote! only twice a year. Intro!uce two 234s of a chil!ren+s multi5 ac) into natural foo!s channel. 6he reasons behin! this o tion are0 (om any ha! strong relationshi s with lea!ing natural foo! channel retailers% an! e. ansion into su ermar)et channel coul! otentially 7eo ar!i"e the relationshi . Distribution targets were very achievable for the two 234s. <ross rofitability of the line woul! be 3=.9: while e. enses woul! be lower> ?uite attractive. 6his o tion may even yiel! the strongest rofit contribution of all strategies ta)en into consi!eration. Natural foo!s channel was growing seven times faster than the su ermar)et channel. (ritical Issues For each of the alternatives rovi!e! above% these are the issues that nee! to be encountere! res ectively0 It has the highest level of com etitive tra!ing romotion an! mar)eting s en!ing. It woul! re?uire ?uarterly tra!e romotions an! a meaning mar)eting bu!get. It woul! also cost Natureview $1.& @ er region er year. Its 2</ woul! also increase by $3&,%,,, annually. 6herefore% it woul! be a costly a roach. /lso% to achieve its target% Natureview nee!e! to ta)e a!vantage of its relationshi s with the to 11 su ermar)et retail chains in the Northeast an! the to A chains in the -est an! occu y ma7ority of the retail s ace. 6he !ifficulty was that new users woul! not rea!ily Benter the bran!C an! a!o t a multi5si"e ro!uct.

Furthermore% to achieve full national !istribution within 1& months it woul! be a !ifficult tas) in of itself. Natureview woul! nee! to hire more sales ersonnel who ha! e. erience selling to more so histicate! su ermar)et channels an! establish relationshi s with the su ermar)et bro)ers. 6his woul! increase 2</ e. ense costs by $19,%,,,. 6o a!! to the com le.ity of the !ecision% a com etitor was rumoure! to be launching a line calle! Dright Eista% which woul! !irectly com ete with Natureview. @oreover% su ermar)ets were consi!ering launching their own rivate5label versions of organic yogurt. 6herefore% launching the 3&5o". *as its issues of being less notice! in a myria! of !ifferent ro!ucts available. Intro!ucing the multi5 ac)s re?uires F&D an! O erations costs. It also conflicts with the remium bran! ositioning it ha! wor)e! har! to establish !ue to su ermar)ets+ em hasis on sales romotions an! inconsistent rices. 6here were also fears that Natureview+s mar)eting !e artment was un re are! to han!le the !eman!s on resources an! staffing that entering the su ermar)et channel woul! im ose. 2u ermar)et !istributors were more !eman!ing in logistics an! technology than what Natureview was familiar with. *owever% it is thought that soon% natural foo!s channel woul! embar) on similar !eman!s. (onclusion /fter reviewing all the alternatives an! its issues an! benefits% I foun! that moving into su ermar)ets coul! have both ositive an! negative re ercussions. Fefraining to e. an! into su ermar)ets coul! ut Natureview at a com etitive !isa!vantage% consi!ering there are rumours of Natureview+s com etitors e. an!ing into su ermar)et channels. 2u ermar)ets are otentially a huge mar)et for organic yogurt% consi!ering A=: of all yogurts were urchase! through this channel an! '9: of organic foo! consumers sho at su ermar)ets. 6wo natural foo! com anies have alrea!y entere! su ermar)ets an! in !oing so have increase! their revenues by over &,,:. 1.ecuting a first mover strategy woul! be crucial if this lan were to be im lemente! in or!er to gain bran! e?uity from new consumers who are transitioning into the organic foo! mar)et. Furthermore% because rice inhibits G$: of consumers from buying organic ro!ucts% Natureview woul! have to e.ecute a com etitive ricing strategy against non5organic yogurts. *owever% the e. enses associate! with it 8i.e. the tra!e romotions an! 2</s; are ?uite e. ensive to ta)e in. 6he goal is to obtain an increase in revenues by at least $=@. (osts incurre! woul! be at least $&.=@ annually 7ust e. an!ing into two regions. 6herefore% if Natureview woul! e. an! to all four regions% they woul! incur $G.&@ in 7ust mar)eting an! 2</s. It is ?uite an e. ensive a roach% es ecially since there is the fear that your current customers may !isown your bran! an! loo) for others. Hou+ll be charging less er unit an! you lose the !istinctive bran! value that+s associate! with your bran!% which is a remium yogurt manufacturer. /lternatively% my recommen!ation woul! be to intro!uce the multi5 ac)s for chil!ren. Hour current $5o". ro!uct is a cash cow> leave it that way. 6he metho! to e. an! woul! be to enter a ro!uct !evelo ment strategy an! use the same channels for !istribution. Hou+ve built a strong relationshi with natural foo! retailers> continue it by ro!uct !ifferentiating. Im lement the multi5 ac)s as an o tion for consumers in the natural foo! retailers an! continue to )ee the remium rice bran! ositioning. 6he last thing you want to !o is enter a rice war> therefore% )ee the same channel !istribution you are using but instea!% intro!uce new ro!ucts through ro!uct !ifferentiation. @<6(1' -ee) & Feflections

-hat I learne! from the Invisalign case in our class !iscussion is that there are many issues that a com any nee!s to ta)e into consi!eration such as their sales an! !istribution strategy. (ustomi"ing your sales strategy to get the most out of your clients by rovi!ing incentives contingent on their erformance after the sale is critical to a sales force+s longevity. 6he !ebate over whether to go with incentivi"ing the tra!itional !entists to im lement this system or )ee it with ortho!ontists was an interesting one. @y view on this woul! be that ortho!ontists an! !entists wor) han!5in5han! together for when there are atients within that target mar)et that fit the criteria to receive the Invisalign. Incentivi"e the !entists by rovi!ing them a referral fee an! re!uce the sales force staff. / great oint ma!e in the !iscussion 8I believe 2hirley ma!e this oint; is that Invisalign shoul! focus on its ortho!ontist+s list of those who are in the mi!!le between avi! users an! others who !on+t use it at all. 6his is where you can !evelo the ortho!ontist to rea!ily romote the use of Invisalign. It+s really a case of figuring out how to get the best value out of the relationshi between the !entists an! ortho!ontists. 6heir commitment to ma)ing this wor) will generate more sales for Invisalign. @y contribution to the class !iscussion was that I summari"e! the case. I also wante! to mention that im lementing the system to !entists woul! be a very oor !ecision as it firstly alienates your current ortho!ontists who use the system alrea!y. It !oes eliminate one sta)ehol!er in the ro!uction chain 8the ortho!ontists;% which is not a ositive situation you have !evelo e! with your ortho!ontists who have a!o te! this system.