Philips Case
PHILLIPS FOODS, INC. — INTRODUCING KING CRAB TO THE TRADE
On a hot Baltimore day in August 2006, Phillips Seafood Restaurants were full of tourists lunching on local seafood specialties. Among them, Cherry Stockworth, vice-president of marketing for Phillips Foods, Inc., and Ron Birch, product manager for the new pasteurized king crab, were discussing the upcoming phase II of the launch of king crab (see Exhibit 1). In phase I, Birch had targeted foodservice buyers and had spent almost half of his $160,000 king crab launch budget for ads in foodservice trade magazines. For phase II, Stockworth was advocating a different strategy. She summarized:
Ron, king crab is one of the most important launches we have done in years. We are the leaders in blue swimming crab and our pasteurization process is arguably the best in the business. However, if we want to maintain our double-digit growth, we need to leverage the product diversification that king crab provides. In phase I, you have advertised the product in restaurant and institutional foodservice magazines, and the response has been good and the trade ads have worked well. Now, for this second phase, we must ensure an equally successful launch in the other two markets: food retailers and wholesale distributors. I know that your phase II plan is to stick with the proven trade advertising strategy but I think that we can generate more sales leads if we make king crab the centerpiece of our booth at the IBSS (International Boston Seafood Show) in March. This will generate buzz and give king crab the needed exposure to distributors and retail buyers. If we go that route, I will charge your budget for half of Phillips’ cost for the trade show. Please take a few days to consider this idea; work up the numbers on the two options and let’s talk next week to finalize the decision.
PHILLIPS FOODS, INC.
Founded by Augustus E. Phillips in 1914 on Hoopers Island, Maryland, Phillips Foods Inc. had grown into one of the
On a hot Baltimore day in August 2006, Phillips Seafood Restaurants were full of tourists lunching on local seafood specialties. Among them, Cherry Stockworth, vice-president of marketing for Phillips Foods, Inc., and Ron Birch, product manager for the new pasteurized king crab, were discussing the upcoming phase II of the launch of king crab (see Exhibit 1). In phase I, Birch had targeted foodservice buyers and had spent almost half of his $160,000 king crab launch budget for ads in foodservice trade magazines. For phase II, Stockworth was advocating a different strategy. She summarized:
Ron, king crab is one of the most important launches we have done in years. We are the leaders in blue swimming crab and our pasteurization process is arguably the best in the business. However, if we want to maintain our double-digit growth, we need to leverage the product diversification that king crab provides. In phase I, you have advertised the product in restaurant and institutional foodservice magazines, and the response has been good and the trade ads have worked well. Now, for this second phase, we must ensure an equally successful launch in the other two markets: food retailers and wholesale distributors. I know that your phase II plan is to stick with the proven trade advertising strategy but I think that we can generate more sales leads if we make king crab the centerpiece of our booth at the IBSS (International Boston Seafood Show) in March. This will generate buzz and give king crab the needed exposure to distributors and retail buyers. If we go that route, I will charge your budget for half of Phillips’ cost for the trade show. Please take a few days to consider this idea; work up the numbers on the two options and let’s talk next week to finalize the decision.
PHILLIPS FOODS, INC.
Founded by Augustus E. Phillips in 1914 on Hoopers Island, Maryland, Phillips Foods Inc. had grown into one of the