Characteristics of the breakfast cereal industry Essay Example for Free

Characteristics of the eat texture perseverance EssayBrand History Breakfast caryopsiss atomic number 18 not a undiversified product. The ready-to-eat breakfast grain diligence may be characterized by relatively low economies of scale and relatively low levels of technology. In other words, the entry into this industry is easy. Between the 1950s and the 1970s there was no entry of new firms in the industry even though all the incumbent firms such as Kellogg, General mill about, General Foods and Quaker Oats, made significant pelf.Later however, there was the entry of new low-end companies in the securities industrys and the number of brands sold by these firms withal increased substantially from 25 to more than 80, and this number is unflurried on a rise (Cabral, 2000, p. 265-266). Pricing trends For decades the breakfast cereal market was one of the most economic in the United States. The industry had a consolidated structure dominated by Kellogg, General move an d Kraft Foods with its Post brand.Strong brand loyalty, coupled with control over the tryst of supermarket ledge space, helped to hold in the potential for new entry. Meanwhile the steady demand growth of around 3% per annum kept the industry revenues expanding. Also Kellogg, which accounted for over 40 percent of the market share, acted as the expenditure leader in the industry for years in the industry. Every year Kellogg increased cereal prices, its rivals followed and industry profits as easily as remained high.However, this complaisant structure started to change in the early 1990s when the growth in demand slowed and then stagnated as the lifestyle and hence food patterns changed and the market saw the rise of powerful discounters such as Wal-Mart that started promoting their witness brand of cereal. As sales of cheaper store-brand cereals began to take-ff, supermarkets no longer were as dependent on brand name to bring in traffic and hence they started to demand lower prices from the branded cereal manufacturers.Initially, the branded cereal manufacturers tried to hold against these adverse trends. However, in 1996 Kraft which was then owned by Philip Morris aggressively interrupt prices by 20 % for its Post brand in am attempt to gain market share. Kellogg intelligence followed with a 19 percent price cut on two-third of its brands and General mill around quickly did the same. However, this too did not change the consumption pattern the growth rates of which remained flat and revenues then started going cut back for all the branded cereals (Hill, Jones, 2009, p. 52).The trend continued in 2000s in like manner and the situation worsened with the private-label sales proceed to make inroads, gaining over 10 percent of the market. To top it all off, the sales of breakfast cereals started to contract at 1 percent per annum and the period between 1998-2001 saw the market leader Kellogg sliding down to the second position for the first time in i ts history since its inception in 1906, by General mill that continued to launch expensive price and promotion campaigns. To cover the rising cost General Mills raised prices in 2001 and competitors soon followed the trend.However, both Kellogg and General Mills tried to move further onward from price competition in the industry by diversifying and focusing on brand extensions such as Special K on the behalf of Kellogg and new varieties of Cheerios. Special K was instrumental and helping Kellogg recapturing its market lead position from General Mills and this renewed focus on non-price competition halted years of damaging price warfare (Hill, Jones, 2009, p. 52). Target markets The breakfast cereal industry targets several diverse markets but focuses upon two largish ones namely the baby boomers and their children.Since a high proportion of the baby boomers are highly educated, health appeals are paramount. Thus many brands develop placed emphasis on unhomogeneous types of oat- bran cereal. The other sizeable market, targeted to children is also highly developed. Various brands have fortunately used sports personality and trade characters such as Tony the tiger to attract the children towards their products and retain brand loyalty. The breakfast cereal industry has been adept at target market segmentation and promoting favorable brand images.The strategy of the overall industry especially Kellogg, the market leader, has been to provide a comprehensive assortment for the retailers targeting specific market segments (Michman, Mazze, 1999, p. 109-111) Competition Breakfast cereal industry faces competition from take hold breakfast products such as bagels, muffins, doughnuts etc. These have in fact led to a subside in the growth of the breakfast cereal industry. The industry also faces competition from frozen waffles, pancakes, and French make merry brands which have proved to be a concern both in the past and the present.Many analysts trade that the comp etition is imputable to the change in dietary habits, though some also say that this has been due to th increase in cereal prices for the branded segment (Michman, Mazze, 1999, p. 112-113). Advertisements and Promotional activities From the time of WH Kellogg, the breakfast cereal industry has been dependent on marketing strategies and expensive promotions. In fact in 1909 itself the advertisement cypher of Kellogg had reached 1 million per annum. Needless to say this is a major problem in the industry which has perplex price sensitive in present times.This activity has led to a decrease in profits and considering that the market share has not increased since the 1990s, this has become even more of a problem. There were also many insufficiencies generated by coupons and in-store promotions. For instance, more than 95 percent of the cereal coupons were thrown away and not redeemed and approximately half of the promotional expenditures did not reach the consumers in the form of low er prices. Because of these inefficiencies, as well as congressional investigations and competitive treats, the breakfast cereal industry has moved to lower prices.As the returns bring in by the cereal manufacturers exceed most other grocery products, there is fierce competition among manufacturers (Michman, Mazze, 1999, p. 113-114). Factors modify to success and failure There are a combination of variables that contribute to the successes and failure of the breakfast cereal industry. These variables and strategies include innovation, target-market segmentation, image, physical environment resources, and human resources. Such factors must be combined in various degrees for success. The breakfast cereal industry has shown innovation in product and publicity strategies.In addition to this, breakfast snack bars are a new innovation. The image of the breakfast cereal industry has been lordly enough to withstand the assault of private-label brand sot a large extent. Also cereal manufa cturers with their successful track records and huge advertisement budgets do not have much difficulty in convert retailers to give their new product introduction a chance. In 1970s, Kellogg designed shelf space allocation programs for supermarkets. Sophisticated computers and programs developed by members of the breakfast cereal industry now help to allocate shelf space according to turnover.The breakfast cereal industry has also been successful in designing packaging for shipping and for display purposes. To sell their product brands and retain the company brand value, the breakfast cereal manufacturers have developed the strategy that links the brand name to the company name instead to identifying brand products by their individual brand names. For instance, Kelloggs Rice Krispies and Special K, as well as General Mills Total Raisin Bran and Total Corn Flakes use this strategy. To fend off private brand competition by offering product line depth and high brand identification (Mic hman, Mazze, 1999, p. 114-115).