Ben and Jerry's Harvard Case
Educator Insights:
Ben & Jerry's—Japan: Strategic Decision by an Emergent Global Marketer
ABSTRACT
Marketing students thrive on identifying an ideal foreign market for a product and devising a plan to launch and promote the product. As elegant as the plans may be, though, resources are constrained, and firms that are just emerging in the global marketplace may have a correspondingly constrained range of options available. The decision of Ben &' ferry's whether to enter the Japanese market—and if so, how—illustrates the strategic thinking behind such a constrained decision, focusing on an increasingly feasible option of partnering with a single retailer for the market entry. The case covers a wide spectrum of strategic issues faced by a branded consumer goods manufacturer in the early stages of venturing beyond its domestic market Students can assume the role of the chief executive officer in (1) balancing the attraction of a potentially strong market against the mission and resources of the firm, (2) balancing the lack of resources (both financial and managerial) for a companycontrolled brand-building strategy against the apparent hazards in granting brand development rights to a licensee, (3) making the best of the increasing consolidation and strength of the retailer sector, and (4) developing trust with a local partner. It was fall of 1997, and Perry Odak was just entering his tenth month as chief executive officer (CEO) of the famous ice cream company named for its offbeat founders, Ben & Jerry's. Far from company headquarters in Vermont, he was setting down his chopsticks in a quiet Tokyo restavirant to give full attention to the staff he had brought with him: the company's newly appointed head of international, the head of production, and a trusted expert on Japan. The question on the table for this group was whether to enter the Japanese market by granting a countrywide license to an enterprising JapaneseAmerican, to enter the market by giving a
Ben & Jerry's—Japan: Strategic Decision by an Emergent Global Marketer
ABSTRACT
Marketing students thrive on identifying an ideal foreign market for a product and devising a plan to launch and promote the product. As elegant as the plans may be, though, resources are constrained, and firms that are just emerging in the global marketplace may have a correspondingly constrained range of options available. The decision of Ben &' ferry's whether to enter the Japanese market—and if so, how—illustrates the strategic thinking behind such a constrained decision, focusing on an increasingly feasible option of partnering with a single retailer for the market entry. The case covers a wide spectrum of strategic issues faced by a branded consumer goods manufacturer in the early stages of venturing beyond its domestic market Students can assume the role of the chief executive officer in (1) balancing the attraction of a potentially strong market against the mission and resources of the firm, (2) balancing the lack of resources (both financial and managerial) for a companycontrolled brand-building strategy against the apparent hazards in granting brand development rights to a licensee, (3) making the best of the increasing consolidation and strength of the retailer sector, and (4) developing trust with a local partner. It was fall of 1997, and Perry Odak was just entering his tenth month as chief executive officer (CEO) of the famous ice cream company named for its offbeat founders, Ben & Jerry's. Far from company headquarters in Vermont, he was setting down his chopsticks in a quiet Tokyo restavirant to give full attention to the staff he had brought with him: the company's newly appointed head of international, the head of production, and a trusted expert on Japan. The question on the table for this group was whether to enter the Japanese market by granting a countrywide license to an enterprising JapaneseAmerican, to enter the market by giving a