Analysis Of Nutella

The international marketing mix analysis will help us understand how Ferrero manage its presence into the Chinese market. The international marketing mix (Hill, C.W.L, 2012, chapter 17) is comprised of product attributes, and distribution, communication, and pricing strategies. For each of these points, the firm has the choice between two strategies: standardization and adaptation.

Product
Ferrero is a firm specialized in confectionery products, more specifically concentrated in chocolate products. It detains brands such as Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, or Raffaello. We will focus our analysis on one of these well known brands; Nutella.
Nutella refers to a sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread that was introduced to the market in 1964.

For example, in the United States, Nutella also contains soy products. In Germany, on the other hand, the hazelnut spread is more consistent and has richer cocoa percentage than elsewhere. Despite these examples, Nutella definitely focuses on the standardization of their products worldwide.
The brand name was originally Supercrema, a name which was quickly modified to Nutella, in order to have a stronger relation with the key ingredient of the product; hazelnuts and to have an Italian connotation. The strength of Nutella is considered as its first-mover advantage in the food-spread industry, and most consumers would not buy spread from another brand since it is not the original Nutella recipe. However, the ingredients used by the firm, such as palm oil, may represent weaknesses. Palm oil, being largely used in the food industry, remains threatening to both consumers health and to the environment. Regardless of these threats and the boycotts, Ferrero has decided to stick to the initial recipe of their flagship product, and not make any

As a results, Nutella is known almost all around the world; whichever socio-economic class or generation you are from, chances are you know and have probably had Nutella. In addition to this advertising strategy, Nutella uses co-branding, for instance, many “crêperies” or ice cream parlors offer their desserts with « Nutella topping », which results in a win-win situation for both Nutella and these stores (Keegan & Greener, 2013, p317). Co-branding also contributes to the international reputation of the Italian brand. Part of Nutella’s promotion strategy is also to once again standardize its ad