This case study builds on knowledge learnt from the first half of the unit and previous assessments and asks you to showcase your analytical skills in strategic evaluation, critical thinking, professional writing and knowledge of the strategic intent, analysis and implementation and direction of strategic thought processes and modelling. 

 

The purpose of this assessment task is to:

Analyse, critique and evaluate a case study.

Develop professionally appropriate, structured, formal written communication.

Develop evidence-based, persuasive arguments responding to the issues addressed within the case study.

 

The unit learning outcome(s) assessed is/are:

LO 1: Demonstrate an understanding of the evolution of marketing strategic thought; 

LO 2: Compare, contrast and critically evaluate marketing managerial and strategic approaches to strategy formulation; 

LO 3: Demonstrate an understanding of alternative theoretical frameworks; 

LO 4: Analyse trends and identify growth opportunities in marketing; 

ASSESSMENT STRUCTURE

Students will be provided with a detailed case study of a known product.

Students will be asked to address the major questions posed and use skills attained within the unit to show their understanding and critical thinking, by analysing and implementing their thoughts and proposed direction.

 

The following levels of criteria will be used to grade this assessment task:

 

• Compare, contrast and critically evaluate marketing managerial and strategic approaches to strategy formulation and understanding of strategic intent 
• Analyse trends and identify growth opportunities in marketing 
• Demonstrate an understanding of alternative theoretical frameworks 
• Quality of Written work / referencing etc. 

 

Access Assessment 2 Rubric for the full marking criteria

 

Case
Marke)ng Challenges
Capilano's honey is produced by more than 500 beekeepers with hives across New South Wales,
Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. Between them, producCon can reach more than 15,000
tonnes of honey, although drought can have a detrimental impact on honey producCon. The honey
market is diverging between a high-end, speciality product and a low-end, low-cost, relaCvely
undifferenCated product. CompeCCon from supermarkets and from their own privately branded
lines is also a threat. In some cases, the supermarkets' own brand is sold so cheaply that it is
difficult for the producers or processors to make money. Honey is assailed by direct and indirect
compeCCon such as syrup, sugars, fruit concentrates and spreads.
Capilano has successfully segmented the market, differenCated their product and posiConed their
honey products as a way of enhancing health, beauty and well-being. The markeCng manager has
aligned markeCng strategy with its stage in the PLC. The PLC concept asserts four things (Kotler &
Keller, 2012):
1. Products have a limited life.
2. Product sales pass through four disCnct stages and each stage presents different challenges
and
opportuniCes to the marketer.
3. Profits rise and fall at different stages of the PLC.
4. Products require different markeCng, financial, manufacturing, purchasing and human
resource
strategies in each life cycle stage.The PLC concept can be applied to a product category (sweeteners), a product (honey), or a brand
(Capilano). Like most products, honey is in the mature stage of the PLC as the rate of sales growth
has slowed down. In this stage, most potenCal consumers have tried the product, distribuCon
channels have been filled, the market is saturated and weaker compeCtors have withdrawn from
the market. The market starts to polarise into a quality leader, a low-cost leader and perhaps a
service leader. There are also niche opportuniCes. In a mature market, there are many ways to
increase sales and offer customers new value. The opCons are to expand the number of users by
converCng non-uses, entering new market segments and aWracCng compeCtors' customers.
Another opCon is to increase usage rates among users, by geYng customers to use the product on
more occasions, use more of the product, and use it in new ways. Capilano has successfully
sCmulated sales by increasing the brand's users and by increasing usage rate per user.
Entering New Market Segments and Increasing Usage Rate Among Users.
Capilano has developed food products in the sports nutriCon category. Sportspeople are
encouraged to use honey; the easy-to-use Honey Shotz product is posiConed as a sustained energy
boost while training, travelling, at work or on the go. The former Ironman World Champion, Guy
Leech, is the brand ambassador, and he challenges honey fans to take part in the "Capilano Sweet
Shape Up", featuring diet Cps, exercise, moCvaConal weekly plans and videos. On the brand's
website, Cps are given on how to incorporate honey into a healthy eaCng plan.
There is a growing trend to use honey for therapeuCc purposes. Some honey products, such as
Mānuka honey and jelly bush honey, have anCbacterial and anC-microbial properCes which
sCmulates the healing process. These products aWract a premium price and are oden sold in health
food stores. In 1999, Capilano registered and produced Medihoney (it was subsequently sold to
Comvita). It produces AcCve 5+ Mānuka. With the aging of the populaCon, and increased amount
spent on health care, the promoCon of honey as a therapeuCc good provides a large opportunity
for the company.
Capilano conCnues to make changes to its product line. In 2012, Capilano Honey launched their
first Australian CerCfied Organic Honey, connecCng with one of the fastest growing food trends,
following a strong demand for Australian produce straight from Organic Hive sites.
The use of honey as part of a beauty regime is highlighted on the company's website, with AcCve
Mānuka honey said to funcCon as a natural moisturiser, rich in vitamins, minerals and natural
proteins. Capilano even created two beauty recipes for skincare - an exfoliaCng body scrub made
from Mānuka Honey and Coffee and a Mānuka Honey and Avocado Face Mask.New Uses, New Applica)ons
The Australian market for honey is a mature market and Australians are already high consumers of
honey per head relaCve to other countries. Therefore, increasing usage is an important markeCng
goal. Honey can be used in cosmeCcs, as a cough medicine for sick children, as an energy boost for
sportspeople, and as an ingredient in food products such as yoghurt. Capilano honey is promoted
as a subsCtute for sugar in cooking, and as a separate flavour base for sauces, marinades and sCr-
frys. Its Facebook page invites viewers to submit recipes and enter compeCCons to win prizes.
PromoCng the diversity of the product has also been achieved through joint promoConal
campaigns with supermarkets; for instance Coles' "Meal Ideas" help promote the Capilano honey
brand by suggesCng how it can be used in their free recipes.
Packaging Innova)on
Much of Capilano's success stems from innovaCve packaging. It has won several Australian
Packaging Awards. For instance, Capilano developed a new "twist and squeeze" and the "upside
down pack" which makes it easier to get honey out of the jar. The product Honey Shotz was
developed with a "snap and squeeze sachet", designed to deliver a natural energy boost for sports
and endurance. In 2012, Capilano won the Women's Weekly Product of the Year (Hall of Fame
Category) award.
New Challenges
The promoCon of the posiCve health aWributes of Australian honey has helped Capilano hold onto
its number one posiCon. On its website, it states "Honey is a healthy choice - it has no fat, is 100%
natural, and provides a lasCng energy boost for sports". Honey is a natural substance produced by
honeybees. It is composed of a complex mixture of carbohydrates, water and a small amount of
proteins, vitamins, minerals and phenolic compounds. Fructose, glucose and maltose are the types
of sugars present in honey (Cortés, Vigil, & Montenegro, 2011). Bees swarm around their
environment to collect nectar, which are sugar-rich liquids from plants. Producing honey from the
nectar takes place in the bee hive. It is a group acCvity and the final composiCon of honey and its
nutriConal properCes depend on the sources of the nectar, i.e. which flowers are in the vicinity of
the beehive.
While the fat-free claim is truthful, it is irrelevant. The markeCng message is selecCve in nature and
it ignores other product aWributes such as the sugar content of honey. CBS News ran a reportenCtled "Is sugar toxic?" on 60 Minutes, a popular TV programme in the US (Gupta, 2012). It
featured the work of Dr. Robert LusCg, an endocrinologist, who gained naConal aWenCon for his
lecture Ctled "Sugar: The BiWer Truth" in 2009. He claimed that the average American consumes
130 pounds of sugar a year and that excessive sugar consumpCon 1 was linked to a range of
medical condiCons. ScienCfic studies have linked it to cardiovascular illness and diabetes in
teenagers (Pollack et al., 2011) and obesity (Bray, Nielsen, & Popkin, 2004). Sugar is alleged to be
as addicCve as morphine or nicoCne and the removal of sugar creates similar withdrawal
symptoms (Colantuoni et al., 2002). When people think of sugar, they oden associate it with
refined white sugar, fizzy drinks and confecConary. Yet, sugar is an added ingredient in many
products such as yoghurt, sauces, bread, peanut buWer and other processed foods. As a result,
many consumers find it difficult to esCmate how much sugar they consume in their daily diet.
People who do not even have a "sweet tooth" may end up consuming a lot of sugar simply
because they do not scruCnise packaging labels.
In the light of the sugar debate, there has been growing interest from health conscious consumers
in "natural" or "unrefined" sweeteners such as honey, Stevia, agave nectar and coconut sugar.
These products, along with naturally-occurring sugars found in dates, figs, raisins and fruit, are put
forward as beWer alternaCves to refined sugar. However these claims are controversial.
There is some evidence in the literature that honey has health-giving properCes. In fact it is
claimed that it may be a nutriConal dietary supplement for healthy individuals and for those
suffering from alteraCons in glycaemic regulaCon, i.e. diabetes (Cortés et al., 2011). Mānuka honey,
a unique strain of honey produced in New Zealand and Australia from the nectar of the Mānuka
tree, is regarded as having wound-healing aWributes, due to its anC-bacterial and anC-microbial
properCes (Ahmed & Othman, 2013).
Writers in the area of sustainable markeCng (Fuller, 1999; MarCn & Schouten, 2014) argue that
environmental claims should be as specific as possible, not general, vague, incomplete or overly
broad. They should be substanCve and supported by competent and reliable scienCfic evidence.
The same guidelines are applicable to health claims. Companies also have to abide by various laws
governing adverCsing and fair trading. In Australia, companies operate within the confines of the
Trade PracCces Act 1974, which is Federal law, administered by the Australian Consumer and
CompeCCon Commission (ACCC). Under the Act, it is unlawful to make false claims about a
product or service and operate in a misleading or decepCve way that might mislead or deceive
customers. One example given on the website is where "a business predicts the health benefits ofa therapeuCc device or health product but has no evidence that such benefits can be aWained"
(ACCC, 2014). When credence claims are misused the damage is done in three ways:
• First, consumers are misled into paying more for a premium feature that does not exist
• Second, compeCtors who can legiCmately make a credence claim unfairly lose their
compeCCve
advantage; and
• Third, innovaCon suffers when consumers and businesses lose trust in the integrity of
claims.
There is no global standard in place for natural foods and funcConal foods, which makes it difficult
for consumers to make informed purchasing decisions. Capilano has to be careful that it does not
make false or exaggerated claims to project a healthy image for its honey than is warranted by
actual pracCce. In the food industry, health claims are commonplace, but they are oden broad,
poorly defined and unsubstanCated by easily accessible, supporCng informaCon or by reliable
third-party cerCficaCon. The issue for Capilano is how does it differenCate honey from refined
sugar? What are consumers' percepCons of honey? How can it market the health properCes of
honey without contravening the Trade PracCces Act?
Summary
Capilano has successfully sCmulated sales by increasing the brand's users and by increasing usage
rate per user. This case study shows how targeCng new market segments, developing new
products and new forms of packaging, can deliver results.
However, new challenges remain on the horizon. The backlash against sugar may have
ramificaCons for Capilano. Honey promises health benefits, yet is it simply markeCng hype and
sophisCcaCon? Is Capilano building a "natural" brand or just selling a subsCtute for sugar? How
does it make credible promoConal claims without contravening the Trade PracCces Act?Assessment Ques)ons
1. Discuss markeCng strategies appropriate for the mature stage of the PLC and idenCfy and
jusCfy these that could be adopted by Capilano? (30%)
2. Analyse Capilano's website and promoConal literature. What health claims are made and
are these claims supported by scienCfic evidence? Is the company guilty of "green-
washing"? (30%)
3. Develop markeCng recommendaCons for Capilano. (40%)References
ACCC (2014). False and misleading claims. Retrieved January 26, 2014 from hWps://
www.accc.gov.au/ consumers/misleading-claims-adverCsing/false-or-misleading-claims/
Ahmed, S. , & Othman, N. H. , (2013). Review of the medicinal effects of Tualang honey and a
comparison with Mānuka honey. Malaysian Journal of Medical Science, 20(3), 6-13.
Bray, G. , Nielsen, S. , & Popkin, B. (2004). ConsumpCon of high fructose corn syrup in beverages
may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutri9on, 79(4), 537-543.
Colantuoni C. , Rada, P. , McCarthy, J. , PaWen, C. , Avena, N.M. , Chadeayne, A. , & Hoebel, B.G.
(2002). Evidence that intermiWent, excessive sugar intake causes endogenous opioid dependence.
Obesity Research, 10(6), 478-488.
Cortés, M.E. , Vigil, P. , & Montenegro, G. (2011). The medicinal value of honey: a review on its
benefits to human health, with a special focus on its effects on glycemic regulaCon. Ciencia e
Inves9gación Agrarian, 38(2), 303-317.
Fuller, D. (1999). Sustainable marke9ng: managerial-ecological Issues. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Gupta, S. (2012). Is Sugar Toxic? Retrieved January 26, 2014 from hWp://www.cbsnews.com/news/
is-sugar- toxic-01-04-2012/
Howard, B.V. , & Wylie-RoseW, J. (2002). Sugar and cardiovascular disease: a statement for
healthcare professionals from the CommiWee on NutriCon of the Council on NutriCon, Physical
AcCvity, and Metabolism of the American Heart AssociaCon. Circula9on, 106(4), 523-527.
Kotler, P. , & Keller, K. (2012). Marke9ng management. Harlow, UK: Pearson EducaCon.
MarCn, D. , & Schouten, J. (2014). Sustainable marke9ng. Harlow, UK: Pearson EducaCon.