What is the current situation facing the brand and company? The Bel Brand in the United States is a subsidiary of Fromageries, a family-owned cheese maker. The flag ship company in the USA is, “The Laughing Cow”. This cheese is a cream cheese brand. In 2003, this company had strong sales in the United States because of its association with the South Beach Diet. (Kellogg School of Management, 2012, pg 1) The South Beach Diet was a popular low carbohydrate diet for losing weight. However, as the craze for the low carbohydrate diet diminished so did the sales for The Laughing Cow brand?
Ann Legan, the marketing director of Bel Brand USA called a meeting and discussed and debated with her team whether the product’s position needed to be changed? (Kellogg School of Management, 2012, pg 1)They debated if the brand should give up its healthy-snack position in the United States in favor of the family-focused positioning globally. She discussed three alternatives in the meeting. The first position was more consistent with the Europeans. The cheese would be positioned in a way to stress family values and meet children’s needs. The second position is to spring off the South Beach Diet and focus on the healthy aspect of the product as a low calorie nutritional snack. The third option is to choose a new position all together. The brand would have its own identity in the United States and will distance itself from the European values and even the emphasis of the brands great taste. (Kellogg School of Management, 2012, pg 2)
Based on the findings I will give a SWOT analysis of the situation. First of all, I think the strength of the company is its global position of Bel cheeses. In 2006, more than 33 million portions of Bel cheeses were eaten globally. (Kellogg School of Management, 2012, pg 2) This gives the company an advantage. Prior to 2003, The Laughing Cow’s target was