Name: Lisa Winters
Case: Frito Lay, Inc. Sun Chips
Brand Identification: Frito Lay is a worldwide leader in the snack-food industry. Major brands
include Lays, Ruffles, Fritos, Doritos, Tostitos, Santitas, Cheetos, and Rold Gold.
Issue: What strategy should Frito Lay implement to increase brand awareness of Sun Chips?
S.W.O.T.
Strengths Accounts for 13 percent of sales in its industry in the U.S.
 Leading manufacturer of snack chips in the U.S.
 Eight of Frito Lay’s snack chips are among the top ten best-selling snack items in
U.S. supermarkets
 The United States snack food industry recorded a 5% increase in retail sales from
1989-1990
Weaknesses Sustainability over time
Opportunities To grow established brands through line extension
 To create new products to meet changing consumer preferences and needs
 To develop products for fast-growing snack-food categories
 To reproduce Frito-Lay successes in the international market
Threats National brand firms, regional brand firms, and private brand firms
 Highly competitive industry
 High new-product failure rate
 Competitive pricing
 Product cannibalization
Conclusions: Frito Lay has already been very successful in the past and now has many new
opportunities to increase sales and market share.
Options: Frito Lay could increase advertising and merchandising spending to increase brand
awareness and repeat purchases, it could further research the target market, or it could launch
Sun Chips nationally.
Recommendation: Frito Lay should increase spending on mass media advertising to increase
consumer reach and brand awareness which may lead to repeat purchases. As a Plan B, Frito
Lay could continue using the same strategies it used in the past that were successful to increase
sales of Sun Chips.
Measurement: Success can be measured by determining the increase in brand awareness after
Sun Chips have been advertised.