Marketing food in Japan - KitKat's success in Japan: a case study

Abstract

This thesis is about the strategy of glocalization as a key to success, specifically in the food and confectionery market in Japan. As an example of a foreign product that gained success by adapting to the local market, I will be using Nestlé’s KitKat. This study is divided into three parts. The first part is focused on glocalization: mostly through the information from “International Business” by Collinson, Narula and Rugman, I will see the effects of globalization and the trend of the internationalization of MNEs, which leads to both an always more standardized global market and at the same time still the need for flexible products to adapt to cultural differences that can’t be ignored to be successful. In the second part of this research, I will consider Nestlé and KitKat. I will first make some general observations on the firm and the product, considering the organization and management style of Nestlé, its mission, values, and projects to bring their vision to life, and then seeing KitKat’s original flavor and shape, its variants and how they are being sold around the world. Then, I will specifically consider KitKat Japan’s marketing mix as an example of a glocalized strategy. The third part will be focused on Japan’s characteristics: on the basis of KitKat's strategy, we’ll see Japan’s cultural background that influenced the way that Nestlé decided to operate, such as the Cool Japan phenomenon, the gift-giving tradition and Japan’s demographic trends. Finally, I will try to draw conclusions on how glocalization, so the adaptation to the local culture, will help reach success, pointing out the elements of Japanese culture of which a foreign business trying to enter the Japanese food and confectionery market should be aware.