media

Cookie Monster Case Study

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The French food manufacturer Biscuiterie Francaise produces various types of consumer goods. The company is a specialist in manufacturing soft drinks and biscuits.
BF intends to enter the German market, firstly only with its biscuit line. Austria should play the role of a test market. For this reason the French acquired the Austrian wafers and biscuit firm Haller. Haller offers specialist Know How for the production of wafers and biscuits. Furthermore it employs a well-educated and skilled staff.
Various market research surveys conducted in Austria found out that one single product could result in the greatest market success – the monster cookies. These cookies are soft biscuits filled with marmalade and covered with a chocolate coat – looking like having been bitten by a little monster.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. The French management decided to distribute the biscuits through supermarkets, though there is a keen competition for getting the best storage rack space. Get into groups of 4 and search for marketing data of five competitors that offer similar soft biscuits. The following data are required

a. Competitor name and production site
b. Name of product
c. Price
d. Quantity
e. Storage rack (where can you find the biscuits in supermarket?)
f. Catch line
g. Packaging (colors, pictures, material)
h. Before starting the survey get the permission of the manager of the supermarket!
i. Use the attached data sheet
j. Compare only packages containing the same quantity
k. Take pictures of the storage rack position and packaging

2.The introduction of the monster cookies should be carried out during the next year based on the following considerations:

a. Define the attributes and features of the cookies
b. What distinguishes the monster cookies from competitors products?
c. Define the target group
d. Find a brand name and a catch line
e. Describe the packaging (form, color, font, description, pictures)
f. Develop a promotion plan
g. Create a media plan (TV, radio, poster, ads) and give reasons for your choice
h. Define duration of a commercial, a radio spot, the size of posters, advertisements, etc.
i. Calculate the costs of the planned activities. There is no allowance for overdraft. Your budget:  200.000,00 Euros

  • Contact broadcast stations and media for charges – e.g. for a 20 sec spot – or search the web for up to date rates
  • Create a written documentation of your findings –  following an outline like 1. Present situation 2. Product 3.Analysis of competitors etc.

3. Imagine that your group is an advertising agency. You have to develop a marketing strategy for the French company and to carry out a persuading presentation. Create attractive PowerPoint slides for that purpose.

4. Preparation and execution of the presentation.

Points of view

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This lesson will help you to sort through the myriad points of view offered on the Internet and evaluate the sources and purposes of the articles on the Websites. You will read several articles and answer questions describing each article’s source,purpose and viewpoint.
You will research the topic presented in an article of your choice and evaluate the resources you find. You will create checklists you can use in the future to evaluate articles, websites and other information.

Objectives

  • read and answer questions about two articles, focusing on the articles’ purposes and point of view
  • answer questions about a different article article of your choice
  • find two additonal articles or Websites on the same topic you chose, and determine sources, purposes and viewpoints of these articles or sites
  • create checklists to use when first reading new articles or websites

Procedure

Work individually. Choose one story and answer these four questions about it. The article should be a recent one, published within the last two months.

What is the article about? Summarize in two to five sentences.
What is the purpose of the article?
Which organization published this article`?
Does the article have a point of view? Can you tell how the author feels about the issue?

Answer the six basic journalistic questions: who, what, where, when, why and how.

Share the articles with the class. Discuss the differences between the articles or websites you have read. Did anyone feel the article expressed a strong viewpoint? If so, did it clearly state that it was an opinion piece? What organization produced this article? What was the article’s purpose?
Describe the reasons why it is a good idea to answer four questions for every article you read.

Assessment

In the future, when you see an article on the Web or in print, how will you decide whether or not to believe the information in it?
Create checklists that you can use when examining an article or website. Your checklist should pose questions you would ask yourself
when you read new articles in the future.