Nescafe 3 in 1 critique using market survey

Despite widespread excitement over the new Nescafe 3 in 1 brand over the years, the

brand has sadly been lagging behind and the expectations of it’s performance in the market have

not been met. The Nescafe 3 in 1 is just one of the many brands that the company manufactures.

It is designed in such a manner that it would offer a sense of diversity and richness that the

young people crave. However, despite recording good market recognition, the sales figures have

not been as impressive as expected. When a product is well promoted and still fails to bring in

sales, the strategy of promoting the product could be wrong. The following critique arises from a

survey conducted on various consumers and potential users of the Nescafe 3 in 1 brand. The

number of respondents interviewed were 200 across different ages and nationalities.

Age composition of the respondents

Out of 200 respondents interviewed, the age composition was as follows;

Age bracket Number of respondents

Below 18 years 8
18-25 89
25-35 61
35-45 22
45-55 13
Above 55 7

Consumers’ attitude towards the brand

Nescafe brand has been hugely marketed as a brand for the youth and young people.

Because of this perception, people above the youth bracket tend to shy away from buying the

coffee. It is important to note that people who are more economically empowered are people who

have been working for a while. The youth and young people are people who are either in college

or who are still working their first jobs. Their attention span is very short. They look for the next

most fashionable thing. With a myriad of variety of beverages to choose from, including very
well packaged energy drinks, the Nescafe 3 in 1 faces a huge competition. From the survey, the

majority of the respondents fall in the youth category. They are the most consumers of this

brand. The respondents aged 35 and above prefer drinking their coffee in the traditional style

from the comfort of a coffee lounge. They think that the Nescafe 3 in 1 brand is for the young

people.

Reference groups effects on the brand promotion and loyalty

Reference groups also affect considerably how people perceive certain products and

consequently, how they consume them. From the survey carried out, most people consume

Nescafe 3 in 1 because they of the pressure from their reference groups. For instance, the young

people aged between 18-35 drink Nescafe 3 in 1 out of pressure from their peers. Ironically, this

is done out of curiosity. Their span of loyalty to any brand is very limited. People over the age of

35 years have subscribed to a particular social class already. They do not get easily swayed from

one brand to another. From the survey, it has been noted that most of these people have been

loyal to their particular brands for a long time. They do not see the need to change and over 50%

of them have not tried using the Nescafe 3 in 1 brand. They prefer keeping their coffee drinking

habits very traditional, befitting their social status.

Overwhelming competition and negative word of mouth

Many respondents noted many different varieties of beverages they use on a daily basis.

These varieties are spread across different platforms including organic juices. From this finding,

it is clear that Nescafe 3 in 1 faces a very stiff challenge from a variety of competitors. This

could also have contributed to the decline in sales for the product. All of these products are easily

available and well promoted as well. Competitors often pay people to spread a negative word of

mouth review of the Nescafe 3 in 1 product. With the advent of social media, this has become an
even easier and more powerful tool for sabotaging efforts of competitor’s brands. Nescafe has

suffered from negative reviews over the past and this has greatly influenced how people partake

the product.

Recommendations

This portion offers a number of recommendations into how the brand can still regain

customer loyalty and create more avenue for growth.

The company should re-strategize its promotion of the brand to reflect the unique

advantages the brand brings to people of different age brackets. Concentrating on a particular age

bracket could be the reason why other potential consumers shy away from the product. If the

product is promoted as a wholesome product, people would gain an interest into it.

The product should be promoted not as a replacement for the traditional form of coffee

drinking that people know, but as a new and luxurious complement for the people in a hurry.

This will make the people who are largely influenced by reference groups consider using the

product as it does not compromise their believes and traditions.

The company should also consider repackaging the product into packages that have a

new feel. It would be an uphill task to change tactics all of a sudden and start marketing the

product that was aimed at a particular group to a new group altogether. The interest in the new

product would be minimal. If the company repackages the brand into new and exciting packages,

it has a chance of retaining the loyal clientele and gaining new customers across different age

divides.