ABSTRACT
Historically, like in most other countries, the milk category and milk market in New
Zealand has been a fairly stable and uneventful market. The milk market has been
declining for decades, due to the growing popularity of soft drinks, more focus on
healthy low-fat diets, and more and more people skipping breakfast. Although each
of the three major milk brands, Anchor, Tararua, and Meadowfresh, had a strong
position on its own part of the New Zealand territory, this situation was rapidly
changing. House brands (private labels) have managed to build a market share of
almost 50 per cent in 6 years, and regional brands have developed to become national
brands. The upper North Island, the traditional homeland of Anchor, is aggressively
entered by the other two major brands. One of the conventions in the milk category
is that mothers are the primary target group of milk advertising campaigns. They are
the ones that buy milk, and they regard milk as an important part of their children’s
diet: milk builds strong and healthy kids. However, mothers are quite indifferent about
milk brands. Milk is milk, no matter what bottle it is sold in and what its brand name
is. The strategic challenge was to elevate Anchor beyond its commodity status.
