Ben & Jerry’s - Japan

“In 1994, the Ben and Jerry’s sales went down and the company suffered a loss. While Ben & Jerry’s unquestionably held the second largest market of American superpremium market, the company had started to lose market share.”* Despite Ben and Jerry’s rules about highly paid executives, the company started a search for a qualified CEO. Also they were struggling to keep their tradition of donating 7.5% of their income to non -profit organizations that support social causes. The intentions to deliberate with a development of the international market did not work to Ben and Jerry’s advantage. “The company struggled with the prospects of strategically targeting a foreign market and developing a marketing plan for its fledgling overseas operations.”* The biggest dilemma that the company faced was focusing on the market opportunities in Japan, the company’s social mission, and the options that were available.

The most profitable decision to deal with the loss was international extension, especially in the Japanese market. The CEO was hired and began searching for solutions. Three main options of the market development of Japan were reviewed:

- Yamada option (Ken Yamada, Domino’s pizza franchise for Japan)- Yamada was offering to promote the brand, develop and arrange the initial launch and take care of marketing and distribution. The downside was that the marketing plan was going to be developed after the agreement was signed, and there was little room for Ben and Jerry’s suggestions.

- The Seven-Eleven option- along with help for entry into a Japanese market, this option gave Ben and Jerry’s flexibility of the decision for whatever market development they would like to follow in the future. However, Seven-Eleven did not specify the budget for marketing campaigns, or the plans for the marketing efforts that they were willing to use.

- The third option was to stay away from the Japanese market. The concern was regarding Japan’s decreasing economy and upcoming crisis in...