Read the two wall street journals and answer the three questions:
1.Can M’m, M’m Good Translate?; Campbell Rethinks Soup as It Prepares to Enter Russia and China
2.Campbell Soup To Exit Russia
Question 1: Why did Campbell’s soup fail to attract the Russian soup market in spite of favorable initial market research results and a seemingly suitable product for the targeted market? (Response length: 1 paragraph)
Campbell, the world’s largest soup company, failed in tapping the second largest soup market of the world when it announced to close all of its operations in Russia alongside cutting down its global workforce by 700 jobs to reduce its costs for improvement in operational efficiency. The exit from the Russian market came after four years of aggressive marketing and trying to make Russians change their soup making habits. It entered the market after two years of the research study conducted by anthropologists. They studied the soup making behavior and preparing process and asked about the role of soup in the lives of Russians. Still, they failed to convince the Russians to opt for ready-to-eat soups offered by Campbell. Russians, as per Campbell, are just not willing to alter their soup preparing process at all. What Campbell failed to realize was that the soup, preparing process is very deeply engraved in the tradition and culture of Russian families. Moreover, Russians do not look at the canned food as Americans do. They do not see it as an easy lunch or dinner alternative. The failure of Campbell thus lies in the wrong assessment of the market behavior. The target market and positioning of the brand was wrong. They introduced their canned broths as a “quick and easy” alternative for the long process of broth making, which is not welcomed in the Russian culture. In Russia, a mother unable to make soup from scratch does not consider itself as a good mother. The mismatch in the advertising campaign of the soups and the consumer culture became the cause of failure (Jargon).
Question 2: What could the Campbell’s soup company have done differently to successfully attract Russian consumers to its product? (Response length: 1 paragraph)
The strategy of Soup-chick has been quite successful in the Russian market. The brand Soup-chick has not altered the Russian culture of preparing the soups by themselves. They introduced Mall stands offering soups prepared for the working mothers who pick up soups while going home. It did not change in the preparation process for the soup making and gave the consumers a tasty option to use it when in a hurry. The Campbell should have marketed the soups in a more appropriate way, making it relevant to the Russian market. They should have created their market rather than trying to adjust into the frame of the Russian traditions. It is true that anything drastically contrasting can only damage their marketing strategy. But if the Russians can accept American hot dogs, and Fried chicken, there can be a way forward. It can be done by marketing themselves as the “new trend in town” rather than conveying the message of changing their old habits. Moreover, the target customer of the company should be not women but men working in areas where they have to make their food. Women tend to be more detail oriented when it comes to cooking, and as per Russian culture, they do not get attracted to ready-to-eat food easily. Men, on the other hand, want to have the ready to eat options for making their lives easier (Jargon).
Question 3: Why would your proposed solution improve Campbell’s chances of success? (Response length: 1 paragraph)
By positioning its product differentiation, and targeting the young men’s market rather than women’s market, Campbell could have used the print, electronic, and internet mediums for advertising by Campbell as the ready-to-eat meal they dreamed. As the best option available in the market, which is not only healthy, tasty, but also easy to make, men would see themselves not tied up in cooking and preparing of food. They can now see themselves making food easily for themselves, which is also tasty as well. It would have tapped the market of young men living by themselves attracting them to try it because of its feature of ready-to-eat. By changing the target market, Campbell could have penetrated into the market, and then leads on to entering the family market through this (Jargon).
Work Cited
Jargon, Julie. “Campbell Soup To Exit Russia.” The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal, 29 June 2011. Web. 21 January 2018 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118394213751460475.
Jargon, Julie. “Can M’m, M’m Good Translate?; Campbell Rethinks Soup as It Prepares to Enter Russia and China”. The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal, 9 July 2007. 21 January 2018 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304447804576414202460491210.
+447462439809