Hello. My question is regarding a case study including 5 questions to answer:

In September 2016, Sarah Spencer, a UCW graduate with MBA degree and director of business development for Vancouver-based Murphy Chocolate in Japan, was considering various ways to increase sales in the company's flagship product line - chocolate cakes. In the two years that she had been on the job, Spencer had worked at increasing the presence of the famous Canadian brand name throughout Japan's capital city, Tokyo. In summarizing the task before her, Spencer stated: "Japan is a very popular, yet difficult market for consumer brands because it is highly competitive with very large global and local firms as well as consumers that expect the highest standards for both product quality and services. The service standards in Japan are of the highest quality, and as a result, Japanese consumers are notorious for having the highest expectations. Our current objective is to develop a marketing plan that communicates our value proposition to our target audience in Japan. We want to solidify our niche in Japan and then expand to other neighbouring markets, such as: South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore." The Company Murphy Chocolate was founded in Vancouver in 1968 by the Joseph C. Murphy. Joe is a former NHL player, who despite his enthusiasm on the ice, lacked the natural skills to play at the highest level; so, he decided to retire from playing hockey after 3 years in the Canucks' farm team. Initially, he had no idea what to do with his life, but one day while making a birthday cake for his daughter he found his new passion. The rest was history! Murphy Chocolate grew from a home-based business to a CAD$20 million company in 3 years with 7 booming locations in Vancouver. The first store was opened in Kerrisdale, an upper middle-class neighbourhood in Vancouver, 15 minutes away from UBC, where it remains today as the most popular location for Murphy. The other stores are located in Kitsilano, Robson Street, English Bay and other mid-to-high end shopping malls in Vancouver. All of their stores are run by family members and most of the products are made in-house. They are very careful in selecting the best organic ingredients for their products and are also very careful in hiring employees for each of their locations. Murphy's HR manager once stated, "We hire people who love chocolate and are passionate about bringing our products to their families and friends." In an interview with a local business reporter, Joe Jr., current CEO and son of Joe stated, "our goal is to become a household name in Canada, and we began by encouraging soccer and hockey moms to bring our products home after their kids' weekend games." Products The product mix of Murphy consists of over 30 chocolate-based goods divided into 3 different product lines: Chocolate cakes, Chocolate bars and Chocolate milk. The best-selling line and the one with the most depth are Chocolate cakes with over 15 different choices. Over 65% of sales come from this product line, the other 30% from Chocolate bars and 5% from pasteurized Chocolate milk. The chocolate bars are often sold as gifts with beautiful packaging and chocolate milk products are often sold as healthy drinks for kids to bring to school. The gross margins for Murphy's products are quite consistent: 20% for cakes, 70% for bars and 2% for milk products. Despite the product breath, Murphy's flagship double-chocolate cake is the first thing that comes to most of the Vancouver people's mind when they think of the brand of Murphy. A long-time customer once said, "Murphy is one of us, my parents used to bring it home every Sunday, and now I do it for my kids, and my kids will do it for theirs....Murphy is generational!" In 2010, when Joe Jr. asked a marketing research group to conduct a focus group exercise with a group of mothers, one of them said "There is no other brand in town that embodies the values of Vancouver better than Murphy, I'd die for Murphy!" Murphy's products are priced at premium, roughly 20% higher than their direct competitors and 80% higher than similar products found in supermarkets such as Safeway and SuperStore. Birthday cakes at Safeway are priced at around CAD$20 for a 10-inch cake. The Japanese Market With a population of 130 million, the Japanese market is distinct from almost all markets in the West and East. With a total GDP of over CAD$8.0 trillion in 2015 and an economy largely relying on household consumption and services, it remained one of the world's most profitable markets for domestic and foreign brands alike. At the same time, Japanese customers had been called the toughest in the world to satisfy. This was clearly evident in the Japanese confectionary market, which was valued at over CAD$18 billion in 2015 and where more than 250 competitors were competing for a dominant position within the chocolate confectionary category. According to a marketing consultant, within this CAD$18 billion industry, CAD$10 billion of sales were driven by the sales of chocolate, followed by CAD$5 billion from other sugar confectionary such as cakes. In addition to be a mature market with an advanced economy, Japan attracts global heavy weights from all over the globe. Companies such as Mars Wrigley (USA), Mondelez (USA), Hershey (USA) Nestl (Switzerland), Ferrero (Italy), Lotte (Korea), and local Japanese giants such as Meiji and Glico, have been competing fearlessly for market share for years. The good (or bad) news for Murphy is that even the largest American player, Mars Wrigley, has been unable to acquire more than 5% market share in Japan. Meiji and Glico have a combined 8% market share. Due to the chocolate's perceived health benefits, the Japanese consumers are increasingly choosing premium and high-quality chocolates. Leading domestic confectionary brands, Meiji and Glico, have been quick to react this demand for premium, healthy chocolates and have already made expansion plans to increase manufacturing line for healthy chocolates. This coupled with the fact that being a high-power distance society, Japanese consumers often see foreign products as being superior, especially those from European countries including UK, France and Italy, gives Sarah a hope to further increase the sales of Murphy Chocolate, the Canadian premium chocolate brand, in Japan. The Segments After receiving an A+ in MRKT 621 at UCW, Sarah understands that good marketing really comes down to understanding the target audience and carefully positioning the brand within that segment, and then grow from there. Upon careful analysis, she identified 3 possible segments for Murphy Chocolate: 1 - Young professional women under the age of 35 Being a collective and work oriented society, Japan is house to a staggering 30 million workforce in office roles. Due to recent changes in regulatory policies and social norms, 1 in 4 working professionals in Japan are women and the vast majority (60%) of them are under the age of 35. Not only do they have high consumption power, but they also love the concept of an "escape", which essentially means that they are willing to spend big dollars on foreign brands and lifestyle. This segment is expected to grow by 5% every year for the next 5 years, and the average amount they spend in entertainment is roughly CAD$1,000 per person per month. 2 - Mothers aged 35 to 50 Being a high uncertainty avoidance society, Japanese mothers are quality and price conscious and often shop around for the best options for their families. They take pride in creating the best family environment at home. Japanese mothers often take on the role of the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) for the family, managing the finances and making the everyday purchase decisions. An average household (family of 4) in Japan earns about CAD$80,000/year and spends around CAD$1,600/month on groceries. It is estimated that 20% of this budget is spent on treats. 3 - Foreign visitors to Japan One of the most common souvenirs purchased by visitors to Japan, apart from over-the-counter medicines and cosmetics, is Japanese sweets. Almost 80% of all visitors make it a point to buy candies, with chocolates specifically enjoying a higher demand than the rest. Foreign visitors tend to choose premium and high-quality chocolates as a gift to their family members and friends. 19.73 million foreigners visited to Japan in 2015, which was increased 47.1% from the previous year. Among them, China was the top with 5 million visitors (107.3% increased from the previous year) followed by Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and United States of America. About 1 million American visited to Japan in 2015. They are pretty knowledgeable about Japanese sweets with a fair share of social influence in the online community inand-out of Japan. It is expected the number of visitors to Japan will exceed 20 million in 2016. Using content from the course and information from the case, answer the following questions: Question 1) Evaluate the pros and cons for targeting each of the 3 segments. (3 marks) Question 2) Based on your evaluation of the 3 segments in Question 1, recommend a target segment for Murphy in Japan. (2 marks) Question 3) How would you position Murphy's chocolate in your recommended segment? (3 marks) Question 4) What do you foresee are the biggest challenges for Murphy's chocolate in Japan? (4 marks) Question 5) Develop a marketing mix (4Ps) for Murphy Chocolate in Japan. (8 marks)