Maggi Australia

1. Background

Maggi Australia (a manufacturer of instant soups and ketchups) is experiencing competition from rivals. The firm plans to adopt the concentric diversification strategy for introducing a new product line: instant congee, after observing an influx of Asian immigrants and students into the country. This diversification strategy allows Maggi to produce the new product line (instant congee) that has technological / marketing synergies with existing products (such as instant soups) appealing to new customers. Also, Maggi plans to establish a new strategic business unit with the focus strategy, so that the new product line can stand out within the specific Asian market sector.

2. Marketing Problem

➢ Research objective and questions: The demand for instant congee created by incoming Asians is only a “conjecture” to be verified. Thus, the research objective is to “initially” investigate the market potential among the Asian consumers. This objective is translated into three research questions:

(RQ1) What is people’s perception of healthiness of instant congee?

(RQ2) Will there be a big difference in demand between weekdays and weekends?

(RQ3) Which state/territory will have the highest or lowest demand?

➢ “Initial” consumer population of interest: Because Asians are the target customers, this research focuses on them regardless of whether they are current consumers of the firm’s existing products. This “initial” population will be further adjusted in the next step.

➢ Problem in the environmental context: The cooking time for preparing fresh congee lasts for an hour, which could be a problem to people at work. In Australia, working people often spend a long time to travel between their homes and offices, thereby leaving little time for preparing meals. This inspires Maggi to introduce instant congee with minimal cooking time. Thus, the consumer population of interest is further narrowed down to the Asian “working families” (both parents are working full time) only.

3. Research Design

Relevant information will be collected as follows:

➢ Secondary Research:

External:

• Australian Bureau of Statistics: Demographic data and reports will be collected such as: (a) consumer price index in each quarter, and (b) working population in each Australian state/territory (related to RQ3).

• Choice