Contents

Introduction to Ice cream Industry and HICO ............................................................................................... 2 Competitor Analysis: ................................................................................................................................. 2 The Marketing Mix ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Brand Personality of HICO ............................................................................................................................ 6 Internal and External Factors Analysis .......................................................................................................... 7 SWOT Analysis........................................................................................................................................... 7 Effects of PESTEL forces on HICO ............................................................................................................ 10 Porter's Five Forces in HICO .................................................................................................................... 12 Boston Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 15 The Ansoff Matrix: .................................................................................................................................. 16 Product and Brand Life Cycle: ..................................................................................................................... 18 Marketing strategy...................................................................................................................................... 19 Segmentation .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Targeting ................................................................................................................................................. 22 Positioning .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Questionnaire ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Survey Analysis............................................................................................................................................ 27 Test Marketing ............................................................................................................................................ 31 Segment Analysis: ................................................................................................................................... 31 Targeting: ................................................................................................................................................ 31 Pricing Strategy: ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Brand development ................................................................................................................................ 34 Branding Strategies ..................................................................................................................................... 35 Product Labeling and Packaging ............................................................................................................. 36 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 39

Introduction to Ice cream Industry and HICO

Ice cream industry comes under food and beverages industry. Ice cream industry in Pakistan started in early 1950s when HICO and Polka started processing ice creams. The industry has been growing at a rapid pace. It now consists of various small and large manufactures. Famous brands include Walls, HICO, Omore and Igloo. Popular ice cream Parlors includes Chaman icecream and Yummy 36. Kulfi and Tutti Frutti are favorite traditional ice creams of Pakistanis. HICO is abbreviation of HAPPY ICE CREAM. Its logo is

HICO is being marketed and manufactured by Pakistan Fruit Juice Co. (Pvt.) Ltd which was established in 1952. It is the pioneer of ice cream in Pakistan. HICO ice creams are not only tasty but are prepared under strict hygienic conditions. All the ice creams are produced in fully automatic ice cream manufacturing facilities from pure milk, fat and sugar. Competitor Analysis: HICOs main competitors in the industry are mainly Walls, Yummy, Omore and Ice cream parlors Walls: Walls is the leader in the ice cream market with the biggest market share. This flourishing market share as compared to other brands is due to a strong financial position as an international company. Walls success lies on what the competitors are doing in the market. Apart from that, Walls continuously evaluates the success and failure of its products, while downsizing the unprofitable products at the same time. Walls entered into the market in 1990s, but due to effective marketing strategies, it succeeded in capturing a major consumer base. Recently it is focusing on making ice creams even healthier treats, by introducing augmented features such as reduced fat content, low calorie ice creams and high nutritional value ice creams. Yummy: Yummy has been in the ice cream industry for a long time since 1980s. It has a strong consumer base of children. The logo attracts children by promoting
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attractive lollies and sticks. However the market share of yummy is declining. The company is disappearing from the market with the passage of time and is facing risks of bankruptcy in todays market. Omore: Omore was recently launched in Pakistan in March, 2009 primarily in Lahore. By the end of March, every eye in Lahore was fascinated with the appealing decorations done by Omore. Their advertising campaigns included streamers. TVCs, free sample distributions and cooking shows etc. Due to such a successful campaign, Omore has been able to grab attention from the audience within a short span of time and has developed a strong base with huge potential to grow in the near future. Private Ice cream parlors: Although the ice cream parlors are ignored while evaluating the competitors yet they are gradually growing in the market. Parlors such as Yummys 36, Chamman Ice cream, Scoop, Softo, Kaebeys are gaining popularity in the market and most of them manufacture their own ice creams. However the good news is that a lot of private ice cream parlors as well as Hotel chains use HICOs ice creams. These ice creams are liked more when purchased from private parlors since they not only deliver quality and taste but also become more attractive by communicating a greater sense of belonging and offering them in the form of various mouth watering desserts.

Market Share
Hico Wall's 5% 5% 21% Yummy Omore

69%

HICO enjoys a market share of 20% even with such weak marketing. If HICO start marketing of its ice cream then it will definitely be able to increase its share.
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The Marketing Mix

Product: HICO has only two products in the market both of them are medium time consumables but can also be stored for long durations if shut air tight. They are its ice cream and ice-lollies. The main focus of the brand is on its ice cream which is available in a very wide variety of unique and tantalizing flavors: Ice creams:

Chocolate Chocolate fudge Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies and cream Mango Pistachio Praline Strawberry Tutti Frutti Vanilla Kulfa

Ice lolies:

Apple Orange Pine apple

HICOs main focus however is on their high quality standard, with their pure milk dairy ice cream which they try to maintain throughout Pakistan. All of their ice creams have an appealing and wide variety of packaging: Small Packs: Sticks Cones 0.1 liter cups
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Take home packs: 0.9 liter packs. 0.9 economy liter bars. 1.9 liter buckets.

The brand name itself is quite well established and due to that many households still use HICO ice cream. It does not offer any services and deals only with the distribution of its products. Price: HICO has a set standard that is why its price is uniform across all its outlets in Pakistan. All of its flavors cost the same amount and the only difference occurs when you buy it in different packaging, as the more you buy the cheaper it costs you. HICO ice cream is a little expensive due to its level of quality, uniqueness and facilitating packaging. It does not offer any discounts or packages, and its products are not that large, so as to buy on credit terms (few exceptions like major hotel chains who buy in bulk do exist). Place: HICO was first established in Lahore and from there rapidly grew too many major cities of Punjab like Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Soon it also spread its self to major cities like Karachi, Faisalabad and Multan. Initially HICO had a strong distribution channel and a large network especially in Punjab. HICO is available in many retail outlets and is used widely in ice cream parlors, restaurants and hotels. Promotion: HICO currently is relying on its distribution and is not promoting its ice-cream via print and electronic media. It is an old brand and is serving people for almost 5 decades but HICO has not been visible on electronic and print media. Our main target is to make HICO known to everyone instead of only few loyal customers.

Brand Personality of HICO

I am a happy ice cream, as per my name I have a very youthful and delighting persona. My vibrant attires and color themes complement my joyful and pleasurable individuality. I am very young at heart and that is why I like to dress funky. I am not at all gaudy like others; I am tasteful, refined and very sophisticated. I like to make others happy and my idea of a gift connects my consumer to the idea of a treat, in this case an indulgent one! My packs communicate extra care & attention since my tags look like they have been handwritten to add effect. I am renowned for my genuineness, my goodwill and brand equity speaks for my sincerity and integrity. My behavior quite evidently suggests that I am very sociable and friendly. People are fond of me for my gregarious and enjoyable frame of mind. I endow others with many opportunities of recreation and fun. Something that makes me very unique is my quality that I am an experience seeker as well as an achiever because I try new and risky things that no one other has ever tried before and I have proven myself to be very good at it as I am the only one in the entire market who gives such yummy flavors like praline and cookies and creams etc. I am youthful but that by no means make me juvenile I have already achieved conventional morality as I move towards the expectations of society and I am very concerned over legality and the opinion of others. I am not guised in tawdry facades that make me dishonest and showy like others, I dont wear any cloak to conceal my inner self, I am like an open book, very loving and friendly always there to cheer people up and make their lives better. I just want to be there for others and make them feel happy and blissful.

Internal and External Factors Analysis

The internal and external analysis is given below:

SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Unique Flavoring: Unique flavors specially Praline which only HICO offers in Pakistan. Quality: Good quality, pure milk, pure dairy ice cream Customer loyalty Brand Image: Existing brand image and good will Brand History: Oldest ice creamer maker with a market reputation. Established and perfected processes. Distribution Network: HICOs distribution network is very strong and is easily available in market.

Weaknesses: Weak marketing: HICO do not market its ice cream. They do not have a website. Also they do not market HICO via print or electronic media. Market share: They have a very low market share. Market Visibility: Limited availability of variety of ice cream.

Opportunities: New Flavors: HICO can introduce new flavors like ice lollies, cherry or caramel. In this way they can attract new consumers. Expand distribution network: To increase their market share should expand their market share as right now it is only available in few big cities like Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Lahore etc.
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Diversify into production of related products: They can also introduce ice cream cakes, cones, milk shakes. They can also introduce low fat ice creams. They can also start ice cream vans, ice cream-bicycles and ice cream parlors. Expand range of family pack ice cream flavors Marketing: Currently its marketing is nonexistent and it can venture and expand its customer base by putting its flavors on electronic and print media in addition to bill boards and other techniques. Can use new technologies for the production of new flavors of ice creams

Threats: Strong competitors: Walls and Omore right now enjoy the highest share in market and they are a serious threat to HICO. Potential entrants into the market: Entry in to this industry is not very difficult so new ice cream producers can easily enter the market. Customers using other brands: Even the consumers of HICO Inertial thinking of the Company: Lack of desire to grow and capture new consumers and markets has been and is the major reason for invisibility of HICO. To enhance its market share the company has to change its business objectives and attitude which currently is laid back.

Internal and External Factor analysis (IFA and EFA): Internal Strengths Good reputation and image Unique flavors Quality Customer loyalty Established processes Distribution Network Total Weight 20% 15% 20% 15% 15% 15% 100% Rating 2 2 3 1 2 4 Weighted Score 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.15 0.3 0.6 2.35

The weighted score of 2.35 is less than 2.5 which means that HICO is not as strong as it should be.
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Internal Weaknesses Market Visibility Market share Weak marketing Total

Weight 45% 30% 25% 100%

Rating 4 2 2

Weighted Score 1.8 0.6 0.5 2.9

A high weighted score as compared to 2.5 shows that HICO has more internal weaknesses as compared to the average weaknesses in a company. Opportunities Diversification Expand distribution network Marketing New Technologies New Flavors Total Weight 15% 30% 30% 12.5% 12.5% 100% Rating 3 4 4 1 2 Weighted Score 0.45 1.20 1.20 0.13 0.25 3.23

A high weighted score of 3.23 shows that HICO has a lot of opportunities and it can increase its market share by developing proper strategies.

Threats Weight Rating Weighted Score Inertial thinking of the Company 25% 2 0.5 Potential entrants into the market 30% 2 0.6 Customers using other brands 20% 3 0.6 Strong competitors 25% 4 1 Total 100% 2.7 Since the weighted score of 2.7 is greater than 2.5, which means that HICO has greater threats than the average threat faced by a company. HICO needs to take proper action to eliminate these threats.

Effects of PESTEL forces on HICO

Politics: Political situation in Pakistan has always been severe. It changes quickly and brings very severe situations with every change in political issues and political parties. These parties have great influence on the people of Pakistan. Whenever some political issue occurs on a nationwide scale, it mostly causes strikes and riots. Due to these situations most of the daily businesses are affected. The daily sales of HICO like every other business suffer adversely in such situations. Moreover the inventory in transit and supplies for manufacturing face problems, as it is wasted on a large scale when the workers and truck drivers go on strike and trucks containing the ice cream are unable to reach their retailers. This spoilage on the roads causes the company a large scale loss. Economy: The economic situation in Pakistan has been deteriorating for the last few years, which directly affects the businesses in the country. Expansion and other investment opportunities have gone down greatly. Which is a big threat to the survival of many daily businesses; this in turn lowers the buying power of the consumers. In this case HICO faces problems like expanding the business and strengthening their hold on the market. When the buying power of the consumers decreases it causes the demand to decrease resulting in the lessening of sales. Social: Companies in Pakistan like Pepsi and Olpers show social responsibility by sponsoring events like Eid, other holidays and organizing different events for the public. This results in strong and long-term customer relationships. HICO does not be part of such activities that is why the factor which strengthens the customer loyalty and relationships is missing, thus HICO loses a lot of its customers. Technology: Technology is advancing everyday with an increasing pace. It influences brands, especially the manufacturing brands. HICO has competitors like Walls and Omore which are big brands, for survival HICO has to use the latest technology in its manufacturing processes to ensure quality. That is why HICO like other brands has been updating its technology to survive in the market and working for better production and quality.
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Environment: In Pakistan there are very weakly implemented rules regarding the environment care as compared to the rules in USA, Germany and some other countries. But still there are some legal implementations which companies have to be followed in Pakistan as well. HICO is a manufacturing company that is why there is an issue for the disposal of its waste products. But HICO is managing this issue to save the environment from being populated. HICO has their plants which are away from the population that is why HICO is also contributing towards noise pollution reduction in the environment. Legal: In Pakistan the legal implementations are not that strongly enforced and companies can take advantage of that i.e. they can manipulate their products as there are no checks and balances, nor do the companys focus on consumer rights etc. But now the judiciary of Pakistan has gotten stable in the past, it seems better for both the consumers and manufacturers. They feel safe and thus investments are also increasing but the fear of injustice still looms. This influences HICO's investment and other relations with stakeholders.

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Porter's Five Forces in HICO

We will be using this model to assess potential levels of profitability, opportunity and risk based on five key factors.
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Suppliers: HICO is a dairy product so it needs various dairy products like milk, milk powder and cream etc. It also requires raw materials such as sugar, glucose, stabilizers, corn flour and artificial flavoring. It gets its supplies from various dairies and manufacturers. Premier dairies deliver pasteurized milk to HICO in a healthy way. HICOs quality is greatly dependant on the quality of raw materials supplied. If any material is expired or is not of high standard then it will directly affect the production quality. However HICO also needs to ensure that the price of supplies is not high without compromising on quality. Buyers: HICO distributes its product through refrigerant vehicles to retailers and then to the customers.

Hico

Retailers

Customers

Retailers: HICO does not make the retailers their partners. They hold no bargaining power. The product is distributed to all retailers at the same price without incentives. Customers: HICOs customers belong to all social classes. They try to focus everyone and try to cater to everyones needs and wants. The products are retail priced based therefore the customers do not have bargaining power. Thus the only way to pull the costumers is to ensure that their product stays in demand. Entry/exit barriers: In Pakistan Ice-cream industry, the new entrants mostly focus on major cities of the country, i.e. focusing city wise and in urban areas of Pakistan first. Ice-cream industry is growing at a rapid stage and therefore is a potential market for new companies. Recently Omore ice-cream entered in to the market and utilized the available space for new entrants thus new entrants
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are a threat to HICO. Thus HICO needs to ensure that they not only retain the customers but also to attract new customers in order to buffer the effects of such entrants. Substitutes: HICO ice cream has many substitutes. Sherbet is one of the most common ice cream substitutes that have less milk fat. Consumers who are on diet or have diabetes prefer to have sherbet over ice cream. Frozen desserts such as frozen yogurt might be an even more common ice cream substitute than sherbet which has low fat and often comes in sugar-free flavors. Consumers who want to avoid dairy sometimes look for ice creams that are made with milk alternatives. Vegan eaters and those who are lactose intolerant sometimes get rice-based ice cream or soybased ice cream instead of regular ice cream. Another substitute is Smoothies. Many people find smoothies as a healthy alternative to ice cream because of the fruit that it contains. People who eat ice cream primarily as summer treats sometimes find that popsicles are great ice cream substitutes. They still remind you of the childhood summertime treats that you used to enjoy and they have less sugar and almost no fat. Kulfi is also a substitute for HICOs Kulfa flavor. Mithais and Gola gandas bought from petty vendors are also potential substitutes. To survive the effects of the force of substitutes, HICO has to maintain quality and price in its products so that the customers are not driven towards other products. Competitors: HICO ice cream is in a highly competitive market. Major HICO consumers include Walls Omore Yummy Ice-cream parlors (chamman, nirala, scoop etc)

If HICO increases its prices the consumer will shift to other ice cream brands. Therefore, HICO is a price taker due to high competition and will consider the pricing of the competitors while setting the price.

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Boston Analysis
By conducting the boston analysis we will be able to get a vivid description of our business. It will give us a useful way of looking at the opportunities open to us, and helps you analyze which segments of HICO ice-cream are in a good position and which ones arent. That way, we can decide on the most appropriate investment strategy for our business in the future, and where best to allocate our resources. According to The Boston Matrix we categorize HICOs opportunities into four groups, shown on axes of Market Growth and Market Share:

High Stars
High

Market Share

Low Question Marks

Tutti frutti, chocolate fudge and cookies and cream

Mango, Strawberry, chocolate etc

Market Growth

Cash Cows
Low

Dogs Ice lollies

Praline, Vanilla

Cash Cows: Praline and vanilla is a well-established ice-cream flavor of HICO, so it is easy to get attention and exploit new opportunities. However it requires only a certain amount of effort because it is the main foundation of the company; it requires low investment and still keeps their profits high. Stars: HICOs stars are Tutti fruit, chocolate fudge and cookies and cream, they have a high market share and are growing very rapidly in the industry. The hope is that they become the next cash cows.

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Question Marks (Problem Child): The common flavors like mango, strawberry, chocolate etc are the question marks for HICO, they are growing rapidly and thus consume large amounts of cash, but because they have low market shares they do not generate much cash. The result is large net cash consumption. These flavors have the potential to gain a good market share and become a star, and eventually a cash cow when the market growth slows. Dogs: The ice lollies produced by HICO ice-cream are their dogs. Their market presence is weak, so it is going to take a lot of hard work to get them noticed among their competitors. It is going to be very difficult to make a profit out of them so it would be better either to put in heavy reserves in it or to liquidate them and sell them off.

The Ansoff Matrix:

Ansoff matrix is one of the most well know frameworks and will aid HICO in choosing most favorable strategies for growth. We expose our self to a whole new level of risk either by moving into a new market with an existing product, or developing a new product for an existing market. The market may turn out to have radically different needs and dynamics than we thought, or the new product may just not work or sell. Existing Product New

Existing

Market Penetration

Product Development

Market

New

Market Development

Diversification

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Market development: HICO will target new markets i.e. it can introduce itself in cities or provinces where it was not distributed previously. HICO will sell the same ice-creams to different people. Our task is to target different geographical markets nationally. Since HICO has its main consumers concentrated in Punjab we can bring the product to new areas. Product development: HICO will also introduce new products into existing markets. This will require the introduction of new flavors. HICO can do this by the following ways: Extending its product by producing different variants, or packaging existing products in new ways. Develop related products or services e.g. producing other dairy products like milkshakes, ice-cream cakes, plain and flavored yogurts etc.

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Product and Brand Life Cycle:

The HICO brand has crossed its stages of introduction, growth and maturity and is now at its decline stages. We will use new innovative strategies in our products and pull the company back in to growth stage. In this way HICO will not disappear and will remain in the market, it will not only retain its customers but will also attract new buyers. HICO needs to focus a lot on publicity. HICO shall use different sales and distribution channels, such as online, direct sales, street hawkers and home deliveries. By innovation we mean the development of related dairy products such as producing other dairy products like milkshakes, ice-cream cakes, plain and flavored yogurts etc by HICO.

HICOs current position HICOs target position

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Marketing strategy
Marketing strategy is divided into different heads which are given below:

Segmentation
Geographic Segmentation: Our geographic segmentation based upon the region, density and climate is given. Region: HICOs products have been developed for consumption by the people of Pakistan which lies in South Asia. It is a national product and is not yet available in the international market. Density: The consumers of both the urban and rural areas have access to the HICO ice cream. Climate: Climate of an area largely affects our consumption. We need to evaluate the northern and southern regions on the basis of climate. Mostly the areas with a moderate climate fall into our segment. Punjab has the extremes of climate, i.e. too hot in summers and too cold in winters, therefore the ice-cream consumption increases in the summers. Lahore constructs our majority of consumers in Punjab. Sindh is also a potential segment for our market and it needs to be considered in HICOs distribution. Baluchistan and N.W.F.P have dry climate, and mostly the people are unaware of buying ice creams. Demographic Segmentation: The segmentation of HICO ice-cream consumers based on the gender, age and income is given below: Age: The major portion of our consumer base consists of adolescents constantly seeking out new ways of recreation. Adults are the relatively stable portion of our consumer base who have developed stable choices of products over time. Households with children are the lead consumers of ice cream. They mostly consume HICOs Lollies and cups, i.e. HICOs small packages. Whereas the adults prefer the family packs for consumption. Gender: Our products are equally liked by both genders but females tend to prefer flavors such as chocolate and vanilla whereas the men prefer masculine flavors such as kulfa and strawberry. Income: Ice cream is a convenience product which is frequently purchased with little planning and less effort. The prices of our product is affordable and is widely distributed thus it is consumed by all kinds of income earners. Thus HICO targets consumers on the basis of both high and low income grounds.
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Family Size: With the growing trend of individual family systems, our family size is also decreasing. Therefore our target market now constitutes families with fewer members. This also affects our buying behavior since smaller families will tend to buy small packages (cups, lollies etc). Other Factors: Many factors affecting the demographics of an area influence the buying decisions. E.g. Health is a factor which affects the population of an area. Diseases such as diabetes, obesity, blood pressure etc affect the consumer decisions to buy ice creams. Psychographic Segmentation: The analysis of the personality variables, lifestyle and social class for HICO consumers is given below. Social Class: The social class of HICO ranges from upper lowers to upper, since it is a low cost product and is easily approachable by all classes. Lifestyle: The living standards of all the social classes vary widely from each class. The upper lowers have a simple lifestyle and always strive for a better living. The working class has a relatively stable lifestyle. They depend heavily on the reference groups for their buying decisions and their choices are restricted by price of the products. The lifestyle of the middle class is stable. They constantly buy quality products to be associated with the upper class. The middle class is very society conscious and will prefer quality products in social gatherings whereas they will accept low cost products for their own use. The upper class will always prefer quality and brand name. Thus HICOs quality will be preferred by the upper class and the middle class whereas the low cost products will be preferred by the working class and the upper lower class. Personality: HICO is an ice cream product. Users of HICO ice cream are mostly adults since it has been in the industry since 1958, therefore people have developed loyalty with the products. HICO users are family oriented people. It consists of caring, loving and warm people who are fun loving.

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Activities, Interests and Opinions (AIO):

ACTIVITIES Behavioral Segmentation:

INTEREST Socializing Relaxing Eating and enjoying by trying new flavors People with sweet tooth Comfort

OPINIONS

Partying Sports Gathering with family and friends Studying Eating

Fun loving Positive outlook towards life

The segmentation of HICO consumers based on their knowledge, attitudes and responses is given. Usage Rate: HICO ice-cream has a high product usage. The consumers frequently buy the product. Heavy users are a major percentage of the market. User Status: HICO ice-cream has a major percentage of adults who have been loyal to the product for a long time. Heavy users are extremely loyal and factors such as distribution and environment seldom affect their buying. They will go the farthest store to purchase a product of their choice. HICO also has somewhat loyal consumers who are loyal to more than one product at the same time. On the basis of user status, it is evident that HICO ice cream needs to target youngsters because they are more loyal to other products. HICO ice cream has to analyze its competitors (walls, Omore, yummy etc) and on the basis of the competitive advantage of other companies, need to come up with strategies that will help in attracting new markets. Benefit Sought: HICO ice cream is a pure dairy product thus the consumers seek quality and excellence from the product. It is also a well known brand thus providing recognition to the consumers. The consumers seek satisfaction and enjoyment after relaxing from hectic life activities. Occasions: HICO ice-cream is a frequently bought product for everyday use. It is consumed on weddings, parties, friends and family gatherings and birthday parties. Apart from that it is also consumed more heavily in the stroking heat of summers.
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Targeting
Since our product is in between mature and decline stage of the product life cycle therefore we need to do differentiated marketing. Also our competitors marketing strategies need to be considered. Walls uses differentiated marketing and gains competitive advantage over others by introducing improved varieties, therefore HICO also needs to develop a differentiated marketing strategy. HICOs target can be defined as the lower middle, middle and upper class; fun loving, energetic and vibrant single and married. Our new campaign for HICO will focus on children, teen agers and young adults as opposed to previously targeted old adults. We will introduce new ice creams for diet conscious and diabetic patient i.e. sugar free ice-cream.

TARGET MARKET Adults Youngsters

Products to target Coffee, Pistachio, Praline, Vanilla, Kulfa Take home packs Chocolate, Chocolate fudge, Chocolate Chip, Coffee, Praline, Tutti Frutti Small Packs mostly cups and cones

Children

Chocolate, Chocolate fudge, Chocolate Chip, Cookies and cream, Strawberry, Ice lollies (Apple, Orange, Pine- apple) Small Packs mostly sticks

Members of Large and small families

Fun lovers

Any flavor Take home packs (.9 liter packs, .9 economy liter bars, 1.9 liter buckets) Chocolate, Chocolate fudge, Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Tutti Frutti and Ice lollies Small Packs

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TARGET MARKET Sweet toothed people

Products to target Tutti Frutti, Mango, Praline, Cookies and cream, Strawberry, Ice lolies Small Packs All Flavors and any packaging Punjab: Kulfa and Tutti Frutti Sindh: Mango and if introduced Rabri Flavor Any packaging Chocolate Any packaging Strawberry and Tutti Frutti Any packaging

Quality seekers People from Punjab and Sindh

Female Males

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Types of buyers: Product

High Involvement Low Involvement

Significant Differences in Brands

Complex Buying Behavior

Variety-Seeking Buying Behavior

Few Differences in Brands

Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behavior

Habitual Buying Behavior

HICO is a convenience product, is low priced and has fewer differences as compared to other brands. So we have habitual buyers who like eating ice-cream and can eat any ice-cream brand, thus HICO should work on this buyer type through price and sales promotions which will stimulate sales. HICO can also target variety seekers since they always want to try out new things especially young and fun loving consumers who want to try out new products.

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Positioning
HICO provides a high quality ice cream which has rich creamy and sweet taste and has faith in their excellence and quality. The only reason why HICO is not properly positioned in the minds of the consumers is due to its invisibility. HICO has to position itself in a memorable manner. It needs to remind people that even after fifty years of existence, the product is alive and capable of flourishing. HICO is liked by its consumers due to its unique flavors. Despite HICOs unique characteristics it is not well-established due to weak positioning. It has some distribution problems. Apart from consumers, HICO has a strong institutional consumer base such as Avari Hotel, Gym Khana, Heera 36, Freddiess caf and Pearl Continental. HICO is also strong in family take away packs. HICO positions itself by delighting consumers with a pure dairy ice cream treat. HICO can effectively reach its target market by television, newspapers and magazines. For kids the message would be that HICO provides nutritious ice creams and is eaten by super heroes. HICO will convey its message to teenagers by conveying that it is the best choice when they hang out with friends. HICO can use a humor element in its campaign. For families, HICO can deliver the message that its desserts can be taken at festive occasions. The positioning campaign will convince families to eat HICO ice cream as it is the best treat for joy on social gatherings. HICO flavors such as Praline and Oreo cookies as these flavors reflect sophistication and delicacy. HICO caters to a variety of diverse tastes. For Example, HICO directs its positioning campaign to diet conscious people. This idea holds to attract middle aged men and ladies who strive to keep a good shape. These people would love and enjoy consuming HICO ice cream as it is low calorie as well as a delicious treat. HICO needs to create a desire for its treat through advertising campaign. HICO has to run campaign advertisements which speak to the hearts of the consumers. So far HICO has defined its excellence, uniqueness and reliability. HICO has its billboards in major places of its favorite hometown Lahore but it has to increase the number of billboards in other cities like Karachi, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Faisalabad. Radio channels like FM 89 can communicate HICOs message to energetic and fun loving people. Newspapers can update habitual customers of ice cream about HICOs differentiating treats. HICO can use magazines to deliver its value to a larger audience. Even though it is an expensive communication source but it has a large impact on target consumers. Kids and teens love to read magazines and so they would be aware of HICOs special offers. Through testimonials, on blogs people can analyze HICOs position in the market.

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Questionnaire
1-How frequently do you have ice-cream? Once a week Thrice a Week More frequently 2-Have you heard of HICO ice cream? Yes or No 3- Rank in the order of preferences (1 being the highest preferred) Walls Omore HICO 321 321 321

5-Rank in the order of your preferences of HICO Flavors (1 being the highest preferred) Praline Vanilla 321 321

Cookies and cream 3 2 1 6- Would you advise HICO to diversify its products? Yes or No 7- If yes then what should they go for? Shakes Falooda Ice cream cakes Flavored milk and yogurt Diet Ice-cream

8- Which pack do you buy mostly Cups, sticks and cones Family Packs
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Survey Analysis
To analyze our customers needs we conducted a survey. Our target market is NBS for this project. We asked them several questions related to their preferences and choices. Following is the analysis of our test market:

Hico Popularity
Heard of hico Not heard of hico

12%

88%

It is quite evident from the survey result that although HICO does not market its ice-cream even then it is very popular among people. There are only 12% people who have not heard about HICO.

Preference
Hico Walls Omore

26%

22%

52%

Because of active promotional activities and timely innovation and entry of new flavors Walls is the first preference of majority consumers especially females. HICO without any type of promotional activity is still preferred by more than 20% consumers.
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Frequency of having Ice-cream

once a week thrice a week More Frequently

23% 52% 25%

Almost 50% of the test takers eat ice-cream once a week. This shows that ice-cream consumption is very high and there is a lot of potential in this industry.

Preference in flavors (Hico):

Praline Vanilla Cookies and cream

11% 25% 64%

This suggests that Praline is HICOs cash cow and most of the consumers prefer these unique taste more than plain and simple flavors.

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Encouragement of Hicos product Diversification

Yes No

24%

76%

Most of the customers believe that HICO should diversify its product line. This will be done by introducing new flavors and ice-cream related products. Also those few that said no gave the reason that they are too attached with the HICO name and would like it to diversify into uncharted waters. Further explanation is given in our test marketing description.

Diversification Products
Shakes Falooda Ice-cream cakes Flavoured milk and yougurt Diet Ice cream

18% 19%

18% 12%

33%

A very large majority of customers want HICO to introduce Ice-cream cakes when extending their product line. A lot of diet conscious consumers want that HICO introduce diet ice cream. Also a second survey that we conducted of people aged 40 showed that 52% of them wanted HICO to diversify into diet ice cream.

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Prefered Packeging
Cups Family Packs

35% 65%

As our target market is NBS and most of the students are young so they would like to have icein large quantities because this is not only economical but can be shared freely with others as well.

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Test Marketing
The students of NUST Business School have been selected as our test market.

Segment Analysis:
NBS students are a small segment belonging to bigger segments. They are youngsters, both young and old, males and females and belonging from different areas of Pakistan since majority live in hostels. The rest of the students either live in Islamabad or Rawalpindi. On the bases of social classes, our target market mostly belongs to upper middle class and upper class. They are sophisticated and vibrant at the same time. The males in NBS are fun loving. They like colorful themes and designs. They also are less masculine than the average Pakistani men belonging to Punjab.

Targeting:
Since our target segment is youthful and fun-loving we will attract them with our sweet flavors in small packs such as Chocolate, Chocolate fudge, Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Tutti Frutti and Ice lollies and Praline etc.

Pricing Strategy:
Existing Product New

Existing

Economy

Penetration

Price

High

Skimming

Premium

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Re-launch Pricing for test market: Packaging Cups 100 ml Sticks Cones Family pack 2 liters Economy Pack 900 ml Ice Cream cake Shakes Diet Ice-cream Flavored milk and yogurt Current Retail Price Rs. 17 10-20 0 250 115 0 0 0 Penetration 15 10-20 12-15 225 110 250-300 35-40 10-20 Premium 20 10-20 15-30 299 125 300-450 50-100 20-40 All Prices are in rupees When we will launch HICO in market we will use market penetration pricing because our first target is to increase HICOs market share and to get attention of as many consumers as possible. At this stage we will keep the price of our ice-cream low so that new people try it. After attaining a huge market share we will adopt market premium strategy and will increase the price of the ice-cream according to our manufacturing costs and other related costs but we will not increase the price too much as we will focus on keeping cost of manufacturing low.

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HICO in the National Market: Restricting ourselves to the test market is not a real world option as we need to take into account many other factors that influence HICO such as the ones we have stated in our analysis. We will need to take into account HICOs already existing strengths like its strong distribution network and thus when we look at it we will need a slightly different pricing strategy.

Existing

Product

New

Existing

Economy

Penetration

Price

High

Skimming

Premium

Since quality has been our focus since the beginning we will not change that and provide the same ice cream in a new and better packaging. We will also increase the price slightly so as to adopt a temporary skimming strategy as we are re-launching an existing brand which already is quite widely used. Afterwards we will still be adopting a premium long term strategy for the reasons that we want to provide the highest quality with prices at par with our competitors.

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Brand development

Existing

Product Category

New

Existing Brand Name New

Line Extension

Brand Extension

Multibrands

New Brands

HICO has an established brand name. Our strategy is geared towards keeping this brand name and its products. We need to modify our existing products by changing colors, packaging etc. We will extend our brand in the existing market by introducing new flavors in such as Rabri flavor for Sindhi people, cassata and Blueberry etc.

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Branding Strategies
Our buyers are variety seekers having low level of involvement. Therefore HICO will attract them through eye-catching advertisement campaigns. This involves a revision of the brand elements. Logo:

Our revised logo communicates resolve and determination. HICO has decided to get into the market with a rock-solid approach and the logo also gives the same message. The alphabets are designed like mountains which indirectly promise that HICO plans to remain in the ice cream industry for a long time. Tag Line:

The tagline has been introduced in order to welcome the young segment of the market. Our test market will get attracted to the tagline because of the humorous approach. The font of the tagline communicates casualness and encourages the students to relax sometimes while maintaining a rock-solid resolve when required. Jingle: HICO needs a jingle. HICO has to ensure brand familiarity by choosing a good song. HICO can sign Mekal Hassan Band to be their brand ambassadors. The band is a newly emerging brand and promises to be a famous one with their recently launched their new album and will approached by many companies soon. HICO needs to come to a negation with them soon. They create music, pure music just like the excellence of HICO.
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Product Labeling and Packaging

There are no hard and fast rules that we need to follow in order to create a well designed product label. There are certain elements that will make a label design attractive and compelling. To grab the attention of our customers who casually walk in the supermarket we need to use the colors well. The major color we will play with is black and we will integrate other bright colors with it depending on our flavors and market segment. Black being a darker color when used with other pleasant colors will not only boost the visual appeal of the entire package but will also makes it stand out among its competitors. An eye catching cartoon character will also help draw attention to our product. With stock photography and illustrations so inexpensive these days we found a character for our label. We can then use these images on our product labels, after checking the license agreement. A picture really can be worth 1,000 words on a product label as a compelling graphic draws the eye to our product. We tend to use the following on the ice cream containers according to the flavor and the consumers.

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Colors will help catch the eye but unless our label is easily readable at a glance, we might lose our customers. It is said that we have only 2-3 seconds to attract the attention of a shopper which is enough time to read just a handful of words. We will have our brand name as well as two or three words describing the product in large enough font that it can be read from a few feet away. Speaking of type, our choice of fonts is a critical decision and deserves just as much attention as choosing color and graphics. We are giving a matte finish to our labels; it also speaks of the kind of image we want to convey. A matte laminate can provide a more classic look that is very easy to read, it gives the imperial image of our brand. In the highly competitive ice-cream industry we are using a more subdued look with a simple label that works really well with the matte finish. In this way we differentiated our self from the competition. Providing a new and interesting look invites customers to pick up our product. With multiple flavors it is important to keep major design elements of our label consistent. Whether someone is looking at the praline, vanilla or cookies and cream flavor they should be able to recognize instantly that it is all the same company and brand. We need a consistent yet different look between flavors. Each flavor has a unique color and theme. We need to have contact information on our product labels. This is obviously not about making our label design more appealing, but rather having our label be more than just a passive selling and marketing tool. The ice-cream ingredients, a web site and a physical address will be added to the label. We can provide a special web site on our label for customers to sign up for an email list, so you can gather information and start to interact with our good customers. We are also concerned about the environment pollution that is why we will put a recycling tag on the label as well.

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Recommendations
Advertise, to encourage more people within our existing market to choose HICO, or to use more of it. More resources should be dedicated to personal selling HICO should target groups of people from different age groups, genders and demographic profiles. It should adopt different pricing policies to attract different customers or create new market segments HICO shall use different sales and distribution channels, such as online sales, direct sales, street hawkers and home deliveries Introduce augmented features such as reduced fat content, low calorie ice cream and nutrient-rich ice cream HICO should launch colorful advertising streamers advertising its new flavors. HICO should become visible on the print and electronic media. A TV Ad should be made and published. Similarly Radio Stations should also advertise the ice cream. Extending its product by producing different variants, or packaging existing products in new ways. Develop related products or services e.g. producing other dairy products like milkshakes, ice-cream cakes, plain and flavored yogurts etc.

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References

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17575104/walls http://www.maxi-pedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HICO_Ice_Cream http://pk.vlex.com/vid/64989379 http://www.pakistan-rice.com/group.htm http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/livestock/dairy/dairy.industries.in.pakistan.shtml http://www.premierdairies.com/profile.htm http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Renton http://www.docstoc.com/docs/17446574/HICO-Ice-Cream www.1001freefonts.com

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