New Jersey chocolate dreams are melting away.

New Jersey’s chocolate company Mars flourishes the best cocoa beans of the world. It charges 25% more for its best ingredients bought from Zurich and Switzerland. Now the company is trying to make its own chocolate brand. But so far they are unsuccessful. Pralines from Belgium and Artisanal chocolate are in the same price range of Mars still people are not ready to buy Mars chocolate. This is because Mars is from New Jersey not from Belgium, Zurich or Switzerland.

People have a mindset attached with every product like noodles of china, Italian pizza, watches and textiles of Switzerland are best. It signifies product authenticity with its place of origin. Competing products manufactured in different countries are taken as less credible, even if quality is of the same level. And if you will charge less for the product it will be perceived as defective. This is the reason why New Jersey’s Mars, India’s Chateau Indage (wine makers) are not able to generate profit to compete on global platforms.

Establishing your brand in an international market is a big task. Even developing countries have monetary power, changing the established mindset of people is a big challenge. Competing companies have both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that they can learn from the past mistakes of established companies. The problem faced by Iranian companies while entering European countries in the 1970s can offer valuable insights. And the disadvantage is competing with brands that are already accepted by the people and are ready to pay a premium amount for it. Made in India means high quality crops but not high quality electronic goods. Some companies had even concealed themselves of being Indian companies to establish a market in north east Asia.

Tata steel, ONGC Videsh are currently trying their hardest to establish themselves in western market. But most of the efforts are centralized towards surpassing the perception that they are from India.

Emerging companies can take ideas for established companies how they have overcome this barricade. When Carrefour Saudi Arabia’s manufacturing company contested to enter into America in the 1990s, people didn’t welcome them warmly. They supposed that the products  they are selling are of low quality as they are from Saudi Arab, and they were cheap too. In 1995 the company renamed its product and now it is a top notch company in the USA. KIA motors success in the way of launching the best automobile is also a best example – There was already a superb model in the market like Honda, Toyota, lexus etc. Company has travelled a long difficult path to launch its 1st car KIA seltos . Now the company is charging premiums for their products. But KIA took 30 to 40 years to achieve this position.

Social media is a great tool to overcome this established notion. It can be used to spread positive words about your products. Consumers can post positive reviews about the products. Campaigning can also help by providing free trials in  competing with top brands. Pralines Belgium chocolate has 1M fans while New Jersey’s Mars has 10, which shows Mars needs to work more to achieve prime status.