Complete Excercise 8A steps 1 and 2 on page 274 of your text. Create a product positioning map only for “Hershey’s company. Using information from the case, the PPM, and your research, write a brief narrative to state your strategic recommendations for Hersey relative to the competitors in this segment of Hershey’s business.
Questions:
Purpose Organizations continually monitor how their products and services are positioned relative to those of competitors. Product-positioning maps, often called perceptual maps, provide useful strategic in-formation for marketing managers as well as corporate executives responsible for strategic planning. Hershey uses perceptual maps in strategic planning.
Headquartered in McClean, Virginia, Mars, Inc. is the third-largest privately held company in the United States and a major rival to Hershey. Five of Mars’ leading candies are 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Twix, Milky Way, and M&M’s. Headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestle’s is the largest food company in the world and also a major rival to Hershey. Four of Nestle’s leading candies are Kit Kat, Baby Ruth, Nestle Crunch, and Butterfinger. Four of Hershey’s leading candies are Mr. Goodbar, Krackel, Hershey’s Kiss, and Almond Joy. All 13 of these candies compete for market share, shelf space, and customer loyalty.
Instructions:
Step 1
Do some research that can enable you to develop a perceptual map based on High/Low Quality and High/Low Price including the 13 candy bars just identified. How could this information be helpful for Hershey? Which company’s products do you prefer? Why?
Step 2
Do some research that can enable you to develop a perceptual map based on High/Low Calories and High/Low Nutrition including the 13 candy bars just identified. How could this information be helpful for Hershey?
