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Product cover image for Lotte Yukimi Daifuku: Ice Cream for Winter

Lotte Yukimi Daifuku: Ice Cream for Winter

Yuri Taira, Lisa Cavanaugh, Rui Jorge B. Basto da Silva

Product #:W29881
Supplier:Ivey/Beedie
Discipline:Marketing, Strategy
Setting:Japan, 2021
Details:Case (PDF) • 18 pages • 2023-05-15

Subjects:

Sales and marketingMarketingStrategy

Industries:

Food and beverage sector

Geography:

AsiaJapan
Your Price:$9.71

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Yukimi Daifuku was an ice cream that had been sold exclusively during the winter season in Japan for almost four decades. Lotte Co., Ltd. (Lotte) entered the ice cream market thirty years after its major competitors, so the company strategically targeted the ice cream off-season, when other producers were not promoting their products. Lotte successfully grew the product’s sales, and Yukimi Daifuku became an iconic winter ice cream in Japan. However, the external environment surrounding Yukimi Daifuku had undergone significant changes, and in 2018, Lotte decided to sell the product year-round in order to boost availability and sales. Yukimi Daifuku saw sales momentum in 2019, but growth stalled in 2020. Without the benefits of its historical (and iconic) off-season position, Yukimi Daifuku faced the challenge of thriving in the competitive Japanese ice cream market. In addition, the patent on the product development process of Yukimi Daifuku was set to expire in March 2021. Without the iconic winter ice cream positioning and patent—the two key factors for their forty-year success—what were the next steps needed for the Yukimi Daifuku Branding Division for the product?

Learning Objectives

This case can be used in a marketing or strategy course in both master of business administration (MBA) and undergraduate business programs as a vehicle to discuss brand strategy, product management and extension, brand equity, integrated marketing communication (IMC), consumer behaviour, and innovation for decades-long marketing success. The case also provides enough information for students to conduct a Porter’s Five Forces analysis; a political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal (PESTEL) analysis; and a competitor analysis. The case helps students understand the strength of a brand with strong equity and examines the marketing strategies around a product and brand that has been sold in Japan for four decades. Case discussion centres around the critical transformation of the product’s brand positioning and the company’s efforts to keep the long-selling product attractive and innovative, as well as the impact of the external environment on the product and brand.

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
  • Define variables and key factors for a product’s long-term success in a competitive market.
  • Understand the issues behind a decision to switch focus and how the decision can affect brand equity.
  • Explore the issues around integrated marketing communication of co-branding strategies.
  • Understand how the demographic environment affects a product’s ability to attract the target segment.
  • Evaluate the extent to which a company can diversify using its core competencies.
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Case Study: Lotte Yukimi Daifuku: Ice Cream for Winter (English version) | Ivey Publishing