新產品之行銷策略研究—以台灣冰品業為例

Abstract

台灣因地處亞熱帶，加上近年來的溫室效應使得天氣越漸炎熱，冰品即為點心類產品中一枝獨秀的一個品項，台灣冰品市場一年規模約70億元，如此龐大的商機促使各家業者無不絞盡腦汁爭搶市場大餅，但是冰品消費具有偏好性、季節性，且市場競爭激烈，而如何透過行銷手法，讓消費者持續消費產品成為冰品業者的重要課題，因此本研究選擇台灣冰品產業作為標的，透過具有代表性的品牌個案進行分析研究。 4P是從廠商或製造者或品牌端所發起的行銷策略，但因缺乏消費者的回饋，相對4C從消費者的角度回饋企業，就變成了一個非常重要的觀點，兩邊取得平衡、整合才能將商品4P4C做到成功，而這邊要探討唯有兼顧4P以及4C的品牌或廠商才能夠成功，本研究藉由4P和4C的模式分類其行銷策略，藉由質化的研究，從中瞭解其成功因素。 綜觀台灣冰品市場脈絡，近百年歷史，超過70億新台幣的商機，卻只有數十家的品牌，本研究選擇小美、哈根達斯及明治作為個案，主因有三，一是品牌具有代表性及時代意義：小美是台灣本土冰品產業的代表，時至今日也深根台灣、放眼國際，哈根達斯是美系冰品的代表，進軍台灣除了國際化的意涵外，更重要的是消費水準的提升與Ｍ型化消費的來臨，明治冰淇淋是日系冰品的龍頭，同時與台灣冰品產業從技術合作到產品進口，除象徵市場的變化外也表示產業的演進；原因二是三個品牌除了品牌的定位明確外，所有的行銷策略都圍繞著品牌定位，強化品牌價值，沒有相互矛盾之處，也沒有因為競爭者的壓力或市場變化而改變，也因此給予品牌深根的力量使得行銷策略與品牌價值相互加成；三是三個個案至今仍多元的成長中，一個具有明確品牌形象的產品很容易因為明確的形象而僵固，然而小美現在除台灣外更積極向外擴展版圖，包含大陸、越南、澳洲、美洲等；哈根達斯在台灣從一開始的百貨專賣到現在的便利商店，一樣強調頂級享受，但是多元的發展，給予品牌新的生機；明治冰淇淋從日系口味到北海道乳品，從日系超商到現在的全聯，從產品到通路，除了日系外也增加了本土的色彩，給予品牌新價值，透過不斷創新與品牌深根才能給予企業新的發展，其4P與4C彙整如下表所示。 小美、哈根達斯及明治的4P、4C彙整 小美 哈根達斯 明治 品牌 定位 本土化，台灣色彩。 美系，頂級享受。 日系，精緻化，高性價比。 價格 單價最低。 單價最高。 中間價位。 成本 成本低。 成本高。 適中。 產品 本土傳統口味，如紅豆，芋頭等。 創意美式口味，如藍莓，覆盆子。 日式風情及乳品，如抹茶，超級杯。 消費者 消費者的嗜好隨著全球化的兩極化（國際與本土）小美代表著本土化。 代表國際化中的西洋化。 代表國際化中的東洋化。 通路 在地深根，所有零售通路超過2萬家商店都有販售。 先從專賣店及百貨公司開始，擴及連鎖賣場和便利商店。 從日系超市開始，到便利商店，最後是連鎖賣場。 便利性 廣舖地方及鄉鎮等大眾傳統通路。 自有專櫃及門市的積極拓展，在百貨及各都會賣場中建立高級通路便利性及飯店自助餐廳通路。 主攻便利商店前4大搭配日本求新求變，產品特色強調流行也廣舖餐廳通路。 促銷 吳念真的成功代言「粉粿」使用大眾媒體、以本土親民訴求(起用吳念真導演成功新喚起傳統紅豆冰棒記憶及小美黃杯冰淇淋) 。 「精品」的訴求，冰品中的勞斯萊斯。 電視廣告精準訴求對象以性感、戀愛為主，主打晚上、餐後的時段。 日系冰淇淋的第一支電視廣告，強調日系冰淇淋的清爽細緻及和風訴求，成功切入頂級與小美中間高性價比。 溝通 親民及本土回憶。 頂級口感和奢華享受。 日系的精緻和高性價比的享受。 正因為冰品是非生活必需品，加上具有季節性，因此企業更需要去注意它的行銷策略，透過4P和4C的運用，抓住消費者的喜好，從冰品的行銷我們可以看到也可以延伸到，在品牌和消費者的互動裡面是4P加上4C不可或缺的，所以是本研究重要目標，而具有相關產業特色的產品如火鍋、飲料等都可以利用相同的研究方法進行分析；另外本研究是針對大眾產品及市場為對象，建議未來研究者也可以朝小眾產品或市場來做分析，相信本文之架構及理論應也可運用，著重於品牌價值與行銷策略對於消費者的影響，建立可複製的行銷模式，除台灣市場外，新興市場的發展及未來潛力也會是研究的重點方向。

The allure of ice cream has been well documented since the earliest of written records. From the Romans, to the recipes from the “Far East” brought over by Marco Polo, humans always had a fond attraction towards iced sweets. More so than ever now with temperatures steadily increasing across the world, the popularity of iced desserts, particularly ice cream, has been consistently rising. Taiwan, situated along the subtropical climate zone, is no stranger to hot and humid summers often topping 38 degrees Celsius. At the top of the dessert market, ice cream accounts for seven billion NT dollars in total revenue per year and over four billion in just retail alone on the island. The sheer size of this ice cream market has attracted countless businesses to divide and conquer the population, one treat at a time with smart, targeted marketing. Traditional business marketing practices call for a 4P approach, first proposed by Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s. Focusing on the Product, Price, Promotion, and Place, this alone is a more supply-side oriented approach, which lacked insight into consumer feedback. Revised in the 1990s by Robert F Lauterborn to include the 4C’s, Consumer (demands), Cost, Communication, and Convenience. This tacked onto the original 4P’s, provided a larger picture combining both the supplier’s point of view and the consumer’s. The combined concept allowed for a better analysis and model of marketing. A successful campaign therefore has to carefully take into account the effects on the 4P’s and 4C’s.

Even though the market has existed for nearly a century, there are only a handful of relevant brands left today. Some from humble beginnings, others inspired by foreigners, the three mega brands we’ll be focusing on are Shaomei, Meiji, and Häagen-Dazs. Taiwan’s domestic brand leader is Shaomei, a brand born around 70 years ago starting with selling flavored ice and then being inspired by western ice cream. Their proposition has always been to position themselves as an easy to access tier of products located everywhere on the market. Meiji is one of Japan’s mega brands, now spanning multiple industries. It was founded nearly a century ago as a dairy company. Starting with just simple flavors, Meiji Ice Cream today has expanded its catalog with various unique flavors encompassing both traditional as well as trending ingredients. Häagen-Dazs, one of the most well-known American ice cream brands, was created in 1961 utilizing what is now known as foreign branding strategy and as a tribute to Denmark from its founders. Its target has always been on the middle class and higher, with a higher cost but emphasis on quality and service at its own stores. This distinction has allowed it to quickly soar up to become the most desired, mass-produced ice cream brand. Viewed separately, each brand has unique heritage and significance. They were explicitly selected since all three brands have distinct advantages and together hold most of the ice cream market share in Taiwan. Each utilizes their own tailored strategy and targets a different market segment to great success. Combined, all three brands are still growing and rapidly expanding not only in Taiwan, but across the world. Shaomei Häagen-Dazs Meiji Position-ing Localized with mainly Taiwanese elements American model, high-end Japanese model, sophisticated, high price/performance ratio Pricing Lower unit price Higher unit price Mid-range unit price Cost Lower Higher Medium Product Mainstream flavors plus localized favorites such as: Red bean, taro Creative American flavors such as: blueberry, raspberry, variations of vanilla and chocolates Japanese mainstream flavors such as: matcha Custom-er Globalization: leads to polarization (global and local) Globalization: primarily westernization Globalization: Japanese influence Retail Convenient access: sold at over 20,000 locations including supermarkets and convenience stores Sold at department stores and retail stores, also carried by supermarkets and convenience stores Supermarket and convenience store distribution Conven-iency All kinds of stores, across all channels Expansion of self-owned stores usually in high-end department stores for better experience, while also sold at supermarkets and convenience stores Focused on top four convenience stores, focusing on innovative products, constantly changing and adapting to new trends; Close relationship with restaurants Promoti-on Grassroots style marketing, focusing on Taiwanese culture and legacy Luxurious taste and high-class treatment Japanese sophistication with emphasis on high cost-performance ratio Commu-nication Successful advocative commercial from Wu Nien Chung’s “FunLow” through mass media Advertising appeal on “luxury”, creating The Rolls Royce of ice cream. Precision of TV commercial timing and image inception of sexy and romance Japanese ice cream’s first TV commercial emphasizing on Japanese refined quality of taste and appeal, successfully positioned between Shaomei and Häagen-Dazs through high Cost-Performance ratio Ice cream is not a product of necessity, and on top of that, it is a product of strong consumer preference. Therefore, ice cream companies are required to find the perfect balance between the manufacturer’s and the consumer’s point of view in order to conduct a more effective and productive marketing campaign. The main target of this thesis paper is to utilize the 4P/4C combined scope to analyze the marketing strategies of the three well-known ice cream brands mentioned above, and to discover the competitive strengths that each of these brands possesses. While the focus of this research is on ice cream, a mass-market product, the 4P/4C marketing approach however, can also be applied on niche-market products.