Kayem Food

Kayem Foods, Inc.

1. Defining the Problem

Kayem Foods, Inc. manufactures and markets meat products. It is mid-size company who's primary operations area is New England and parts of the Mid-Atlantic area. The company owns several different brands that include Kayem, Genoa, McKenzie, Al Fresco, and so on. Al Fresco is a chicken sausage product that recently gained market dominance and even though the advertising budget has doubled for this growing product, going from $90,000 in 2004 to $185,000 in 2005, it is still small amount of money to work with. The main decision that director of marketing Matt Monkiewicz has to make is what kind of Marketing Strategy should they use, is it Buzz Agents advertising or to invest into more traditional advertising methods, in order to sustain the product growth and increase market share. In a long term this decision could have impact on sales and market share, so investment in promotions of this product has to pay off in the long run or Kayem Foods will be out of business. With profit margin decreasing and gross margin on a down turn due to supermarket influence and company dependence on a volume in a private label, company needs Al Fresco to be a successful even on limited budget. Targeted customers are women 25 to 54 year old who are health conscious, within New England geographical area. Al Freasco is a product that meets their needs and as noted by the Buzz Agents it is received positively by the customers.

2. Situation Analysis (see Table A)

Kayem Foods prides itself from producing high quality, fresh products. It operates in the New England, Northeast, Midwest and Southeast; with limited distribution in California and Florida. Since the company was established over 100 years ago it is well known and recognized by customers in the area. They are loyal to the variety of brand names produced by Kayem Foods and thanks to that company became market leader in chicken sausage product. Company also delivers its...