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Kameda Seika Cracking The US Market Case Solution

Solution Id Length Case Author Case Publisher
2076 1192 Words (5 Pages) Elie Ofek, Nobuo Sato, Akiko Kanno Harvard Business School : 517-095
This solution includes: A Word File A Word File

Kameda Seika Co has been facing the challenge of effectively penetrating the US snack and confectionary market. After establishing a viable market presence in its home Japanese market, the company wanted to develop its brand in its overseas market as well. This requires a differentiated marketing strategy that can enable its brand to stand out from the mass or from a great number of competitors in the market. The company is looking to exercise different options to achieve its desired marketing objectives.

Following questions are answered in this case study solution

  1. Introduction

  2. Current Market Strategy

  3. Recommended Changes

  4. Conclusion   

Case Analysis for Kameda Seika Cracking The US Market

2. Current Market Strategy

The brand of Kameda Seika has made great efforts to develop a strong position in the snack and confectionary market. It initially introduced the rice snack in the Asian stores, with a heavy influx of consumers from Japan, China, and Korea. As the snack was popular among the Asian countries, the brand relied on a convenient path to distribute the product through safer channels. Afterward, Kameda snacks seek to further expand its distribution channel network to effectively market its products towards US consumers. Kameda also changed its packaging and tried to portray the image of the snack brand as a healthy snack. Kameda marketed its snack as a gluten-free product. It also marketed its products towards more upscale retail segments to increase its market presence. Although Kameda made great marketing efforts to sustain its presence in the market, its performance, however, has been considered as below par and much less than the market expectations of the brand. Kameda wanted to increase the share of the sales of the international segment to 30%. At present, the sales from the US market was 10 times less than it was in Japan. Kameda wanted to develop its reputation as a global food company, and for that to happen, Kameda was under pressure to increase its sales of the US snack segment.

Kameda was looking for different options in order to realize the improvements that it wanted to introduce in this snack brand category. These options included constructing a product plant and enhancing brand awareness for the product.  

3. Recommended Changes

Currently, it is left with $3 million to invest in marketing activities to build and maintain its brand presence. Kameda was under great pressure to substantially improve its performance; otherwise, it could become problematic to enhance its market presence further. A successful precedent has been set by different Japanese food businesses, which established a strong market presence in the US market. Previously, TH foods has successfully developed its market share in the US confectionary market. In order to achieve better results, it was important for Kameda to develop a differentiated market offerings, to break the clutter in the competitive landscape of the US confectionary market. There are some important recommendations given in order for this brand to achieve its desired goals. 

Globalized Brand Perspective

Even in the beginning, the brand was not directly targeted towards the core US market, but towards Asian customers, who were living in the US. In order to become a globally recognized brand, it was important for the brand to avoid confining itself to a particular niche market. A global perspective was lacking in the brand, and it was needed to be developed to sustain the market presence of the brand. It was for this reason that the name of the brand was changed from "Kainatone’ to Kameda crisp. However, a lot was required to be done in this perspective. A differentiated marketing strategy in this regards would be to market its image as a gluten-free brand on a grand scale. The US is a market with a diversified social structure. Health consciousness is a trending issue in the market, and many people are developing the mindset of incorporating this aspect into their buying behavior. A more diversified and globally oriented product labeling connotes a more inclusive image of the brand, and that can improve its appeal to the target audience. A unified image can be developed by incorporating different marketing aspects that are taken into account when different customer segments are targeted in the confectionary and snacks market. A highly complementary initiative in this regard can be utilizing the medium of digital space to market the brand.

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