Country Crock: Healthy Recipe Leaves Bad Taste in Consumers' Mouths

Authors
Bradley Brooks, Steven Cox, Timothy E. Burson
Region
North America
Topic
Strategy & General Management
Marketing & Sales
Length
3 pages
Keywords
marketing
product innovation
brand equity
consumer behavior
multi-attribute models
Copyright Holder
Journal of Critical Incidents
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Undergraduate Students
Executive Education

Country Crock spread (a butter substitute made by Unilever) had changed its recipe to meet increasing consumer pressures for healthy food products. Consumer posts on sites such as the brand’s website, Facebook page, and Twitter page almost universally stated that the new recipe had (literally) left a bad taste in consumers’ mouths. Country Crock was torn between meeting increasing consumer demands for healthy food products vs. offering a positive taste for consumers. This critical incident poses three alternatives for Country Crock: (a) maintain the new recipe with the healthy ingredients; (b) return to the original recipe; or (c) develop some new recipe. Which option should Country Crock choose?

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify the risks of meeting consumer preferences for one attribute that simultaneously could move the product offering away from consumer preferences on another attribute
  2. Identify how product positioning can be determined by applying attributes to develop a perceptual map
  3. Identify and evaluate risks to brand equity from a multi-attribute product offering using Keller’s Brand Equity Model
  4. Propose a course of action to respond to a dilemma of how to meet multiple consumer preferences that can be incongruent