How can a market leader increase sales? Case study

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation was to write a case study based on Trade marketing area of a multinational company. The chosen company was Unilever Jerónimo Martins, a known company by the Portuguese consumers through its brands on the Food & Drink and Personal & Home Care segments. This case study was based on the Portuguese Out-of-home ice-cream consumption market, being the chosen brand the Olá brand (known outside of Portugal by different names). There are several ice-cream buying types in this market, however, this paper will focus on the impulse buying type. Starting from the company’s strategy of increasing sales on a market that have been suffering several structural changes, the trade marketing department developed two projects. The main objective of those projects was to increase sales on two different seasons. However, due to scarce financial resources the trade marketing manager director had to choose to work on only one of the projects. After presenting the case study, it will be possible to find some suggested questions for students as well as teaching notes. Those notes include a complete answer to the suggested questions, providing some additional information about the company, its supply chain, and competitor behaviours. From the case study analysis, it was possible to understand how the market had evolved and provide the answer to the case’s main question. Due to company characteristics, the best choice in 2014 was to go for the visibility and Taste Joy Project, working in line with the international objectives and on a safe investment that would provide better results on the short-term.

Date of Award	12 Feb 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Paulo Alexandre Gonçalves Marcos (Supervisor)