BBA 4004

CASES IN MARKETING

PUA YUNN RUH

950404-08-5370
202132

SEPTEMBER 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
No
1.0

GUIDELINES/ MARKING CRITERIA

Provide a brief overview of the retail group/brand that you chose

PAGES
2-41

for this assignment.

2.0

Analyze the market situation of retail industry in your country.

3.0

Identification of opportunities (SWOT analysis) on the industry.

4.0

Identification competitors and marketing objectives.

5.0

Highlight the marketing plan of your chosen retail brand.

6.0

Identify and discuss the new product or service idea and future

7.0

marketing strategy of your chosen retail brand.

Reference.

8.0

Coursework

42
43-48

1. There are several types of marketing information are available.

Please describe them.
1.0

2. Please explain the market entry barriers.

Provide a brief overview of the retail group/brand that you chose for this
assignment.

Overview of Tyson Foods, Inc.

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is an American multinational corporation based
in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in thefood industry. The company is the world's
second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork only
behind BrazilianJBS S.A., and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of the
United States. With 2011 sales of US$32 billion, Tyson Foods is the second-largest food

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production company in the Fortune 500, the largest meat producer in the world, and
according toForbes one of the 100 largest companies in the United States.
Profile
The company was established by John W. Tyson in 1935, and as of 2014 employs
115,000 people, who work at more than 300 facilities, 90 of which are in the US.[4] As
of 2014, Tyson had about 97,000 employees in 27 states; locations are concentrated in
the Midwest, with 16 locations in Arkansas, 11 in Texas, 9 in Iowa, and the remainder of
the mostly eastern US with less than 3-4 locations.[4] Tyson also works with 6,729
independent contract chicken growers.
It is one of the largest U.S. marketers of value-added chicken, beef and pork to retail
grocers, broad line foodservice distributors and national fast food and full service
restaurant chains; fresh beef and pork; frozen and fully cooked chicken, beef and pork
products; case-ready beef and pork; supermarket deli chicken products; meat toppings
for the pizza industry and retail frozen pizza; club store chicken, beef and pork; ground
beef and flour tortillas. It supplies all Yum! Brands chains that use chicken,
including KFC and Taco Bell, as well as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, WalMart, Kroger, IGA, Beef O'Brady's, small restaurant businesses, and prisons.
The company makes a wide variety of animal-based and prepared products at its
123 food processing plants. It produces many different products, including Buffalo

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wings, boneless Buffalo wings, chicken nuggets and tenders. Every week, its 54 chicken
plants, 13 beef plants, and six pork plants slaughter and package 42.5 million chickens,
170,938 cattle, and 347,891 pigs. Their largest meat packing facility is their beef
production plant in Dakota City, Nebraska. Other plants include feed mills, hatcheries,
and tanneries.
Acquisitions
In 2001, Tyson Foods acquired IBP, Inc., the largest beef packer and number two pork
processor in the U.S., for US$3.2 billion in cash and stock. Tyson has also acquired such
companies as Hudson Foods Company, Garrett poultry, Washington Creamery, Franz
Foods, Prospect Farms, Krispy Kitchens, Ocoma Foods, Cassady Broiler, Vantress
Pedigree, Wilson Foods, Honeybear Foods, Mexican Original, Valmac Industries,
Heritage Valley, Lane Processing, Cobb-Vantress, Holly Farms, Wright Brand Foods,
Inc. and Don Julio Foods. It also acquired along with its purchase of IBP, the naming
rights to an event center in Sioux City, Iowa. On 29 May 2014, the company announced
a $6.13 billion cash offer to acquire all the shares in Hillshire Brands, two days after a
$6.4 billion cash and shares bid for Hillshire by Pilgrim's Corp. In June, Tyson won the
bidding war against Pilgrim's Pride, agreeing to buy the maker of Jimmy Dean sausage
and Ball Park hot dogs for $8.5 billion.[5]
Tyson Renewable Energy

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Tyson's processing plants are left with a vast supply of animal fats. In late 2006, the
company created a business unit called Tyson Renewable Energy to examine ways to
commercialize use of this leftover material by converting it into biofuels.[6] The unit is
also examining the potential use of poultry litter to generate energy and other products.
[7] On April 16, 2007, Tyson announced a joint venture with ConocoPhillips to produce
roughly 175 million gallons of biodiesel a year enough to run Tyson Foods' truck fleet
for 3.5 years.[8] On July 28th, 2014, the company said it would sell its Mexican and
Brazilian poultry businesses to JBS S.A. for $575 million and use the proceeds to pay
down debt from its pending $7.7 billion purchase of Hillshire Brands Co.[4]
Corporate Charity
Since 2000, Tyson Foods has given more than 78 million pounds of its products to
hunger and disaster relief in the United States - altogether enough protein to have served
one meal to every American citizen.[9] Tyson has donated millions of dollars in cash to
help non-profit organizations across the country. For these efforts, Forbes named Tyson
Foods the second most proportionally generous company for its donations in 2007
totaling 1.6 percent ($8 million) of its annual operating income.[10] Tyson initiated the
KNOW Hunger campaign in early 2011 to raise awareness of hunger in the United
States.[9] After the Joplin tornado of 2011, Tyson sent 77,000 pounds of food to the
city.[11] It also sent 100,000 pounds of food to the communities along the Gulf of
Mexico after the oil spill.[12]

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Religious activities
Current chairman John Tyson is a practicing Interfaith Christian. In addition to placing
128 part-time chaplains (including both Protestant and Catholic Christians and Muslim
Imams) in 78 Tyson plants,[13] in 2006, the company invited their customers to
download a prayer book, containing prayers from many faiths, including Christianity,
Judaism, Islam, and American Indian spirituality, from the company's website to read
during mealtime.

2.0

Analyze the market situation of retail industry in your country.

Tyson Foods Beef segment

In the last part of this series, we learned that the Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) Beef segment
generated the largest share of company revenues, $16 billion in 2014. The Tyson Foods
Beef segment involves live cattle processing and beef carcass fabrication.
Tyson Foods processes live cattle into primal and sub-primal cuts, case-ready beefthat
is, beef ready to be sold at retail storesand fully cooked beef products. This process is
known as dressed beef fabrication. Dressed means cattle butchered and removed of all

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parts that are not consumed by people. Tyson also produces by-product hides and meat,
which are sold for further processing.
Production process
In the above chart you can see that the beef production process starts with the cow or
calf operators. These operators include ranchers and farmers who oversee the process of
breeding the cows to produce a calf. When the calf reaches a weight of between 300 and
600 pounds, its weaned from its mothers milk and starts on an adult diet. This calf is
then sold to the stock operator, where the calfs weight is brought to between
600 and 800 pounds. Then, the calf is sold to feedlot operators, where the calf is
fattened to a cow weighing between 900 and 1400 pounds. The cow that reaches this
weight is called live cattle and is sold to the slaughterhouse, which processes the
carcass. The processed carcass, known as wholesale cuts, is sold for further processing.
Unlike the Chicken business, this segment is not vertically integrated. Live cattle are the
major input in the beef business and the company procures its live cattle on the spot
market throughtrained cattle buyers.
Competition

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According to Beef USA, Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) was number one in beef packing
operations in 2013. It was followed by JBS USA Holdings, Cargill Meat Solutions, and
National Beef Packing Co.
Tyson is a part of the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP). This ETF also
holds Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL), as well as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Costco
Wholesale Corporation (COST) that sell Tyson products.
Tysons vertical integration
The Chicken segment generated Tyson Foods, Inc.s (TSN) second-largest share of
revenues, $11 billion in the fiscal year ended September 2014.
Between the raw commodities and the end product, there may be several processes
managed by one or many companies that handle the goods throughout the chain.
Depending on its position in this chain, a company is called either an upstream or
downstream unit. An upstream unit is positioned at the beginning of the chain, and a
downstream unit is positioned at the end of it.
A single company may decide to integrate all the stages in this chain to gain control
over the supply of raw materials and strengthen its position in the market. This process
is known as vertical integration.
Production process

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Tysons poultry production process is fully vertically integrated. It begins with poultry
breeding stock that are raised on a pullet farm for 20 weeks. After this, the chickens are
sent to the breeder house where they lay eggs at around 26 weeks. Once the eggs hatch,
the breeder chicks are sent to contract growers, which raise the chicks according
to Tysons standards. Primary processing of the chickens, which includes culling and
more processing stages such as portioning, value adding, and preserving, follows.
Finally, the end product is transported and marketed to its end consumers.

3.0

Identification of opportunities (SWOT analysis) on the industry.

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SWOT Analysis
1. The company is one of the largest producers of meat and
beef in the world
2. It has a strong presence across USA
3. Over 115,000 employees form a formidable workforce
4. The company has over 300 facilities spread across US
and abroad
5. It has associated with brands like McDonalds, KFC,
Strength

TacoBell etc

Weakness

1. The brand has limited presence outside USA and Intense

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competition means limited market share

2. Allegations of environmental issues and animals has hurt
the brand image
1. More branding and visibility to enhance efforts made
2. Global tie-ups to increase global reach
Opportunity

3. Acquiring smaller firms to further strengthen its position

1. Changing customer preferences
2. Objection from organisations which promote vegetarian
food
3. Economic fluctuations and falling prices can affect

Threats

4.0

operations.

Identification competitors and marketing objectives.

Competitors of Tyson Foods, Inc.

General Mills Inc.

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General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded

consumer foods sold through retail stores. It is headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb
of Golden Valley, Minnesota. The company markets many well-known North American
brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totino's, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old
El Paso, Hagen-Dazs, Cheerios, Trix, Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms. Its brand
portfolio includes more than 89 other leading U.S. brands and numerous category
leaders around the world.[2]
History

Washburn-Crosby Company[edit]
The company can trace its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, incorporated in
1856.[3]The company was founded by Illinois Congressman Robert Smith, who leased
power rights to mills operating along the west side of the Saint Anthony Falls on

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the Mississippi River. Cadwallader C. Washburn acquired the company shortly after its
founding and hired his brother, William D. Washburn to assist in the company's
development. In 1866, the Washburns got into the business themselves, building
the Washburn "B" Mill at the falls. At the time, the building was considered to be so
large and output so vast that it could not possibly sustain itself. However, the company
succeeded, and in 1874 he built the even biggerWashburn "A" Mill.
In 1877, the mill entered a partnership with John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby
Company. In that same year, Washburn sent William Hood Dunwoody to England to
open the market for spring wheat.[4] Dunwoody was successful and became a silent
partner.
In 1878, the "A" mill was destroyed in a flour dust explosion along with five nearby
buildings. The ensuing fire led to the death of 18 workers.[5]Construction of a new mill
began immediately. Not only was the new mill safer but it also was able to produce a
higher quality flour. The old grinding stones were replaced with automatic steel rollers.
These new rollers were the first used throughout the world. Winter Wheat Flour was
replaced by this new flour.
In 1880, Wasburn-Crosby flour brands won gold, silver and bronze medals at the
Millers' International Exhibition in Cincinnati.[6]

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In 1924, the company stepped in to take over a failing Twin Cities radio station, WLAG,
renaming it WCCO (from Washburn-Crosby Company).
Founding
General Mills itself was created in 1928 when Washburn-Crosby President James Ford
Bell directed his company to merge with 26 other mills.
In 1928, General Mills acquired the Wichita Mill and Elevator Company of the
industrialist Frank Kell of Wichita Falls, Texas. With the sale, Kell acquired cash plus
stock in the corporation.[7]

Postcard image of the Gold Medal Flour factory in Minneapolis around 1900
Merchandising and television sponsorships[edit]
Beginning in 1929, General Mills products contained box top coupons, known as Betty
Crocker coupons, with varying point values, which were redeemable for discounts on a
variety of housewares products featured in the widely distributed Betty Crocker catalog.

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The coupons and the catalog were discontinued by the company in 2006. A similar
program, Box Tops for Education, in which coupon icons clipped off various General
Mills products can be redeemed by schools for cash, started in 1996 and is still active.
[8]
General Mills became the sponsor of the popular radio show The Lone Ranger in 1941.
The show was then brought to television, and, after 20 years, their long-term
sponsorship came to an end in 1961.

Former site of General Mills today on the Mississippi River at Minneapolis

Beginning in 1959, General Mills sponsored the Rocky and His Friends television
series, later known asThe Bullwinkle Show. Until 1968, Rocky and Bullwinkle were
featured in a variety of advertisements for General Mills. General Mills was also a
sponsor of the Saturday-morning cartoons from the Total TeleVision productions studio,

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includingTennessee Tuxedo.[9] The company also was a sponsor of

the ABC western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian.
More diversification: toys and restaurants[edit]
The first venture General Mills took into the toy industry was in 1965. The company
bought Rainbow Crafts, which was the manufacturer of Play-Doh. General Mills'
purchase of the company was substantial because it brought production costs down and
tripled the revenue.
General Mills came out with their "Monster Cereals" in the 1970s. The cereals are now
produced and sold seasonally around Halloween.[10]
In 1970, General Mills acquired a five-unit restaurant company called Red Lobster and
expanded it nationwide. Soon, a division of General Mills titled General Mills
Restaurants developed to take charge of the Red Lobster chain. In 1980, General Mills
acquired the California-based Good Earth health food restaurant chain.[11] GM
eventually converted the restaurants into other chain restaurants they were operating,
such as Red Lobster.[12][13] In 1982, General Mills Restaurants founded a new Italianthemed restaurant chain called Olive Garden. Another themed restaurant,China Coast,
was added before the entire group was spun off to General Mills shareholders in 1995
as Darden Restaurants.

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During the same decade, General Mills ventured further, starting the General Mills
Specialty Retail Group. They acquired two clothing and apparel
companies, Talbots and Eddie Bauer. The acquisition was short-lived. Talbots was
purchased by a Japanese company, then known as JUSCO, and the Spiegel company
purchased Bauer. Spiegel later declared bankruptcy, yet Bauer still remains, albeit in a
smaller presence in the United States today.

Washburn "A" Mill, the producer of Gold Medal Flour, now the Minnesota Historical
Society Mill City Museum
From 1976 to 1985, General Mills went to court as the parent company of Parker
Brothers, which held the rights on the brand name and gaming idea of the board
game Monopoly, claiming that the so-called Anti-Monopoly game of an economics
professor infringed their trademark. The dispute extended up to the U.S. Supreme Court,
which ruled against them, saying that while they have exclusive rights to the

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game Monopoly, they can not prevent others from using the word "monopoly" in the
name of a game.
In 1985, General Mills' toy division was separated from its parent as Kenner Parker
Toys, Inc. There were many potential acquirers of the business but it was floated on the
stock exchange with General Mills' shareholders getting equivalent shares in Kenner
Parker. This was more tax efficient for General Mills.[14]
Mars Inc.
Mars, Inc. is an American global manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other
food products with US$33 billion in annual sales in 2013, and is ranked as the 6th
largest privately held company in the United States by Forbes.[2] Headquartered
in McLean,unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, US,[3][4] the company is entirely
owned by the Mars family. Mars operates in six business segments in the US: Chocolate
(Hackettstown, New Jersey), Petcare (Franklin, Tennessee), Wm. Wrigley Jr.
Company (Chicago, Illinois), Food (Rancho Dominguez, California), Drinks (West
Chester, Pennsylvania), and Symbioscience (Germantown, Maryland), the company's
life sciences division.[5][6]

History

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Mars, founded by Franklin Clarence Mars, is a company known for the confectionery
items that it creates,[7] such as Mars bars, Milky Way bars, M&M's, Skittles, Snickers,
and Twix. They also produce non-confectionery snacks, such as Combos, and other
foods, including Uncle Ben's Rice and pasta sauce brand Dolmio, as well as pet foods,
such as Pedigree and Whiskas brands.
Orbit gum is among the most popular brands, managed by the Mars subsidiary
brand Wrigley. During World War II, Wrigley was selling their eponymous gum only to
soldiers, while Orbit was sold to the public. Though abandoned shortly after the war,
about 30 years later Orbit made a comeback in America during the chewing gum craze.
Mars, whose mother taught him to hand dip candy, sold candy by age 19.[9] He started
the Mars Candy Factory in 1911 with Ethel V. Mars, his second wife, in Tacoma,
Washington.[9] This factory produced and sold fresh candy wholesale,[9] but ultimately
the venture failed.[10][11] By 1920, Mars had returned to his home state, Minnesota,
where the earliest incarnation of the present day Mars company was founded that year
as Mar-O-Bar Co., in Minneapolis[12] and later incorporated there as Mars,
Incorporated.[9]Forrest Mars, Sr., son of Frank and his first wife, who was also named
Ethel, was inspired by a popular type of milkshake[13] in 1923, to introduce the Milky
Way bar, advertised as a "chocolate malted milk in a candy bar",[14] which became the
best-selling candy bar.[12] In 1929, Frank moved the company to Chicago, Illinois and
started full production in a plant which still exists today.[15] In 1930, Frank Mars

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created the Snickers Bar and first sold it in US markets. In 1932, Forrest started Mars
Limited in the United Kingdom and launched the Mars bar.
Mars is still a family business owned by the Mars family. The company is famous for its
secrecy. A 1993 Washington Post Magazine article was a rare raising of the veil, as the
reporter was able to see the "M"s being applied to the M&M's, something that "no outsider had ever before been invited to observe."[16] In 1999, for example, the company
did not acknowledge that Forrest Mars, Sr., had died or that he had worked for the
company.
The company published its Principles in Action communication in September 2011.
This communication outlines the history of Mars, its legacy as a business committed to
its Five Principles, and the companys goal of putting its Principles into action to make
a difference to people and the planet through performance. Encompassing themes of
Health and Nutrition, Supply Chain, Operations, Products, and Working at Mars, the
Principles in Action communication outlines Mars Incorporateds targets, progress, and
ongoing challenges. It also describes its businesses, including Petcare, Chocolate,
Wrigley, Food, Drinks, Symbioscience.
Mars, Incorporated has developed a reputation across its leading markets to be an
excellent training ground for managers. In the United Kingdom for instance, many
CEOs of large companies learned their trade at Mars, Inc., including former Mars

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executives Justin King, the former appointed CEO of the supermarket chain Asda and
then the British postal service Royal Mail, and Allan Leighton, former CEO of the
retailer Sainsbury's. Recently, the company caught on to that and re-branded their
employer brand "Mars The Ultimate Business School".[19]
Moving into the fourth generation of family ownership, the company recently passed
from family leadership into non-family leadership; however, the business is still owned
by the Mars family. The global CEO of Mars, Inc. is Paul Michaels. Michaels is part of
a new group of non-family management that has taken over since the retirement
of John andForrest Mars, Jr.. The family now oversees the business as a council or
board of directors.[citation needed]
In the United States, the company has manufacturing facilities in Hackettstown, New
Jersey; Albany, Georgia; Burr Ridge, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Chicago and Mattoon,
Illinois;Cleveland, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Columbus,
Ohio; Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; Greenville, Mississippi; Greenville and Waco,
Texas; Henderson and Reno, Nevada; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Joplin, Missouri; Miami,
Oklahoma; and Galena, Kansas. Their Canadian facilities are located
in Bolton and Newmarket, Ontario.[20]
Mars Food UK Limited

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Mars Food UK Limited is the name of the British branch of Mars, Inc. The company is
based in Slough, UK. Mars brands manufactured for the UK market but not for the US
include Maltesers and Tunes.
In 1932, Forrest Mars, Sr., opened what was then Mars (Europe) headquarters, and
remains Mars (UK) headquarters in Slough, Berkshire[17] on the then-new Slough
Trading Estate, after a disagreement with his father, Franklin Clarence Mars. In this
factory, he produced the first Mars bar, based on the American Milky Way.[21] In 1936,
Mars separated the vanilla version of Milky Way to a separate brand, Forever Yours,
which was discontinued and later reintroduced as Milky Way Dark and later still, Milky
Way Midnight.[citation needed]
Many brands first created and sold in Britain were later introduced in the U.S.,
including Starburst (original UK brand name Opal Fruits) and Skittles. The
brands Twix, and Topicwere UK based.
Milky Way in Europe and worldwide is known as the 3 Musketeers in America.
Similarly, the Snickers bar was previously marketed in Ireland and the United
Kingdom as Marathon until 1990; in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands,
also until 1990; Galaxy in the Middle East is known as Dove in America and
worldwide; and Starburst was known in the UK and Ireland as Opal Fruits until 1998.
Chocolate and peanut M&M's were introduced in 1990.

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Mars Drinks UK
Mars Drinks UK, the beverages division of Mars Limited, operates
from Basingstoke in Hampshire and specialises in office vending machines. Mars
Drinks UK comprises the FLAVIA and KLIX brands which offer branded drinks such as
the Starburst Orange Drink, the Maltesers Hot Chocolate and the Galaxy drinks.
Mars Drinks also produces coffee and the equipment used to make it. In 1982 FLAVIA
was created out of the high demand for coffee in the United Kingdom. Initially
marketed asDimension 3 until 1989, FLAVIA was introduced in France and Germany in
1986 and Japan in 1992 then brought to the United States in 1996 and to Canada in
1997. Other products such as cappuccino were introduced in 2002 and tea in 2004.[22]

Marketing Objectives of Tyson Foods, Inc.

Tyson foods

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Management at Tyson Foods, Inc. is focused on three primary goals: maintaining a

strong balance sheet, growing value-added product sales in North America and growing
its poultry business in international markets such as Brazil, China, India and Mexico.

The need for a strong balance sheet is a reflection of the volatility that has plagued
global commodity markets since 2008. Whether it is due to increased global demand for
commodities or a limited supply due to drought, Tyson Foods is focused on liquidity.

Speaking this past May at the BMO Capital Markets Farm to Market Conference,
Donnie Smith, president and chief executive officer, said the Springdale, Ark.-based
company must maintain a lot of liquidity to work through the volatile commodity
markets. He added that the company needed to remain flexible in order to invest in
capital expenditures on the current business in order to improve efficiencies. He added
that a strong balance sheet also opens the door to acquisitions, but noted that Tyson
Foods is not at a point to where we have to acquire to grow.

Debt reduction has been a goal and Tyson Foods has reduced its debt from a net debt
ratio of about 55% at the beginning of 2002 to 20.5% at the end of fiscal 2011. Mr.
Smith said the situation puts the company in a better position to respond to changing
fundamentals in the animal protein sector, even in times of challenging market

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dynamics.

Product innovation is also a key to company growth. Management has made it a priority
to create new products for new channels and new product categories. Areas of interest
include convenience stores, where Mr. Smith said in May that there is less than a 5%
chance a customer will walk out of a convenience store with a Tyson product.

Thats a huge opportunity for us, he said, and added that the company is eager to
penetrate alternative retail channels such as drug stores, dollar stores and even small,
regional grocery chains.

With regards to international growth, Tyson Foods is cultivating new markets taking the
long view by establishing production. By 2014, the company anticipates having three
million birds under its control in China; two million birds in Brazil; and 500,000 birds
in India. The company is currently processing approximately 2.7 million birds per week
in Mexico.

In early August, Tyson Foods announced its financial results for the first nine months of
fiscal 2012. Net income during the period equaled $398 million, equal to $1.07 per
share on the common stock, and a decline compared with the same period during fiscal

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2011 when the company earned $635 million, or $1.71 per share. The 2012 results were
affected by a pre-tax charge of $167 million related to an early extinguishment of debt
charge.

Sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2012 were $24,905 million, which compared
with $23,862 million for 2011.

Grain costs have been increasing significantly and rapidly, largely the result of the ongoing U.S. drought, Mr. Smith said on Aug. 6. While we ultimately expect to pass
along rising input costs, these costs, coupled with continued soft demand are likely to
pressure earnings in 2013.

5.0 Highlight the marketing plan of your chosen retail brand.

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Tyson Foods marketing plan and business strategy

The Evolution of Tyson Foods
When Donald Tyson took over the family poultry processing business from his father in
1971, it wasnt doing badly. With $71 million in annual sales, the business consisted of
buying chicks from local farmers and raising the birds until their eleventh week. After
dressing the broilers, Tyson trucked them to grocery stores in Arkansas and neighboring
states.
As Tyson sought to grow the business, it became a question of how and where. Answers
came cackling forth in the form of a motto that somebody tacked up on the bulletin
board at the companys modest, cement-block headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas:
Do more with chicken.
We were just processing raw chickens when we first started, Tyson once told this
author in an interview. Then we started making chicken patties and that opened up a
whole new area of business for us because people could have chicken sandwiches. We
tapped a new market is what we did. Then, of course, we evolved into doing all sorts of
things.

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All sorts of things indeed. Tyson led the industry in figuring out ways to sell chicken in
more forms (not just fresh, whole fryers, but also chicken pieces, marinated chicken,
and frozen prepared dinners). The company then began aggressively inventing new
products (chicken tenders, chicken nuggets, even a ready-to-eat chicken snack, Buffalo
Wings). Actually, invent is not the right word; borrow is more accurate, as was the
case with Buffalo Wings, which Tyson scouts learned about on a visit to Buffalo, New
York, to learn why the company was unexpectedly selling so many chicken wings in
that football-crazed city.
Tyson scouts quickly discovered that sports bars in Buffalo had created a new way to
use chicken wings, because they could be purchased so cheaply. By adding flavorful
sauces and serving the wings during happy hours, the taverns kept patrons around
longer. Tyson adopted this idea, expanded it nationally, and created demand for a
chicken part that had previously been virtually unmarketable.
Process innovations enabled the company to standardize a product that had always been
inconsistent in taste and texture. Introducing factory-style farming methods, Tyson
Foods was one of the first to create fresh chicken with consistent enough quality and
size to carry a national brand name. The biggest breakthrough occurred when the
company went all out to sell chicken into venues far beyond the grocery store channel.

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Noticing that Americans were eating outside the home more and more, Tyson Foods
early on realized that doing more with chicken meant making it available where people
were eatingfast food outlets, fine dining establishments, airlines, and hospitals. Tyson
himself made a now-famous sales call on McDonalds Corporation in the early 1980s to
persuade the company to add chicken to its menus. The result was a breakthrough for
McDonaldsChicken McNuggetsand a growth explosion for Tyson, which grew
annually at rates of 36 percent for the decade that followed.
While Tyson Foods may not have consciously set out to become a strategy innovator,
the companys relentless drive to do more with chicken helped it become one.
Successful Strategy Innovation
To be considered successful strategy innovations, initiatives that alter a firms business
model must first turn a consistent profit. No amount of capital or advertising buzz can
substitute for that fundamental necessity. Strategy innovation has always been about
solving problems for customers in ways that they, not the sponsoring company, perceive
to be superior or unique from their present way of solving those problems. Such
innovations can be incremental, involving minor changes to the firms business model.
They can be radical, as when a firm decides to market its existing products and services
to new customer groups.

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In the early 1990s, defense contractor Hughes launched its DirecTV division, since
spun off into an independent company. At the time, this was a radical departure from
Hughes existing business model, which focused on selling and servicing satellites for
governments and industry. Hughes decided to do more with satellites after witnessing
the shrinking of defense budgets upon which it had largely depended. Hughes
redeployed its expertise with satellites to pioneer a new direct-to-consumer business of
beaming cable channels and movies to home satellite dishes. By 2001, DirecTV
contributed 77 percent of Hughes profits.
Strategy innovations can occur in your customer service, marketing, advertising,
pricing, selling methods, or in how you distribute your offerings to end customers.
Whatever their source, successful strategy innovations have one thing in common: They
result from discovering new ways to create value for customers, as measured by
bottom-line results to the sponsoring company. Strategy innovation may be spurred by a
desire to grow (whats in it for us), but this desire should never be allowed to
overshadow what the proposed business model will do for the customer (whats in it
for them).
Strategy innovation is, first and foremost, an act of imaginationthe ability to see how
something could work better from the customers standpoint, in a way that in turns
profits in the sponsoring firm. New business models present themselves when

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companies and their leaders imagine opportunities to do more with their products and
services than they have in the past.
What follows are six ways to jumpstart your search for imaginative new business
models for your firm.
1. Look for Opportunities in Market Positioning
What aspect of your market is not being adequately served and what might you do about
it? Very simply, the imperative here is: How can you hit em where they aint? In many
markets, commonly used terms such as were high end or were a discounter point
to how your firm and its product/service offerings are positioned in the marketplace, and
how others who sell what you do differ on the dimensions of quality, service, and price.
Motel 6 in no way compares to Four Seasons Hotels, save for the fact that both offer
guests a place to lay their heads for the night. The stripped down version of the Korean
import Hyundai is incomparable to the latest model Mercedes or BMW except for the
fact that both offer a means to transport human beings from one place to another via
streets and roads and highways. Looking for gaps in competitor positioning involves
rethinking often long-held assumptions about a companys positioning, and either
adding unique or exceptional value to ones current position, or entering a different
position in the following market segments:

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Less-for Less. Southwest Airlines, from its inception, offered customers less and
charged them less for it. The less came in the form of a scaled down level of service
(no in-flight meals, no pre-assigned seating, no travel agents, no coast-to-coast
nonstops). Hyundai did it with new product offerings at the very lowest end of the
market. Dollar Stores and Dollar General, both of which have prospered at the less-forless end of the market, did so by carrying products, many of them imports, at prices
even lower than Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Target stores. Costco has pioneered ways of
making this market positioning attractive to the middle class. They offer less selection
breath, less convenience, less consistency of offerings, and instead sell on volume a
limited, opportunistic selection, and eschew service in the traditional sense.
More-for-More. Here, the strategic focus is on giving the customer more, meaning more
service and more quality, and charging more in the process. Examples abound, from
Maytags Neptune washing machine to Tiffany to Sam Adams Beer, from Rolex
watches to Dove soap to Dove Bars, from Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons to Mercedes
and BMW. Theres no question that this positioning strategy relies greatly on appealing
to customer wants, rather than merely satisfying needs. And therein lies the biggest
challenge of maintaining success while playing in this arena: You will be expected to be
a leader in adding unique and exceptional value, just as you will be expected to
continuously redefine customer wants. Woe unto those that do not have the finest
market-sensing antennas, who are trend followers rather than trend leaders.

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Same for Less. The extreme ends of the market arent the whole story in positioning.
Two additional positioning strategies are not only viable, but are advisable, especially
for new entrants in existing markets, and those desiring to establish and enlarge market
reach. Same for less is just such a positioning strategy. While this is the traditional
appeal of the sale, it is the very viable strategy of Mens Wearhouse, the Fremont,
California, mens clothing retailer. While many mens suit retailers have shuttered their
doors in recent years due to declining sales of business suits and the trend toward more
casual dress, Mens Wearhouse has aggressively expanded and has, in some cases, taken
advantage of huge drops in the cost of retail space. Mens Warehouse also provides
more for less by including free pressing and follow-up calls to determine the level of
satisfaction. Highly visible television advertising raises the companys profile.
More for Same. When Virgin Atlantic started up in the early 1990s, the airline knew it
had to offer a noticeably superior value proposition to get travelers to switch from thendominant British Airways. Why would passengers, especially business travelers
accumulating frequent flyer miles on BA, want to try a different brand? Virgin
introduced the attention-getting Upper Class service, which offered the larger seats and
leg room of traditional first class at the price of business class service. Virgin further
enhanced its value proposition by offering to pick up and deliver Upper Class
passengers from and to their destinations. And it continues to freshen its value-added
extras, most recently with onboard masseuses.

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2. Look for Opportunities in Customer Outsourcing

The operative strategy here is look for opportunities in meeting customers everexpanding desires to outsource their chores, tasks, and responsibilities to focus their
time in more productive and meaningful ways elsewhere. This driving force of change
shows up in both business-to-consumer and business-to-business relationships. The
advance of the service economy in general, and service businesses in particular, is the
story of companies and entrepreneurs imagining ways of creating customer value via
outsourcing tasks consumers formally had to do themselves.
Take the chore of changing the oil in your car. Until recently, American car owners
either changed their own or brought their cars to dealers or local mechanics, an often
time-consuming chore. Today, 70 percent of car owners outsourced this ritual to a
newly-created service business, the quick lube industry.
The industry was invented in the late 1970s by a former Baltimore football coach who
grew frustrated with the inconvenience of existing solutions. Jim Hindman designed
Jiffy Lube to give motorists a way to solve their problem that was quicka 10-minute
time guaranteeand inexpensive. Result: Jiffy Lube grew quickly into a national chain.
While consumers gladly outsource their chores and responsibilities when the value is
perceived to be attractive, contradicting this trend has potential also. Value innovator
Home Depot avoided the category killer dukeout by focusing on the unmet and

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unarticulated needs of homeowners. Home Depot easily undercut local hardware stores
on price, while offering greater selection and knowledgeable associates who, in some
cases, have real-world experience in carpentry, tile-setting, etc.
Home Depot did not achieve its phenomenal growth merely by taking market share
from mom and pop hardware stores, however. It created a larger market for its wares by
tapping pent up demand. People wanted to make repairs on their homes, but often
lacked either the skills to do it themselves or the funds to outsource such projects to
contractors. Home Depots strategy innovation was to empower customers through
knowledge-exchange: giving them the know-how and confidence that they could
regrout the kitchen tile, or paint the living room, or install that drip irrigation system in
the yard.
3. Look for Opportunities in How Customer Needs Are Currently Understood
All too often, competition in an industry tends to coalesce around accepted notions of
market positioning from high end to unbundled low end. But these commonly accepted
assumptions often extend to the basis of appeal of a product category, as either
providing entertainment and/or emotional-support value, or problem-solving value.
Such definitional rigidity does two things: It keeps us from imagining alternative
possibilities for our offerings, and it keeps us from anticipating the emerging needs and
unarticulated desires of consumers, which lie dormant, waiting to be addressed.

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In developed countries, most basic consumer needs are largely satisfied. A hierarchy of
wants supplants psychologist Abraham Maslows oft-cited hierarchy of needs. The quest
for survival gives way to a quest to improve ones standard of living, which morphs into
a quest for a higher quality of life. In probing for consumer wants rather than needs,
new possibilities present themselves all the time.
4. Look for Opportunities to Reinvent Your Business Model
Frustrated with the high prices, bureaucracy, and poor customer service of the auto
insurance industry, Californias voters passed Proposition 103, mandating auto
insurance premium roll-backs and introducing other reforms. The measure forced
insurers to rebate millions of dollars to customers, and forced drastic survival measures
on an embittered industry.
One company, Progressive Insurance, turned this voter-tossed lemon into lemonade and
used it to reinvent their very business model. It was a wake up call, said Peter Lewis,
CEO of Mayfield Village, Ohio-based Progressive Corp. I decided that from then on,
anything we did had to be good for the consumeror we werent going to do it.
Progressive responded by reinventing auto insurance from the ground up. Before,
Progressive claimants waited weeks while their paperwork languished in some
adjusters in-box. These days, Progressive settles the claim with its client on the spot, no
matter when the accident happens, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company

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often settles claims before other companies even know theres been an accident.
Progressives 1 800 AUTO PRO service quotes the firms rates to potential customers
along with the rates of competitors, even if competitors rates are cheaper.
And Progressive continues to think unconventionally in seeking to make its business
model more alluring. In one pilot program, Progressive customers pay for insurance
based on when, where, and how much they drive. Normally, prices are based on risk
posed by a drivers age, record, marital status, and other criteria. But Progressive
maintains those factors are less important than things like how much a car is used and
where it is driven. A mile driven at eight in the morning is safer than a mile driven at
midnight, says a company spokesperson.
So now Progressive monitors the milesand routesof participating drivers via a
tracking box affixed to their cars. The device uses cellular and satellite technology to
monitor miles and times the car is driven each day. Billing works much like a homes
gas meter. The company says premiums for some drivers have dropped an average of 25
percent.
5. Look for Opportunities to Redefine Value-Added
Before J.D. Power & Associates came along, the research industry defined the market
for information research, and the way we do business in this industry in one way.

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Market research companies would call upon customers to obtain research contracts,
which they would then go out and conduct on a proprietary basis.
Power turned the equation upside down. Bearing all the costs himself upfront, Power
found out what their customers experience had been, then sold his findings to the car
companies for a hefty price. Customer satisfaction standouts were given the rightfor an
added feeto advertise the results. Only if they paid for the research did they have the
right to claim, that they were number one in customer satisfaction. A typical J.D.
Power study includes 40 makes of cars, but Power publishes only the rankings of the
brands that score above average. Those that finish below average are listed
alphabetically in the results that are released to the public.
6. Rethink How Your Product or Service Gets Into the Hands of Customers
Leggs pantyhose built a market for itself by distributing its product in non-traditional
outlets such as supermarkets and convenience stores. Amway, Mary Kay, Tupperware,
and Avon all in their own way, innovated new business models in distribution. And the
dozens if not hundreds of new multi-level marketing companies that are started each
year ride this wave.
Dell Computer did not follow the traditional two-step distribution, but pioneered a new
business model. Dell chose not to distribute its products through the then-standard
channelto wholesalers or resellers, who sold to retailers, who then sold to end-

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customers, but instead sold directly to end-customers. Other innovations rounding out
Dells unique business model were strategic in nature as well: From the beginning, Dell
didnt manufacturer a single computer until it received a customers order. Because it
manufactured products to order, Dell didnt have to create an inventory of standardized
products to be stored until sold in one warehouse or another.
Similarly, e-Bay represents strategy innovation when compared to the way in which
people searched for odd items such as used John Deere tractor seats and early 20th
century toothbrushes.
Jumpstarting Strategy Innovation at Your Firm
While these and many other strategy innovations rely on technology to change the
game, not all strategy innovation is based on technology, nor does it need to be. Viable
business models require imagination and passion in seeking to solve customers
problems in superior ways, rather than simply pumping up ones own balance sheets.
While it is all too easy to dream about creating value for ourselves, successful strategy
innovators with names like Ford and Walton and Tyson seem to think deeply about
creating superior value for customers.
To jumpstart strategy innovation in your firm, its necessary to foster a willingness to
rethink, coupled with a deep understanding of how your customer receives value from
you. Your business model is simply a description of how your company creates value

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for customers that in turn generates revenue and profits for your company. Use these six
to jumpstart your search for new ways to strengthen your firms business model, and be
prepared for growth, increased profitability and sustained competitive advantage.

6.0 Identify and discuss the new product or service idea and future
marketing strategy of your chosen retail brand.

Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are killing thousands of Americans a year. And the meat
industry, a major breeding ground for these antibiotic resistance, is taking major steps
to doing something about the growing public health issue.
On Tuesday, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods became the latest chicken producer to
eliminate the use of "human antibiotics" for raising chickens in its U.S. operations. The
company has pledged to phase out the antibiotics by September 2017. It said it will also
develop a plan for doing the same in its turkeys, cows and pigs, as well as the chicken it
produces abroad.
The new policy from the company means that more than one-third of the U.S. chicken
industry has pledged to eliminate routine use of "medically important antibiotics."

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Perdue, McDonalds, Chick-fil-A and Pilgrims have all announced steps to scale back
their use of antibiotics. Companies like Panera Bread, Chipotle, Whole Foods and
Applegate have also sworn off antibiotics. But Tyson processes more chicken than any
of these companies, pumping out more than 38 million broiler chickens (chickens raised
for meat) per week.
The Natural Resources Defense Council called the Tyson news a "tipping point for
getting the chicken industry off antibiotics." Yet when it comes to protecting against
antibiotic resistance, critics say the change may be too little and too late.
The trouble is that for years, the meat industry hasn't used antibiotics to just treat sick
animals. The antibiotics are also used to make animals bigger so they produce more
meat and raise profits. And because of the heavy use of antibiotics, these animals can
develop resistant bacteria in their guts, which can then be spread to humans.
Antibiotics have only been commercially available since the 1940s, and antibiotic
resistance has been around almost as long, as the timeline below from the CDC shows.
Alexander Fleming, the inventor of penicillin, warned the public of bacterial resistance
to his drug as early as 1945, when he accepted the Nobel prize for his invention.

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7.0

References

1. www.google.com
2. www.wikipedia.com
3. Textbook BBA 4004

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8.0 COURSEWORK

There are several types of marketing information are available. Please

describe them.

Marketing Research Studies. These studies consist of customized information collected and analyzed for a particular research problem. The information may be obtained
through surveys and/or published sources.
Standardized Information Services. This information is available from outside vendors on a subscription or single-purchase basis. The services collect and analyze
information that is sold to several customers such as prescription sales for drugs
marketed to pharmaceutical firms.
Management Information Systems (MIS). Computerized systems supply information
for a variety of purposes such as order processing, invoicing, customer analysis, and
product performance. The information in these systems may include both internal and
external data.

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Database Systems. This special form of MIS includes information from internal and
external sources that is computerized and used for customer and product analyses,
mailing lists, identifying sales prospects, and other marketing applications.
Decision Support Systems. These computerized systems provide decision-making
assistance to managers and staff. Their capabilities are more advanced than an MIS.
Competitor Intelligence Systems. Companies are using competitor intelligence systems to help monitor competitors and to identify firms that may become competitors.
Intelligence activities include searching databases, conducting customer surveys,
interviewing suppliers and other channel members, forming strategic alliances with
competitors, hiring competitors' employees, and evaluating competitors' products. The
firm's complete information needs should be considered before committing to major
marketing information systems. Most firms benefit from a routine and complete
evaluation of their information situation. Cooperation among departments can save the
firm countless employee-hours and dollars. Far too often a department launches an
expensive information-gathering project only to discover later that another department
already had the type of information sought. Synergistic information distribution
encourages sharing.
In the remainder of the chapter, we will examine the methods of acquiring and
processing information for use in marketing decision making. The objective is to show

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how the various information capabilities assist decision makers in strategic and
operating decisions. A good marketing information management strategy takes into
account the interrelationship of these capabilities.

Please explain the market entry barriers.

Companies that compete in the market often have an inherent advantage over others
planning to enter the market. This edge results from the market entry barriers that the
new entrant will encounter. Understanding the entry barriers present in a product-market
is important both to incumbents and to potential competitors. Entry barrier analysis
includes (1) identifying the barriers and their relative importance, (2) estimating the
effect of the barriers on entry at different stages of product-market maturity, and (3)
recognizing how entry barriers vary in different product-markets (e.g., consumer and
industrial products). Entry Barriers. The major barriers are described in Table 1.2 with
accompanying definitions A variety of specific barriers can be identified within the six
areas suggested by Table 1.2. For example, cost advantage may be due to volume
production, design efficiency, and experience. A study of Fortune 500 executives in a
simulated business environment found all of the six barriers to be relevant. Cost
advantages were viewed as the most important entry barrier, with capital requirements

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second and product differentiation third. No distinct relative importance pattern was
found for the other factors.
TABLE 1.2 Market Entry Barriers

Concept
Cost advantages of incumbents

Definition
The advantages include the decline in
unit cost of a product as the absolute
volume of production per period
increases, as well as the reduction in unit
cost resulting from product know-how,
design characteristics, favorable access to
raw materials, favorable locations,
government subsidies, and learning or

Production differentiation of incumbents

experience curve.
Established firms have brand
identification and customer loyalties
stemming from past advertising,
customer service, product differences, or

Capital requirements

simply being first into the market

The need to invest large financial
resources to enter a market and compete

Customer switching costs

in that market.
One-time costs to the buyer due to

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switching from one supplier to another

(i.e., employee retraining costs, cost of
new ancillary equipment, need for new
Access to distribution channels

technical help, product redesign, etc.).

The extent to which logical distribution
channels for a product are already served

Government policy

by the established firms in the market.

The extent to which government limits or
forecloses entry into industries with such
controls as licensing requirements and
limits access to raw materials (i.e.,
regulated industries and Environmental
Protection Agency laws).

Early versus Late Market Entry. The market pioneer (first to enter) often gains a
sustainable competitive edge over firms entering the market later. Being first does not
assure the pioneer of a favorable market and profit position. Initial entry offers an
opportunity for rewards but is also risky, since later entrants can benefit from the early
entrant's mistakes. The successful pioneer must select and implement strategies for
sustaining competitive advantage.

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Entry Barriers in Different Product-Markets. The importance of the six entry

barriers may vary across consumer and industrial markets. In one study all of the
barriers except capital requirements were different for industrial and consumer markets.
Product differentiation and access to distribution channels are more influential in early
entry for consumer markets. Variation in the importance of entry barriers appears to be
influenced by product-market characteristics.

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