The Mountain Man Beer Company case is a decision case. Chris wants to introduce another brand to the family company hence he consults experts, on viable procedures and decisions he should carry. He wants to make sure that the company succeeds in the market. Therefore, he makes decision carefully to avoid making fatal errors that can see the company sink.
Decision Analysis
Position Statement
Chris wants to introduce another brand of beer in their family company. The new beer brand is to be called Mountain Man light. According to the market trends, customers’ preferences are changing resulting to decrease in sales of lager for all alcoholic brewers. This is not only affecting the Mountain Man bear company, but it affects all brewers in the economy.
Therefore, Chris’s introduction of a light beer which is preferable to many consumers would increase sales for the company. This is because instead of continuously losing out on the market of their core brand, another brand can play along with the core brand.
Mountain man Lager was the leading brand in West Virginia. So the decision, to be made by Chris should ensure that the company’s goodwill and market share are not affected. Some people were too loyal to the brand. In fact, their Lager was nicknamed the West Virginia beer. Therefore, Chris had to be extremely sharp in the way he was to introduce the new brand and retain the market share of the original lager.
Decision options
Some of the decision options were to implement the decision whereby Chris will go ahead and launch the brand. This means that Chris had to accept taking all risks associated with that decision. The decision may be in favor of the company or against their expectations. Therefore, when deciding to proceed with plans the management must be ready to accept the outcome.
Another option is to abandon the decision and strategize on other decisions in the company. Chris may decide to avert those risks hence retaining the core brand of the company regardless of changes in consumer preferences. This may be a smart decision since the company does not have much to lose by abandoning the proposal.
Definition of Decision Criteria
Several factors need to be considered to make a wise decision. For example, one has to consider the cost of implementing the decision; in this case, Chris must calculate all expenses to be incurred in launching the Mountain Man light. If launching the new product will involve a lot of expenses hence cutting on profitability of the company, the decision has to be abandoned.
Cost can be measured by consulting with marketing agencies. They should be able to show all costs expected to be incurred in creating market awareness of the new brand. Therefore, if costs exceed the expected returns, the project should not continue. On the other hand if the returns exceed costs incurred then the company should push on with the project.
Another factor to be considered is product acceptability in the market. A market research should be carried out to find out how consumers react to the new brand to be introduced. One should try to find out how their consumers feel about the introduction of a new product alongside the existing brand. Some consumers may feel that there is no need of introducing another brand.
Others who might have changed their preferences may feel that the company needs to introduce another brand. For example, people loyal to Mountain man Lager may feel that the company should launch the Light. This is because they trust the company due to their experience with their products.
They feel that if the company introduces a Light, then it would be on to their favor. Such things should guide the company marketers on which decision is fit for the company.
Quality should be considered when making marketing decisions. The company should evaluate its capacity to find out whether they will be able to produce an additional brand without affecting the quality of the core brand. For some companies, they have the capacity to handle only one brand and an additional can alter the production of their core brand and the resultant may not be suitable for the company.
Companies have closed down after draining all their finances trying to launch new products in the market. The new product then faces difficulties in venturing into the market; production of the core product becomes impossible hence leading to closure of companies.
Competitors should not be assumed when making such decisions. One need to know how strong is their competitors. If they have acquired the entire territory with quality brands, then one has to know how to lay down strategies for venturing into the market. It is wrong for a company to launch a new product without finding out what their competitors have in the market.
It is obvious that competing with companies with higher quality brands than one’s becomes quite hectic. This is because consumers will go for the best quality in the market. Therefore, competitor power must be put into consideration before making any decision to ensure that the market is conducive for the new product.
Proof of Recommendation
I would recommend that the company launches the new brand. Since consumer preferences are changing and Light beer is gaining popularity, it can be a reasonable decision for Mountain man Beer Company. The Lager brand has many consumers and due to its quality people have stuck in it for long. This means that the company is respected and valued by these consumers, and any brand by the company can easily be accepted.
So the criteria on the acceptability of the product in the market support my recommendation. If consumers have faith in the company, they will shift their preference from one product to the other product of the same company. This means that the Mountain Man Light will receive much acceptance from consumers initially using Mountain Man Lager. This can give the company a market advantage over other brewers.
Critique of Options
The option of abandoning the project was rejected. This is because the company has all it needs to launch the new brand successfully. There was no fear in implementing the decision because the company’s other brand is preferred by consumers. Therefore, chances are high that consumers reacting to changes in preference will shift from Mountain Man Lager to the Light.
Major Disadvantage of Recommendation
The major disadvantage of going ahead with the decision is that a lot of funds will be used to create awareness. Awareness is inevitable in this case because consumers need to be notified that there is another brand from the company.
Action Plan
Since the consumption of lager is reducing as a result of changes in customer preferences, the company has to introduce the Light brand. This is because light is gaining popularity as Lager loses out.
Goals
The decision is supposed to help the organization retain its profitability as changes in consumer preference are causing a reduction in sales. This is because consumption of Lager is reducing in the economy. Therefore, the company should introduce the Light brand since it is the one consumer prefers. This means that the consumption of Light will increase as that of lager decrease hence securing the company’s market share.
Action Steps
The company should launch the new product and make sure it is distributed to the market. Then the company should come up with marketing strategies to ensure that awareness of the new brand is created in the market.
The company should make sure that the new brand does not interfere with the quality of their core product. Then they should struggle to keep consumers satisfied as they promise them. When all these things are achieved, the company can be assured of their market share.
Major Risks and Responses
Major risks that could hinder the plan include inadequate financing. The company needs to budget for the new brand because it can drain money set for maintaining the core brand. As a result, the company may end up in financial crisis hence failing to achieve its goals of producing quality beer for its customers.
Therefore, the company should plan properly for the new brand expenses. This will result to a situation whereby each brand has its account to ensure that the core brand is not affected in any manner by the new brand.