MKT600 Marketing Case Study: Strategic Analysis of Jeff De Bruges

This case study report provides a comprehensive analysis of Jeff De Bruges, a French chocolate company, focusing on its marketing strategies and environment. It examines buyer behavior in the chocolate industry, considering social and psychological influences on consumer decisions. The report includes a micro-environment analysis using SWOT to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It also reviews the competitive landscape, distinguishing between direct, indirect, and future competitors. Furthermore, the macro-environment is analyzed using PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces to assess political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting the company. The analysis aims to provide insights into the company's current market position and potential strategies for future growth and adaptation.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
International Marketing
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................2
2.1 Buyer behaviour in relation to chocolate manufacturing business..................................2
2.2 Micro environment analysis.............................................................................................4
2.3 Competitors’ analysis.......................................................................................................5
2.4 Macro environment analysis............................................................................................6
2.4.1. PESTLE analysis......................................................................................................6
2.4.2. Porter’s Five Forces.................................................................................................9
3. Conclusion............................................................................................................................10
References:...............................................................................................................................11

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1. Introduction
Marketing in modern days has drastically evolved and is a very important element of
the business administration. It is not just an important part of the business development, as a
matter of fact it is the business. Everything in a business is based upon marketing. It is
resembled with a number of activities that are all linked with selling the products and services
of a company. However, in this modern business world, there is a huge importance of
effective marketing and every business is in high need for practising effective contemporary
marketing. With the same, the design of the marketing plans is integral to the business
organisations belonging from any sector. This report will highlight some of the key theories
and principles of the practical marketing strategies and would evaluate critically the needs
and requirements of clients with regard to the creation of value for the company named- Jeff
De Bruges. It is going to present a case study for this company in context to its marketing
environment and processes. It would analyse the buyer behaviour in relation to chocolate
manufacturing business in order to assess their expectations from the very company and will
also conduct micro and macro environmental analysis for Jeff De Bruges. Furthermore, it
shall also review its competitive environment.
2. Discussion
2.1 Buyer behaviour in relation to chocolate manufacturing business
Buyer or Consumer behaviour is a very important factor that requires to be taken into
consideration during the process of developing a marketing strategy for any business or
organisation. Jeff De Bruges was created in the year 1986 by Philippe Jambon. It is basically
a French company and has its business extended on several parts of the world including
Australia. It has a total of 284 number of shops in France and more than 30 in foreign
countries. It is basically a Franchisee business (Azevedo & Silva, 2017). It targets medium

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income consumers and the high income consumers. It has a wide variety of products to offer
to its customers and it also considers their activities, opinion and interests before launching
any products in the market. With the same, it also targets the consumers who give gifts such
as flowers and chocolates or chocolate bouquets when they are invited anywhere.
Social influence- It is to note that society and cultures plays a very crucial part in
influencing the buying behaviour of the buyers. The purchase of chocolates by the consumers
is based on several factors and all those factors have a detrimental impact on the buyers’
decision. It is well-known that chocolate is such an item that is used by all and is also very
easily available to everyone. Chocolates are generally offered when there is any sort of
occasion such as birthdays or Christmas and therefore a society where the occasions are
important becomes the focal point of all the chocolate manufacturers. Moreover, the social
trend of giving gifts to the relatives assist a lot in the sale of chocolates. There are many
customers who are very sensitive towards several factors such as the shape of the chocolate,
its consistency in the mouth, the way it feels while touching it, its melting etc. Also, the other
factors such as the ethical consideration of the chocolate manufacturing company and
corporate social responsibility influence the buying decision of the consumers of chocolates.
For instance, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the company comprises of the legal
compliance, environmental issue etc. Hence, it is very necessary that in the manufacturing of
the chocolate, the company should follow the regulatory frameworks of the very industry
(Hale, Borys & Adams, 2015).
Psychological influence- Motivation, learning, attitude, health etc. also influences the
buyer behaviour in relation to the businesses. Motivation is an essential element that
influences the sales of the chocolates as if the demand of chocolate is high the consumers will
go to purchase it (Ritter et al., 2015). Motivation for consumers of - Jeff De Bruges is only
the special occasions on which they need sweets and the brand image that the company has

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formed in the mind of its consumers. Furthermore, health is the other psychological factor
that influences the consumer behaviour as it is said by the doctor that excess chocolates are
not good for health and the consumers in recent years are becoming increasingly health
conscious. Lastly, learning is the other factor that influences the consumer buying behaviour
of Jeff De Bruges. Here learning is associated with the perception regarding the use of a
product. Therefore, it can be stated that if the customer likes the product then he surely buy it
again.
2.2 Micro environment analysis
It is to not that for analysing both the internal and the external environment of the
company (the micro environment analysis) more relevantly, SWOT analysis tool has been
used. It would help in the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of Jeff De Bruges as
well as for assessing the present opportunities and challenges for it in the business
environment (Bull et al., 2016).
Strengths- Jeff De Bruges has a very good brand image in Australia and it has many
opportunities in this new emerging Australian business market. With the same, Jeff De
Bruges also has a very strong promotional activities such as it gives exclusive gifts as one of
the parts of their product promotional activities. Furthermore, founded in the year 1986, it has
a very powerful historical background and this is one of its significant strengths to count in
this context.
Weaknesses- Over the years, Jeff De Bruges have made re-launches often. Hence, most of the
consumers have doubted on its consistency. Furthermore, it has weak television
advertisements as well as weak presence on the different social media platforms, which is of
most importance in present day. Due to this, it is comparatively less informational and less

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interactive and hence, lacks updates. With the same, the current positioning of Jeff De Bruges
is not consistent as well and therefore, it is losing its roots.
Opportunities- It can make use of social media as it is growing rapidly and in today’s date it
is not only the platform that is used by the young generation, instead the middle aged people
and even many of the older generation have social media profiles of theirs. Also, it could take
initiative for the increase of consumer engagement and could increase its nutritional
awareness and online advertising. Lastly, it is also to state that Jeff De Bruges could
capitalise on historic or organic brand positioning as well.
Threats- Like any other business organisation, Jeff De Bruges too has several threats and
challenges that could influence its overall business in negative way. Also, with the growing
number of businesses, competition for Jeff De Bruges might also get increased and it might
get higher competition from the parts of its competitors. With the same, they could also steal
the Australian market share. Furthermore, because of the economic downturn in Australia,
the consumers here switch to the store bands more than the other thing (Shepherd & Page,
2015). Not only the Australian consumers but also every consumers all around the world
have increasingly become health conscious. They tend to choose healthier products and
options like non-dairy products.
2.3 Competitors’ analysis
Indirect competitors- The Chinese chocolatiers and the companies are not only target the
upper class people but also the people who seek to but chocolates for Easter and Christmas
are the indirect competitors of Jeff De Bruges. For example- Xiao Hui Chang and Canny
Manufactory.

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Direct competitors- The Chinese chocolatiers along with the chains, which sell chocolates in
between 35 to 45 euros per 1 kilo. The La Maison du Chocolat, Venchi chocolate, Multizen
and Sha Tin.
Future competitors- The small producers who have the potential to develop and grow further
in the industry
2.4 Macro environment analysis
2.4.1. PESTLE analysis
For the process of analysing the macro environment of a particular product, PESTLE
analysis tool is very useful. It helps in identifying the six key forces that influence the
decision making about the marketing of a particular product. They six forces are the Political,
Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental.
a) Political
- Australia hosts a stable business and political environment.
- The EFSA bro-biotic dossiers firms that have vested their interest in the functional
health have adopted much more cautious approach and at the same time, have also
focus on the advantages which have secured the EFSA approval (Christodoulidou
et al., 2018).
- In Australian countries, compliance with the Australian legislation is increasingly
becoming more costly.
- The negotiations of trade under the WTO (World Trade Organisation). Bilateral
deals of trade (Baldwin, 2016).
- United Kingdom has signed up pledge of the Department of Health’s calorie
reduction that aims at supporting and enabling the consumers in eating and
drinking lesser amount of calories on a regular basis.

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b) Economic
- The rate of unemployment in Australia is rising daily and it had reached about
8.4% in the year 2012 (Fountoulakis et al., 2012).
- It can be argued that the Australian economy is steady and based on a stable
economic growth rate. In compare to this, the rates in the OECD nations such as
US and UK are quiet low than Australia. Moreover, the GDP of Australia is also
higher than other European companies like UK, France and Germany. From this
above point of view it can be considered that Australia have less risk than other
developed countries. As a result of that it boosts up the growth in GDP, rate of
interests and the foreign exchange volume that paves the way for low inflation
rate.
c) Social
- Preoccupation with trying to lose weight
- There is a projected increase of one-person households.
- Strong rise is expected among the total number of children in between the age
range of 5 to 9 years.
- It is also expected that the adults of family would still remain the largest
population segment in Australia.
- Consumers are becoming very health conscious (Mai & Hoffmann, 2015)
d) Technological
- Online shopping has made the Australian market more competitive because the
retail giants are able to communicate with the customers directly. As a matter of
fact, it has immense impact on the business operations, supply chain management
and workplace environment of the grocery and food retail companies.

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- With the advent of the broadband internet facility the online retailing and
shopping has become highly popular. It is to note that about 70% of the total
Australian market are broadband users (Barry, 2018)
- Shortage of applied Resource & Development and knowledge exchange because
the Australian Government has reduced funding.
- There are many issues that dominate the present Australian science and
technology policy and they are- the concentration of R&D in the national research
centres; the tensions among the university researchers on the subject of allocation
of R&D funding resources; an effective communication among the industry, the
government, and the university researchers; the increasing role which the very
industry is playing in the support of national R&D; and lastly, the role which the
country itself is playing in the collaboration of international science and
technology.
e) Legal
- Compliance with the Australian government regulations and sanctions
- As far as the Legal factors are concerned the Australian government enlisted a
number of companies who are alleged to link with terrorist activities (Sorensen,
2015).
- The companies in Australia are required to make sure that they have checked all
the credentials of their international or overseas buyers and their partners.
- Due to specific and transparent legal framework the labourers enjoys an increase
in the minimum wage and at the same time the companies are compelled to follow
the sustainable standards.
f) Environmental

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- Climate change adaptations. The changes in the weather and temperature
influences the industry.
- Dearth of water resource is identified as a significant issue for the government. In
fact, the quality of the water resources is also perturb the local communities
(Sahin, Stewart & Porter, 2015). Therefore, water management has become a
significant priority for the Australian government.
- Environmentally friendly paper packing and reduction of plastic packaging is
being promoted by the Australian government.
2.4.2. Porter’s Five Forces
a) Bargaining power of the buyers- There are a total of two categories of buyers for Jeff De
Bruges and they are the retailer and the consumers. The retail buyers has the highest impact
on this company (Pauwels & Neslin, 2015). Also, the buyers enjoys some extent of power in
order to influence the companies to follow the consumer demands intensly.
b) Bargaining power of the suppliers- The main commodities that Jeff De Bruges uses are
milk, sugar and cocoa. A minor change in the price of any of these commodities would
influence the main price of the very product as well as profitability of Jeff De Bruges. Hence,
the bargaining power of the suppliers in this context is quite high. Also, the manufacturers of
the confectionaries are facing cost pressures because the prices of cocoa is hitting their
highest levels because of the decrease in its production.
c) Industry rivalry- There is a very stiff competition among the players within the chocolate
manufacturing industry and all these major players have about 42% share of the global
market and they all have very sound brands around the world (Afoakwa, 2016). The intense
competition drove to competition in price and this would led Jeff De Bruges to operate in
lower margins. Hence, Rivalry among the prevailing competitors has high effect.

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d) Threat of the substitute products- Obesity has become an issue for the Australians. As per
the government report each year the obesity issue has been increased in a rapid manner.
Therefore, the Australian consumers are very aware of healthy food products. Moreover,
products like cereal bars and fruit bars also hampered the market of the chocolate industry.
As a result of that health consciousness and the adding value in the products are the most
important factors in Australia.
e) Threat of new entry- The Australian market is highly dominated by the big companies and
those companies are highly aware of their competitors. Therefore, any new entry into the
Australian market would face severe challenges due to the established companies and their
immense brand value.
3. Conclusion
Hence, from the above report has assessed the demographic, economic, natural,
technological, political, or cultural trends that will affect the business of Jeff De Bruges. It
has also shed light on the consumer behaviour towards the product and that the social and the
psychological factors influences their buying decision. It is also to state that from the above
analysis that Australia is one of the most crucial markets for the Multi-national companies in
the Asian Pacific region. It hosts a very stable business and political environment and at the
same time, hosts an increasing economy. Furthermore, it has well educated, skilled as well as
multi-lingual workforce. Furthermore, it is also to state that Australia has the right
environment for the business of Jeff De Bruges and it is enabling it to drive technology and
innovation.

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References:
Afoakwa, E. O. (2016). Chocolate science and technology. John Wiley & Sons.
Azevedo, P. F., & Silva, V. L. (2017). Governance inseparability in franchising: Multi-case
study in France and Brazil. In Economics and Management of Networks (pp. 97-115).
Physica-Verlag HD.
Baldwin, R. (2016). The World Trade Organization and the future of multilateralism. Journal
of Economic Perspectives, 30(1), 95-116.
Barry, T. S. (2018). Australian broadband regulation reviewed. Australian Journal of
Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 6(1), 134.
Bull, J. W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C., ...
& Carter-Silk, E. (2016). Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A
SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services framework. Ecosystem Services, 17, 99-
111.