Mkt 640 - a Managerial Approach to Marketing

MKT640=1005B-01 – A Managerial Approach to Marketing

8 January 2011

Frank P. Nolan

Abstract

There are several challenges companies face when they are about to launch new products within a global economy. In this paper I will discuss the daily challenges, how technology has assisted as well as the legal and ethical battles. The Indonesian based noodle company Indofood is discussed with their attempt to market a new product, the "limited edition" Valentine noodle.

An article written by the Financial Times discusses an Indonesian group who wanted to launch a special edition Valentine Boxed noodle set. Indofood is an Indonesian based company that produces the world's largest amount of instant noodles. Indofood produces about 10 billion packs of instant noodles sold in Indonesia each year.

Indofood's president and chief executive know that they have a large customer base that buys the instant noodles. So the idea was to buy off of sending noodles for Valentine's Day, instead of flowers. The belief was that "Targeting collectable noodles at high-end consumers helps drive interest below, creating "aspirational noodle eaters". And that, Indofood believes, drives sales (Financial Times, 2003).

The noodles were packages in a pink Chinese takeout box with cartoon hearts for decoration. The emotional marketing strategy is used in this example. In Indonesia's supermarkets the existence of "limited edition" Chinese New Year noodles and birthday noodles. The company hopes to one day have consumers associate their special day with noodles attached.

Challenges

There are several challenges faced with this type of product. They are faced with the constant need to be creative to keep the consumer interested and coming back for more. It is simply not enough to offer beautiful packaging; it is also what is on the inside that counts as well. How will Indofood make the noodles inside look as desirable as the packaging on the outside reflects? How will they make a bland block of instant noodles stand out? They also face the issue of narrowing margins due to the trend towards purchasing cheaper noodles by consumers. According to UBS Warburg, the average price per pack realized by Indofood in the first nine months of last year fell to Rp573 ($0.06) from Rp580 (Financial Times, 2003).

They are also faced with