Promotional Planning of Vietnamese Coffee - Essay Example

? Promotional Plan of Viet se Coffee Executive summary The coffee industry of UK is one of the fastest growing industries of the world. The peopleof UK are passionate about coffee, which is one of the major drivers of the industry. The company, Trung Nguyen is planning to commence its business in the UK market with their range of Vietnamese coffee. In this context a promotional plan for the company has been developed where the company is recommended to make use of different promotional techniques to create awareness and drive sales. The company is recommended to use both broadcasting advertisements and print advertisements. In additional, traditional techniques such as billboards and catalogues are also recommended. Apart from that modern techniques such as social media advertisement, in store promotion are also recommended pt the company. With such approaches it is expected that Trung Nguyen will be able to reach a good position in UK coffee industry. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 The plan 5 Conclusion 11 Appendix 12 Bibliography 14 Introduction It has been recommended that a strategy of franchising is undertaken in importing Vietnamese coffee to the UK market. The prime intention is operate effectively in the UK market and pursue development and focus strategy. On the basis of this a promotional plan has been developed which considers the use of different type of promotional activities such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations and sponsorships. It has been suggested that the in UK market promotional activities such as advertising in magazines and newspapers, broadcasting advertising including television, radio, billboards and catalogues are useful. In addition, it was also suggested that the company should also use social networking websites to promote the product in the UK market. Furthermore, Trung Nguyen Coffee also intends to influence and persuade buy their offerings through premium and discounts coupons, offering samples to show the distinct advantages of fresh coffee and a website that provides information about the company (Trung Nguyen Company, 2013). It is believed that the suggested strategy almost covers all the aspects of marketing and if properly implemented can provide the company with good results. Hence, the recommend strategy is accepted and a promotional plan for the same will be developed through this project. This study will now present a promotional plan which is to be undertaken by Trung Nguyen to promote their product. The promotional plan is responsible for creating awareness about Vietnamese coffee. Hence for this purpose, this paper will first shed light on the target market for the product and will also underline the way of promoting, selling and distributing the product. A SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time bound) objective will be also developed to ensure effective implementation of the promotional plan. Furthermore, a rough budget and a timeline for the entire promotional plan will be developed. Lastly, an overall conclusion will be drawn. The plan Target Market It is essential to define the target market clearly in order to develop an effective promotional plan (Hollensen, 2007). It was recommended to the company that they should target niche market segment, especially because other established players such as Starbucks, Costa and Nestle are highly competitive. Moreover, being a new player, it will be difficult for the company to compete with them on a large scale. This is the reason why the company is recommended to cater to specific sections of the society. Trung Nguyen has been recommended with two different target segments. The first one is people who work and study like wringing professional, students and the second group is the coffee lovers. Target Group 1 Students and Working Professions Target Group 2 Coffee Lovers Product Distribution The distribution of products is another important activity of marketing. There are number of cases where a good product has failed sustain in the market due to poor distribution policy. Moreover, for a product such as Vietnamese coffee, which is relatively new in UK, the distribution network needs to be stronger. Trung Nguyen, for their range of coffee products was recommended to open coffee shops in two of the potential locations. The locations were mainly chosen by considering the catchment area of the target customers. The company is recommended to open their shops at a location which are close to the schools and offices. Since, both the target segment have hectic schedules, they will hardly have time to stay at a coffee shop which is not close to their workplace. Moreover, it is also proposed that they will be primarily served with G7 instant coffee which further supports the intentions of the company. In addition, the company is also recommended to open coffee shops in clubs, located at residential areas. In these shops, it is expected that local residents will visit the shop for a get together or to discuss about coffee culture. SMART Objectives The promotional objectives of Trung Nguyen are formulated by considering SMART objectives. This is primarily because of the fact that SMART objectives are used as an outline for creating an effective and efficient marketing campaign. The SMART objectives will be considered by following the below mentioned criteria. Specific: - Specific marketing objectives refer to focusing on a particular goal or objective so as to increase the efficiency. Business houses often want to achieve multiple marketing objectives and each objective should have specific plans to achieve it (Alexander, 2013). In the similar way, Trung Nguyen should also have specific objectives. Measurable: - It is essential to measure the effectiveness of the marketing objectives. In order to measure the success rate and effectiveness of marketing plan, there is requirement for goals and milestone to measure (Stone, 2001). The measurable factors should be in the form of total sales revenue generated, number of units sold or the total profit generated. The objectives of Trung Nguyen will also be formulated in way so that it can be measured. Achievable: - An objective is formulated for the principal purpose of achieving those objectives. Hence, an objective should be logical enough so that it can be achieved. The best way to formulate achievable goal is to consider historical sales and set objectives accordingly (Nazarko, 2004). However, in this context Trung Nguyen is a new entrant in the UK market and they do not have any previous sales record. Therefore the only way out for the company is to consider the industry trend for setting up an objective. Realistic: - The objectives needs to realistic. An organization should formulate the objectives on the basis of their existing resources and capabilities (McManus, 2006). There are many cases where the company failed to meet its objectives due to unavailability or shortage of resources. However, the objective of Trung Nguyen will be formulated keeping in mind about the organization’s resources and capabilities. Time Bound: - Any activity whether it’s an entire marketing plan or a promotional plan should have a specific timeline. A specific timeline assist in analyzing how the techniques or approaches taken to achieve the goals have actually produced the intended results (Lawler and Bilson, 2006). Moreover, it also helps in monitoring the activities. Hence, for this purpose a timeline will be developed which will be underlining the schedule of activities. Now considering all the aforementioned aspects, the following SMART objectives have been formulated for Trung Nguyen. Market Share Objective – Since, Trung Nguyen is a new player in the UK coffee market, it will try to gain 5 % market share within its 15 months of operation. Profitability Objective: - To achieve a 15% return on investment on the advertisements made by the end of 15 moths. To increase YouTube hits, Facebook likes and twitter followers by 100,000 by the end of 15 month. To increase the brand value of Vietnamese coffee and subsequently increase awareness of the product and catchment area to 10 % by the end of 18 months. To make G7 instant coffee a favourite coffee brand among the students and working professionals by the end of 18 months. To increase the market size by 15% by the end 15 months. Budget and TimeLine In order to achieve all those objectives it is necessary for the organization to schedule the activities properly (Singla, 2011). In addition, it is also necessary to calculate the amount of money to be invested for carrying out the promotional activities (Blazey, 2009). However, the first task is to formulate a communication plan for Vietnamese coffee. In this context, the factors which will be considered are selection of the appropriate media for promoting the products, development of a communication message, development of the advertisements for print media, broadcasting media and social media. Once, the advertisements are developed the next work is to launch those. Some of the other communication campaigns to be initiated are free distribution of the samples, designing of websites and making tie ups with some of the local companies. Apart from that Trung Nguyen will also carry out in store promotion, which will allow the company to drive more sales. The in-store promotions will be done with the help of merchandising, display, point of sale and offering hourly discount or special offers to the customers (Dunne, Lusch and Carver, 2011). Another innovative in-store promotional technique can be introduction of “happy hours”. With these techniques, it is expected that the communication objectives of the company can be easily fulfilled. Trung Nguyen is also required to develop a communication message which is to be used by the company. In the communication messages, the company will consider the tagline of product. The tagline will serve as the communication message for the company. It is necessary to develop a communication message that reflects the intentions of the company. Hence, a possible tagline for the company can be as follows: - Vietnamese Coffee “Refreshing you always”. With this statement it is obvious that the intention of the company is to position the coffee as a refreshing item. Moreover, the target customers are the students and working, who often needs refreshment due to their hectic schedule. Hence, the communication message is also justified. In the meantime, it is imperative to schedule the activities properly and simultaneously calculate the budget for the promotional plan. The expected expenses to be incurred by the company are as follows: - Elements Amount (in $) Television Advertisement 300 Sales Promotion 150 PR activities 100 Print Advertisements and Website development cost 1500 In store promotional cost 200 Campaigning cost 500 Miscellaneous 300     Total promotional Cost 3050 In order to represent the schedule of activities, Gantt chart will be used. The schedule of activities will be represented for a period of 18 months. The timeline of the activities are presented below: - Activity/Month M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 M13 M14 M15 M16 M17 M18 Formulation of communication plan   Selection of the appropriate promotional media   creating advertisement for television   creating advertisement for print media   Creating social media advertisement   In store marketing activities   Launching official website   launching advertisements   Measuring the effectiveness   Altering the areas needed be   As the communication plans are formulated and implemented, the next task is to measure the effectiveness of the activities. The measurement of the activeness will be done with the help of simple observation. One of the techniques is to record the number of YouTube hits, Facebook likes and twitter followers. Another way of measuring the effectiveness of the communication plan can be the return on investment. Other statistical figures such as sales figure, profit margin etc. The next section will stress on the promotional activities to be undertaken by the company to create awareness of the Vietnamese coffee. Promotional Techniques The product of the company which is Vietnamese coffee will be promoted by using different methods. As mentioned earlier, the company will be using television advertisements to create awareness of the products. Social media will be also used and in this context the company should make use of popular social networking sites such as Facebook, twitter, Tumblr and YouTube among others (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011). Since, the company will be a new player in the market; it has to pursue a push stagey (Lingar, 2007). This is primarily because of the lack of awareness of the company and its products. On the other hand pull strategy will not be that much effective (Verma, 2007). However, down the line, if the company succeeds to fulfil its objectives, it may reconsider pull strategy. Since, the company will put emphasis on store operation; it will not require any kind of personal selling. However, to push the customers in store and create a demand for its several marketing campaigns will be organized. As mentioned earlier, in order to create a demand for the products, the company will be put different advertisement techniques into practise. Although television advertisement is costly, the return on investment is generally high. Moreover, it will also have a mass appeal and the company will be able to directly communicate its messages. However, it is also believed that the traditional forms of promotion will not be enough to create awareness of a newly launched product, rather modern marketing techniques needs to be put into practise. Nowadays, social media is considered as one of the most feasible way of marketing goods and service. Social media is also the cheapest form of marketing (Weinberg, 2009). The report has already mentioned that, the company must use popular networking sites such as Facebook, twitter, tumblr and YouTube, but mere advertisements will not be that much effective (Poynter, 2010). The advertisements will be developed in flash platform so that it easily grabs the attention of consumers. Conclusion The report aimed to develop a communication plan for Trung Nguyen’s Vietnamese coffee. In doing so the report developed a number of SMART objectives for the company. On the basis of the objectives, the study developed a communication which can be put into practise by the company to create awareness of the product and drive sales. It has been found that television advertisement is a costly venture, but still the company is recommended to pursue this astray as the return on the capital employed is high. Therefore, with this approaches to promotion, it is expected that Trung Nguyen will be able to reach a good position in the UK coffee industry. Appendix Figure 1 – Branded coffee shops in UK Figure 2 - UK hot drinks market size Bibliography Alexander, M., 2013. Management Planning for Nature Conservation: A Theoretical Basis and Practical Guide. 2nd ed. Berlin: Springer. Blazey, M. L., 2009. Insights to Performance Excellence, 2009-2010: An Inside Look at the 2009-2010 Baldrige Award Criteria. Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press. Dunne, P. M., Lusch, R. F. and Carver, J. R., 2011. Retailing. 7th ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Hollensen, S., 2007. Global Marketing. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F. and McDaniel, C. D., 2011. Marketing Essentials 7th ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Lawler, J. and Bilson, A., 2006. Social Work Management and Leadership: Managing Complexity with Creativity. London: Routledge. Lingar, W. R., 2007. Mission-based AlignmentTake Your Company To The Top And Keep It There. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Dist. McManus, J., 2006. Leadership: Project and Human Capital Management. Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann. Nazarko, L., 2004. Managing a Quality Service. Oxford: Heinemann. Poynter, R., 2010. The Handbook of Online and Social Media Research: Tools and Techniques for Market Researchers. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Singla, R. K., 2011. Business Organisation and Management. New Delhi: FK Publications. Stone, P., 2001. Make Marketing Work for You: Boost Your Profits with Proven Marketing Techniques. Oxford: How to Books Ltd. Trung Nguyen Company, 2013. Only in Trung Nguyen. [online] Available at: [Accessed 3 March 2013]. Verma, H. V., 2007. Services Marketing: Text and Cases. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Weinberg, T., 2009. The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web. California: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Read More