DINESH J

(1501013)
A.PUTHOUKO (1501028)

ANAND K
(1501067)
SHILANAND VAIBHAV DHAN (1501106)

Given the budget & time constraints and also production capacity limitations, Bruce Becker decided
to go for a Mini-Market test in Wisconsin market instead of a full-scale market and later conducting
a BASES test. According to me it was not an obvious choice as he had the option of choosing any one
of the options. It was quite logical of him for choosing the two tests as the results of a limited test
market in Wisconsin could not be projected nationally because the U.S yogurt market was highly
regional. And though the mini-market test results were encouraging and estimated the total Yoplait
volume to be doubled by the addition of Custard-style, some Yoplait executives were skeptical that
the test results could not be used to project the product performance to other regions in US as the
test was too localized. So, the management wanted to get national and regional estimates of the
product volume potential and its impact on Original-Styles volume before they make any decision
on the introduction of Custard-style yogurt. To address these concerns, a BASES simulated test
market was conducted.
MINI-MARKET TEST RESULTS
In addition to the weekly store audit, a consumer dynamics study of yogurt was also conducted
during the test during which respondents were asked questions on products likes, dislikes and usage.
The study indicated strong consumer satisfaction of the Custard-style product.
CLASSIFICATION OF CUSTARD-STYLE YOGURT BY THE USERS

Exclusive
Custard-style

Exclusive
Original-style

Both the Custard

and Original style

20%

20%

60%

The study also indicated that Custard-style users were primarily past buyers of Original-style
(38% for trial and 41% for repeat) and Dannon (33% for trial and 27% for repeat).
Market share predictions indicate that the market share gain by Custard-style is mostly from
Dannon and that it does not cannibalize Original-style (Ref to Exhibit 2)
Other insights from the study indicate that Custard-style buyers were mainstream yogurt
consumers and that Custard-style would not be merely a secondary brand among its
consumers.
Acceptors indicated that they would ear Custard-style on the same occasions as other yogurts.
Overall, the mini-market test results were encouraging for the management.

BASES TEST RESULTS

The BASES test was more comprehensive than the tests earlier done. The test was conducted across
12 dispersed cities distributed equally among the three regions i.e. East, West and Mid-West. The
target respondents were all women above 18 who were principal household shoppers. Both custard
users and non-users were included. Respondents were shown a color print advertisements with a
picture of Custard style product, concept statement and the price and were then asked various
questions regarding the product. In addition to these results, a few other inputs such as volume
estimation model, target markets, consumption indexes of each city, year one distribution and outof-stock estimates and marketing expenditure for each quarter were provided.
Three Spending plans were simulated. The plans were based on the spending proportionate to
Original Style yogurts spending. Plan A (100%), Plan B (50%) and Plan C (40%)

DINESH J
(1501013)
A.PUTHOUKO (1501028)

ANAND K
(1501067)
SHILANAND VAIBHAV DHAN (1501106)

PROMOTION
Media
Consumer
Trade
TOTAL

PLAN A
$9,200
2,300
1,000
$12,500

PROMOTION
Media
Consumer
Trade
TOTAL

PLAN A
$6,100
1,250
$7,350

YEAR 1 (000)
PLAN B
$4,600
700
700
$6,000
YEAR 2 (000)
PLAN B
$3,050
950
$4,000

ALTERNATE PLAN

INCREMENTAL
SPPENDING vs. PLAN B
$1,600,000
4,000,000
6,200,000

INCREMENTAL CASES
vs. PLAN B
455,000
694,000
1,190,000

B Media/A Promotion
A Media/B Promotion
A Media/A Promotion

PLAN C
$3,700
700
700
$5,100
PLAN C
$2,380
920
$3,300
COST/INCREMENTAL
CASES
$3.52
6.61
5.19

Under plan B, Custard-Style was estimated to grow by 43% with 3.5MM cases sold in year 2.
Custard-Style volume was sensitive to spending with volumes under Plan A 34% higher than
Plan B in Year 2
Sales varied across regions. Sales were highest in West and sales in East were higher than
Original Style. However there was no variation in % of sales per flavor.
Overall, Custard-Style would cannibalize on Original-Style and would gain 22% of the share.
The other significant losers would be Dannon (22%) and Knudsen (6%)
40% of respondents said they were definitely or probably willing to buy Custard-Style. Also
68% of people, who tried the product, were willing to buy it again. All the reported figures
were approximately on par with industry norms
Before use, health/nutrition was the major attribute that respondents liked in the product.
However after the test, taste was reported as major attribute. At the same time taste
followed by price were the most disliked attributes.
Incremental consumer promotion was more efficient in increasing sales than incremental
media spending. Overall the test indicated that Custard-Style had potential for high volume
sales.

Based on our analysis of the case we suggest the following recommendations

1) Since Price was an attribute that was disliked (2nd after taste), Custard Style yogurt should be
sold at the same price as Original Style yogurt. Also, since the tests indicate little
cannibalization on Original Style, charging the same price would not significantly affect.
2) The tests indicate that Custard Style would steal an insignificant share from Dannon (15%)
and more than Original Style (22%). Also the sales for Custard style were very high in West
compared to other regions. Hence the product should be launched in the West first.
3) Since the Sanford execution scored highest overall across geographies, this copy should be
rolled out for promotion.