Individual Assignment Paul
Individual Assignment
Case Study—General Mills Global Sweetspot
Student Name: Bao Ci
Student NO.: 7928110
1. The case indicates that international sales are a relatively small part of General Mills’ overall business. Why does the company regard
Haagen-Dazs as a particularly important product for the firm?
Haagen-Dazs is a small part of General Mills’ overall revenue but is its only luxury brand. The reason why General Mills regards Haagen-Dazs as a jewel of their brand may have 3 reasons as follows,
Firstly, Haagen-Dazs is the physical embodiment of the brand. According to the brand statement, they provide an ideal environment in which to experience a unique Haagen-Dazs moment. Different from the U.S. market, Haagen-Dazs developed many different types of new products in oversea markets, such as ice cream sushi in China, ice cream teppanyaki appetizers in Japan and iceberg glazed white-chocolate holiday cake in Paris, aiming to lure customers into a mindset that Haagen-Dazs is a “superpremium” product. This is also a kind of management strategy.
Secondly, according to the figure, last year General Mills had revenues of $14.8 billion, with 18% coming from international sales. Besides, global Haagen-Dazs sales were up to 11%, almost double the growth rate for all General Mills international brands. So even though Haagen-Dazs is only a fraction of General Mills’ overall take, it’s still a vital part of the international business, more importantly, it was the highest profit margins in the company. Hence General Mills needs to keep Haagen-Dazs as its particular product, for Haagen-Dazs’ huge potential in oversea market.
Thirdly, in both emerging and developed markets Haagen-Dazs is a symbol of prestige, which is also the brand positioning of Haagen-Dazs. To some extent, compared with General Mills’ other product groups, Haagen-Dazs is the most competitive product in oversea market, which can highly improve General Mills’ fame and enhance its influence in
Case Study—General Mills Global Sweetspot
Student Name: Bao Ci
Student NO.: 7928110
1. The case indicates that international sales are a relatively small part of General Mills’ overall business. Why does the company regard
Haagen-Dazs as a particularly important product for the firm?
Haagen-Dazs is a small part of General Mills’ overall revenue but is its only luxury brand. The reason why General Mills regards Haagen-Dazs as a jewel of their brand may have 3 reasons as follows,
Firstly, Haagen-Dazs is the physical embodiment of the brand. According to the brand statement, they provide an ideal environment in which to experience a unique Haagen-Dazs moment. Different from the U.S. market, Haagen-Dazs developed many different types of new products in oversea markets, such as ice cream sushi in China, ice cream teppanyaki appetizers in Japan and iceberg glazed white-chocolate holiday cake in Paris, aiming to lure customers into a mindset that Haagen-Dazs is a “superpremium” product. This is also a kind of management strategy.
Secondly, according to the figure, last year General Mills had revenues of $14.8 billion, with 18% coming from international sales. Besides, global Haagen-Dazs sales were up to 11%, almost double the growth rate for all General Mills international brands. So even though Haagen-Dazs is only a fraction of General Mills’ overall take, it’s still a vital part of the international business, more importantly, it was the highest profit margins in the company. Hence General Mills needs to keep Haagen-Dazs as its particular product, for Haagen-Dazs’ huge potential in oversea market.
Thirdly, in both emerging and developed markets Haagen-Dazs is a symbol of prestige, which is also the brand positioning of Haagen-Dazs. To some extent, compared with General Mills’ other product groups, Haagen-Dazs is the most competitive product in oversea market, which can highly improve General Mills’ fame and enhance its influence in