INTRODUCTION

Karachi is one of the largest cities in Asia according to population and is the ideal playing ground for companies to inject their products and services into. Having a population of 18 million people, Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan and is also the one of the industrial hubs with several ports allowing it to become of the strongest economies. Company with FMCGs, Karachi becomes the first choice to launch products and services and see how well they compete with existing competitors. However, before launching a product or service companies need to conduct research on how receptive Karachis people will be considering the various options available to them. In a smaller city with lesser options available it would not be necessary to conduct an extensive research program as the population will either accept the product or accept it at a later date once they are accustomed to it. Millions of Australians have grown up with Arnott's during the past 140 years. For them, Arnott's is more than a food company - it's a piece of Australia's history and a national icon. Arnott's is one of the largest food companies in the Asia Pacific region, with a very bright future. Arnott's ongoing growth has been supported by the Campbell Soup Company's investment in Arnott's and its iconic brands. More than 50,000 Australians have worked with Arnott's during the past century. Today, Arnott's employs more than 4,300 Australians across all States and Territories. Arnott's also employs several thousand people across the Asia Pacific region, in countries such as New Zealand, Indonesia, and Greater China. Arnott's exports continue to grow, with Australian-made biscuits now being shipped to more than 40 countries around the world including Japan, the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Tahiti and New Zealand. For Arnotts product Tim Tam to be launched in Pakistan it would require research based on the customer profile, their income and disposable income, their taste and their motivation towards buying a product. From questionnaires, taste tests and focus groups these blanks can be filled and will give a better idea to Arnott about how its product can compete against the already heavily competitive market of Karachi, and about the strategies needed to make Tim Tam a successful product in Karachi. The target market and Karachis demographics reveal how lucrative it would be for Arnott to introduce a product into the Karachi market but the research will prove it to be feasible or not.

Masters students of Greenwich University of the Marketing Management class, motivated by their lecturer Prof. Shoaib Shamsi, , conducted a research on how the Karachi population will receive Tim Tam as a product, interpreted the results from their research and have compiled this report. The report includes all the information regarding Tim Tam including the questionnaires used to find information regarding Tim Tams target market, the perception of Tim Tam in the eyes of the target market and its main competitors. The results from the focus group and taste test are also included. Since Tim Tam is a fairly established product globally, people in Karachi are aware of it, and its taste, but, only on a minute level. To increase awareness of Tim Tam, it would be necessary to have the focus groups and the taste test group to give out samples of the product to the candidates being tested. According to the results and a general opinion Tim Tam, being a confectionary product in an ocean of competition, did fairly well as compared to locally manufactured products. The basic objective of the research would be to attract retailers to give shelf space to Tim Tam, the strategies needed to be implemented so that the product appeals to the customers, the retailers that we are targeting and target market, customer buying behavior, purchase patterns of sweets and chocolates, incentives that we can offer to attract our retailers and distributors, and the 3 chocolates with the most sale and what are their prices.

CONSUMER SURVEY

The consumer survey was carried out keeping in mind a target age bracket of 7 years to 20 years, the main areas of focus were: 1. Clifton 2. Defence 3. Nazimabad & North Nazimabad 4. K.D.A. 5. Gulshan A total of 450 questionnaires were floated, out of which 400 were answered and returned. The main focus of the survey was to find out the average daily pocket money and spending, their preferences regarding snacks, or a particular snack. Questions regarding chocolate preferences were also put forward, and preferences with regard to local or imported chocolates were also asked. In order to understand specific areas of purchase we asked them about their preferred purchasing points, and what they think of when looking for a chocolate. For a new entering chocolate, questions regarding possibilities of purchase and proposed prices were put forward.

SAMPLE QUESTIONNARE

CONSUMER SURVEY FORM 1. Age bracket? a) 7-11 b) 12-15 c) 16-20 2. Your area of residence? a) Clifton b) Defence c) Nazimabad & North Nazimabad d) KDA e) Gulshan 3. How much is your daily pocket money? a) 10 - 20 b) 20 - 30 c) 30 - 50

d) 50 +

4. How do you spend your Rs.20. (1= most preferred 4 = least preferred) a) Chocolates b) Candies c) Sweet snacks d) Toffees 5. What type of chocolate do you eat mostly? a) Wafer b) Coconut c) Caramel d) Milky e) Any other 6. How often do you have chocolates? a) Daily b) Weekly c) Occasionally 7. Are you brand loyal? a) Yes
b) No

8. If yes, which brand name comes in your mind when you think of chocolates? ______________________________ 9. What kind of chocolates do you mostly eat? a) Local b) Imported

10. Which dimension makes you purchase the above selected chocolate? a) Quality b) Taste c) Price d) Varieties e) Size f) Packaging 11. Please answer the following as honestly as possible: I will not pay more than Rs. ______ for a chocolate bar. 12. Where do you usually buy chocolates from? a) School/College canteens b) Super stores c) General stores d) Small street stores 13. Do you like to see a new bar of chocolate in the market? a) Yes b) No 14. If yes, what changes would you suggest? .. 15. What price range would you suggest for a fine quality chocolate? a) Between 5 to 10 b) Between 10 to 15 c) Between 15 to 20

FINDINGS OF THE CONSUMER SURVEY

Following are the findings with regard to questions asked that have extracted from each question asked. 1. Age bracket?

A major share of the survey was answered by people ranging from the age group of 16-20 which stood at 59% of the overall questionnaires, followed by the age group ranging from 12-15 which stood at 26% of the overall questionnaire.

2. Your area of residence?

Majority of the people surveyed belonged to D.H.A standing at 29%, while residences of Gulshan-e- Iqbal followed standing at 21% of the overall percentage.

3. How much is your daily pocket money?

The highest share of daily pocket money went to people with a daily pocket money of Rs. 50+, which shows that every 3 out of 10 people have a daily pocket money of Rs. 50+. This is followed by the pocket money bracket of Rs. 30-50.

4. How do you spend your Rs.20. [Most Preferred and least preferred]
(a) Most Preferred

The most preferred snack that consumers like to spend money on is Chocolate, which is followed by sweet snacks, and candies.

(b) Least Preferred

Toffees and Candies have been found to be the least favored product to be purchased out of all low priced or quick purchase snacks.

5. What type of chocolate do you eat mostly?

Majority of the people prefer to have milky chocolate, which is followed by caramel and wafer filled.

6. How often do you have chocolates?

Purchase patterns are pretty much equally divided, where consumers prefer to make daily, weekly, and occasional purchases.

7. Are you Brand loyal?

58% of the consumers have been found to be brand loyal and aligned towards a specific brand or a company.

8. If yes, which brand name comes in your mind when you think of chocolates?

A major share of the brand preferences went to Cadbury and imported chocolates, such as Mars Inc. brands and Nestle brands.

9. What kind of chocolates do you mostly eat?

Consumers have been found to show not much preference differences between imported and exported chocolates, they both have an equal share.

10. Which dimension makes you purchase the above selected chocolate?

Consumers have been found to look at the taste and quality of a chocolate before making a purchse, while package and size do not matter as much.

11. I will not pay more than Rs. _____ for a Chocolate Bar

Majority of the people have been found to be willing to pay up to Rs. 10 for a bar of chocolate, while the highest amount people are willing to pay for chocolate goes up to Rs. 1000.

12. Where do you usually buy chocolates from?

Majority of the people prefer purchasing their chocolate from super and general stores.

13. Do you like to see a new bar of chocolate in the market?

There has been an equal result, people would like to see a new chocolate enter the market, and people are satisfied with the ones currently available.

14. If yes, what changes would you suggest?

Majority of the people would not like to see anything new, while some have said a new and improved tasting chocolate should be introduced.

15. What price range would you suggest for a fine quality chocolate?

Consumers are willing to pay Rs. 10 to 20 for a new fine quality bar of chocolate.

OTHER FINDINGS

CONSUMER SURVEY SUMMARY/RECOMMENDATIONS

Consumption patterns are at par among the age groups, therefore, we can deduce that product supply to specific purchase points should be consistent to cater to daily, weekly and occasional buyers.

Milky chocolates are the most preferred, it is recommended that the element be included, and the customization be done in order to attract the milky chocolate market share. A summarization shows that brand loyalty is not high; this is a major opportunity area that can be focused on in order to create large scale awareness, and attachment towards the brand in order to attract a larger customer base. Competition for new (both local and imported) and existing products is high, therefore, it is difficult to enter the market as both a local and imported chocolate. The chocolate should be customized and marketed using local elements in order to attract the customers. Most customers are willing to pay with Rs. 10 to Rs. 30 for a bar of chocolate, it is suggested that the price not exceed more than Rs. 30. A major area for points of purchase are general stores, up to 33% of consumers make their purchases at general stores, while 30% make their purchases at super stores. Another area that needs to be focused on is Schools /College canteens, children have a fixed daily pocket money and they prefer to spend it on snacks, easy access will lead to easy purchase. New chocolate bars entering were not looked at as favorably, customers are happy with the existing brands available in the market. This is a major threat area and Tim Tam might face resistance on entering the market and developing customers. However, consumers who did want to see a new bar of chocolate in the market suggested that a unique taste will contribute towards successfully launching a new bar of chocolate in the market. Another suggestion was more focus on the packaging of the product, as the package is what defines what the chocolate inside is going to be all about.

FOCUS GROUP
A focus group can reveal a wealth of detailed information and deep insight. them to answer questions in their own words and add meaning to their answers. When well

executed, a focus group creates an accepting environment that puts participants at ease, allowing

OUR FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW:

A focus group interview was conducted for Arnotts Tim Tam on the 26th of April, 2009. There were two moderators, who were members of our group, and ten participants randomly selected between the ages of 8 to 22 . The participants: There were 10 participants in all, 5 males and 5 females. Participant #1: Male, Age-21 Participant #2: Male, Age- 20 Participant #3: Male, Age- 20 Participant #4: Female, Age- 19 Participant #5: Female, Age- 16 Participant #6: Female, Age- 14 Participant # 7: Female, Age- 12 Participant #8: Male, Age- 13 Participant #9: Male, Age-9 Participant #10: Female, Age- 8

The Focus group was conducted in the Greenwich Boardroom. The duration for the focus group was roughly 30 minutes. The interviewees signed a consent form before the commencement of the interview to ensure that they were a part of this focus group with their due consent. The ambience was very relaxing and the moderators began by welcoming the participants and appreciating their willingness to participate in the focus group.

The moderators started off with general questions concerning the participants hobbies, what they do in general, this basically helped create an environment of openness and freedom of speech, and encouraged all participants to speak up. They then asked them what they usually liked as snacks. Following are the questions and their summed up answers Q1. What snacks do you usually like? Participant 1: Cocomos Participant 2: everything Participant 3: anything Participant 4: chips Participant 5: anything Participant 6: anything Participant 7: something sweet, chocolate chip biscuits Participant 8: anything and everything Participant 9: Pizza Participant 10: chips

Q2. How often do you usually eat out? Participants 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: On a weekly basis, and daily basis Participant 10 - Almost every day.

Q3. What do you usually prefer? Salty or sweet stuff? Participant 1, 2, 3, 4 and 10 - Chocolates Participant 7 - Sweet stuff Participant 8 - Salty, chatpatta stuff Participant 9-Nachos

Q4. What do you usually prefer in sweet snacks? The response was chocolates and anything related to chocolates Q5. If you have Rs. 500, how much would you spend on chocolates? Participant 9 and 10 - the whole thing Participant 3 - Rs 400 Participant 6 - Maybe Rs 50 Participant 7 - Half of it Participant 8 - Rs 300 Q6. If a store has several chocolates on display which one would you prefer? Participant 4 - Lindtt Participant 6 - Ferrero Roche Participant 7 - Kit Kat, Twix, After Eight Participant 8 - Maltesers Participant 9 and 10 - Toblerone Q7. What attracts you when youre buying a chocolate?

The general response was packaging, a familiar name and anything but local chocolates. Q8. Tasting the first chocolate (Tim Tam) Participant 1 and 2 - its a biscuit, not a chocolate Participant 3 - Its more of a biscuit than a chocolate Participant 5 and 10- its a wafer Participant 6 - Tastes like Kellogg cereal Participant 9 - Its a chocolate wafer. Participant 8 and 10 - Its wafer, its Tim-Tam, we can tell Q8(a) How was the overall quality? Participant 2 - Ok, not high end at all Participant 4 - Good, nothing special Participant 5 - It wasnt anything high end, the biscuit was good though.

Q8(b) Do you want to try it again?

Majority of the participants said not really.

Q8(c) How would you rate this chocolate on a scale of 1-10? Participant 1- 5 out of 10 Participant 2- 6 out of 10 Participant 3- 4 out of 10

Participant 4- 2 out of 10 Participant 5- 4 out of 10 Participant 6- 3 out of 10 Participant 7- 6 out of 10 Participant 8- 3 out of 10 Participant 9- 4 out of 10 Participant 10- 7 out of 10 Q9. What are the negativities due to which you dont buy chocolates every day? Participant 4 and 5 - Acne and theyre very fattening Participant 8 - I dont care about the negatives Participant 10 - I eat them every day, regardless of negatives. The others said negativities dont affect them. Q10. What do you prefer? Dark chocolate? Milk chocolate? Or wafer? Most participants said that they prefer plain chocolate and possibly a combo of wafer and chocolate if theyre very hungry. Q11. Tasting chocolate # 2(Dairy Milk) Q11(a) How would you rate this chocolate on a scale of 1-10?

Participant 1- 10 out of 10 Participant 2- 0 out of 10 Participant 3- 3 out of 10

Participant 4- 1out of 10 Participant 5- 7.5out of 10 Participant 6- 6 out of 10 Participant 7- 8 out of 10 Participant 8- 9.9 out of 10 Participant 9- 10 out of 10 Participant 10- 10 out of 10 Q12. Tasting chocolate # 3(Jubilee) People said its very chewy and has a very local taste, has bad quality now, than it did before. Q13. What motivates you to buy a chocolate? Participant 7 and 8 - Hunger Participant 1, 2, 4 and 6 - Sweet Cravings Participant 3 and 6 Eating chocolate makes us happy

SUMMARY OF THE FOCUS GROUP

Our main focus for this interview was how people of the desired target market for Tim Tam would react to it.

80% people said they have a sweet tooth and craved for chocolates. On an average they would spend between Rs. 250 to Rs 300 on buying chocolates. The Consumer behavior with reference to buying habits was familiarity, and packaging, and hunger and sweet cravings motivated their buying behavior.

For Tim Tam in particular, the participants said that it doesnt qualify as a chocolate because its taste is that of more of a biscuit. The perceived quality was average and when rated on a scale of 1-10, the average of all of the responses was 4.4 out of 10.The highest rating was for Dairy milk (local) which was 6.49, i.e. the average of all the responses.

Therefore, to conclude, Tim Tam has to strive very hard for gaining a market share and to make sales in relation to competitor brands. It needs to focus on quality, taste and packaging.