Is Haägen Dazs a market leader? If so, thanks to what strategy can it maintain its position?

CONTENTS:

Introduction

Chapter 1: Is Haägen Dazs a market leader?

Chapter 2: Analysis of Haägen Dazs leadership

Chapter 3: Defining Haägen Dazs buyers

Chapter 4: The Brand as a key feature of the strategy

Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix 1: questionnaire purchase behavior

Introduction:

This report’s aim is to determine Haägen Dazs’s position on the ice cream market and to examine, more deeply, how this position is achieved; thanks to what strategy this American brand operates today all over the world. In order to carry out this report, I decided to focus on the leading product of the brand: the ice cream pint 500 ml, which represents a particular market (with various competitors and targeted buyers). This report is composed of three main parts: first of all I chose to study Haägen Dazs' market position and analyze more deeply it’s situation, how it secures it’s position. Then I focused on buyer’s behavior and tried to define Haägen Dazs segmentation, which led me to the third part of the report: the definition and analysis of Haägen Dazs strategy and the measure of the brand strength. To achieve this, I relied on various elements: I chose Porter's Five Forces as a framework for this report and above all the "market forces" element. I made a survey of retail establishments: I went into 4 different shops to look at Haägen Dazs sales and competitors. Finally, I conducted a survey on buyers behavior (questionnaire in Appendix 1), and also studied the brand personality as part of the brand envelope to help me defining Haägen Dazs strategy.

CHAPTER 1 - Is Haägen Dazs a market leader?

When Haägen Dazs entered the UK ice cream market in 1990, he was the first one to create a particular market dedicated to luxury ice-cream. This chapter's aim is to define Haägen Dazs position in the UK ice cream market. More particularly, I'll try to determine if Haägen Dazs is a leader on the luxury ice cream market in the UK. To reach this objective, I used two types of survey in retail establishments: observing product display and identifying competitors.

1.1 Observing Haägen Dazs's products display

From the start, Haägen Dazs has organized a selective distribution system for his products: unlike the main ice cream brands, he forgot mass distribution to focus on quality distribution. That's why, today, the American brand is available in four types of distribution network: supermarkets, dedicated retail outlets ("Haägen Dazs Cafés"), convenience stores and kiosks at selected places (cinemas and leisure centres). The graphic below representing Haägen Dazs's distribution network underline the fact that the brand's sales are mainly made in supermarkets; it is the reason why I have decided to observe the brand's sales in supermarkets.

[pic]

(Haägen Dazs, 2004)

I made comparisons on Haägen Dazs ice cream (pint format 500ml) between four supermarkets: Asda (low prices), Tesco (low prices), Sainsbury (middle prices) and Waitrose (middle/high prices). I found out that even if Haägen Dazs is available in the four supermarkets, differences in price, variety, shelf space and display can be noticed. First, price of the pint 500ml is more expensive in Waitrose and Sainsbury than in the two other shops (£3.79 instead of £3.48). The variety of flavours offered on the shelf is more important in Waitrose and Sainsbury than in the two other shops (8 different flavours against 3). These differences on varieties have a direct effect on the shelf space: in Asda and Tesco, a medium space is dedicated to the American brand, whereas in Waitrose and Tesco, Haägen Dazs occupy a large space of the ice cream range. As shelf space is a measurable indicator of market position and sales, we can suppose that the American brand would have supremacy in middle/high prices supermarkets. Finally,