Marketing Mix Analysis of Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's

This report evaluates the four P's of marketing mix in context of Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's, including target market, product/brand, price, place, and promotion.

MG412 PRINCIPLES OF
MARKETING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Target Market..............................................................................................................................3
Product/ Brand.............................................................................................................................4
Price.............................................................................................................................................4
Place.............................................................................................................................................5
Promotion....................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The ice cream industry has always been dominated by two most recognised brands i.e.
Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry’s. While the former basically purports the fine taste and flavours
of France, the latter has positioned themselves as a go to brand from UK. The following report
will evaluate the four P’s of marketing mix in context of both the companies.
MAIN BODY
Target Market
Target market signifies that segment of the customer base that is the major targeted
segment for the company in order to make their product successful. This aspect helps in correct
identification of the most profitable customer segment.
Haagen Dazs: This company has changed the perceptions of the ice-cream industry where
earlier it was only considered to be lower price industry. By its rich and luxurious flavours, the
brand targets adults rather than kids and they use the luxurious flavours and textures as their
unique selling pint. This premium pricing of their products has led to the targeting of a premium
segment of adults and this has created a unique brand image for the company (Hasa, N., and
et.al., 2019). Another major basis on which the customers are targeted by the brand is the health
conscious segment. The brand purports the use of only natural ingredients and flavours in the
making of their ice creams and therefore they have been able to attract customers on this basis
also. Adults and preferably couples with good income level who can afford their products are the
major demographic factors that they have targeted in their categorisation of targeted market
segment.
Ben & Jerry’s: The target market for Ben & Jerry on the other hands ranges from the very small
to the very old, or as they portray “Young at Heart” customers where the brand has tried to
provide something for everyone through their variety of products (Ferreira, 2017). The income
status, age factor or gender are not the factors on whose basis any particular segment can be
targeted and rather the company acknowledges the fact that everyone loves ice cream and
therefore they must have something when they come to the brand. Despite the usually higher
price range of their products, the premium quality of ice cream that they sell makes the customer
feel satisfied and they are happily ready to spend extra in order to gain the satisfaction that the
ice cream brings. Apart from this, company has also been ranked as healthiest ice cream brand in
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many of the surveys carried out. This has also contributed in the development of the brand as an
healthy ice cream brand.
Product/ Brand
This can be evaluated in different contexts using different models or concepts:
Haagen Dazs: As per the Levitt’s Model, the augmented product of the brand was the premium
priced products which made the brand unapproachable and therefore the company decided to
match the actual accessibility of the product through different tactics (Ryan and Barretta, 2018).
The emotional level of the brand was higher but the functional level was not much on rise due to
costlier pricing. Despite the company’s portrayal of a rich ice cream brand and he healthier brand
products; the company was not able to increase the figure of its sales. The Aaker model, which
illustrates the different types of personalities for the brand, and in the current context of Haagen
Dazs, it can be evidently said that the personality is of sophistication i.e. only upper class adults
have been targeted which is opposite to the very nature with which ice cream is perceived by the
customer segment thus proving the need for further improvement in the brand personality.
Ben & Jerry’s: Contradictorily, for the Ben & Jerry’s, the augmented product as per the Levitt
model is similar to the actual product because of the strategy to provide something for everyone.
Therefore, their augmented product is the range of ice cream related products that they advertise
for every age group. Additionally, the functional as well as emotional level of the brand is also
similar to the one that is conveyed through their products advertisements. The customers are
bonded emotionally as well and that is why they do not hesitate in buying the product even if it is
expensive marginally (Mazzuto, 2017). This is the reason that the Aaker’s model of brand
personality shows that out of the five brand personality types, the most suitable one for Ben and
Jerry’s is both Sincerity and Competence, where the products of the brand are wholesome and
cheerful bit they are also reliable. This proves that the existing product strategy for the, Ben &
Jerry’s in order to market their products is much more effective than that of Haagen Dazs.
Price
Pricing aspect helps in determining what are the different pricing strategies, that the
company is using, in order to capture the market segment that they have targeted for their
products. This is a crucial factor in ensuring that the brand succeeds.
Haagen Dazs: This Company offers mainly three different ice cream packaging quantities at 473
ml, 100 ml and 80 ml and one bowl of ice cream of Haagen Dazs costs £2.95, 2 bowls cost £4.95
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and consecutively 3 bowls cost £5.25. Apart from this, the shakes range from £5.5 to £7 and the
dazzlers or buckets even go up to £9.25 (Haagen- Dazs, 2020).
It can be clearly said that the company is aiming for premium pricing with extremely rich
flavours of ice cream making ice cream eating a pleasurable practice rather than everyday thing.
However, this has limited the market share of the company and in order to improve this,
strategies like Happy Hours, New Flavour Discounts, Special Combos etc. can be used so that
the customers remain attracted to the brand and brand also makes itself more affordable for their
customers.
Ben and Jerry’s: This Company contradictorily practices a very different pricing approach. The
company also charges relatively high for their products. For a quarter size the price is £5 and for
a pint of ice cream, they charge £2.49. Apart from this, their Sccop Shop’s different strategies
such as Free Cone Days, No Spoon Needed etc. they have been able to price their products
higher in the competitive industry but also add unique value to their products. The smoothie and
shakes on an average cost £5.29 (Ben and Jerry’s, 2020).
This shows that despite the competitively higher price range, the company has been able
to maintain its image as a brand for everyone rather than developing an exclusive targeted
market. This has made the company adopt geographical pricing strategy where the company
charges different prices based on the geographical locations that they are operating in.
Place
Place is a critical aspect in deciding the availability of the product.
Haagen Dazs: The presence of the company is global and they have usually placed themselves
either in shopping malls, near petrol stations or other similarly convenient locations where the
customers can very easily pick up ice cream while they are on the go (Muna, 2018). From their
origin country France, the produced ice-cream is then transported mainly to Spain where the
major franchisees are located and these are also supplied through online platforms and
distribution channels all over the world. They have their own cafes and they are also very easily
available through retail stores if the customer wants to choose a physical buying base. This has
made the brand easily available to their targeted customers.
Ben and Jerry’s: Apart from the international presence in more than 30 countries, the company
is also extremely popular on Caribbean ships and cruises. The company was also the first ice
cream brand to be taken into the space board through the space shuttle (Haque, Bappy and
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Arifuzzaman, 2018). The distribution channel is very simple where the wholesalers supply to
supermarkets and convenience stores, International license holders supply to company stores in
different countries and the Mail order or through Online market, the product is supplied through
franchisee methods.
Promotion
Haagen Dazs: They make a point to place their advertisement billboards in the areas with high
traffic be it online or in a physical context. Using coupon prices, targeting local audiences,
regularly updating the websites regarding the new product launches and the local special
delicacies are some of the common strategies that they adopt but the major promotional game
that they play is through social media marketing channels. For instance, the manner in which
they have promoted themselves on Instagram has helped them in gaining the lost market
segment. They changed their logo and regularly “Instagrammed” the images of people enjoying
ice creams in the interiors of their own cafes and they used older couples more frequently in their
promotional campaigns thus reinitiating the lost romance in sharing a cup of ice cream increasing
the overall customer market (Haagen- Dazs, 2020).
Ben and Jerry’s: For Ben and Jerry, the promotion aspect has always been extremely on point.
Launching Free Cone day at their Scoop Shops, collaborating with Netflix, refugee ice creams,
using older kid vans to sell their product, putting up a headstone in cemetery for their older
flavours during the time of Halloween, using eye catching visuals are some of the examples of
the extensive and on point marketing strategy that the company uses (Ben and Jerry’s, 2020).
They have celebrated every social cause right from feminism to the other social causes and they
use all the mechanisms such as personal selling, fairs, online marketing, sponsorships etc. to
market their product.
CONCLUSION
The report above helps in concluding that while Haagen Dazs is more towards a luxury
market where the exotic ingredients and flavours that they use give them a royal touch, the Ben
and Jerry’s is more inclined towards presenting themselves as a daily ice cream brand. The
success of Ben and Jerry’s has been more comparatively because of the easy approachability of
the brand unlike Haagen Dazs. Therefore, Haagen Dazs needs to improve their current marketing
mix strategies where they can make themselves more easily accessible to not just adults but for
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kids and other age groups as well belonging to medium income group as well. This will help
them in regaining the lost market share.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ferreira, I.D.C., 2017. New challenges in the Artisanal Ice Cream Market: the marketing strategy
to enhance Artisani’s Brand Awareness (Doctoral dissertation).
Haque, M.S.S., Bappy, T.A. and Arifuzzaman, M., 2018. The Impact of Brand Awareness on
Customer Loyalty towards Igloo Ice Cream: A Study on Dhaka University
Students. International Journal of Science and Business. 2(1). pp.1-21.
Hasa, N., and et.al., 2019. Marketing Mix of Thai Halal Food Products Instant in Indonesia.
In Contemporary Management and Science Issues in the Halal Industry (pp. 111-120).
Springer, Singapore.
Mazzuto, V., 2017. Innovate to internationalize: a case in the Italian gelato industry.
Muna, M.A., 2018. Business procedures of corporate sales in IGLOO ice-cream.
Ryan, K.S. and Barretta, P.G., 2018. Perry’s ice cream distribution strategy and strategic
alliances: The 800-pound gorilla. SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals.
Online
Ben and Jerry’s. 2020. [ONLINE] Available through :< https://www.benjerry.com/>
Haagen- Dazs. 2020. [ONLINE] Available through : <https://www.haagendazs.us/products/ice-
cream>
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