Five Years Marketing Plan - Essay Example

? 5 Years Marketing Plan Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Existing Market Position of the Company 3 Goal formulation: Marketing Objectives of the Company (for next 5 years) 3 Strategy formulation 4 Target Customers 4 Strategic Communication 4 4P’s of Marketing (for next 5 years) 6 Implementation 7 Media Calendar 7 Promotional Budget (from 2013 to 2018) 8 DAGMAR Model 8 Feedback and Control 9 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction The project deals with the 5 years marketing plan for a company in UK. The company that has been chosen is Hotel Chocolat. Hotel Chocolat is a well known chocolate making company which makes new types of chocolates (Hotel Chocolat, 2010). The company is one of those few companies which manufacture chocolates by growing the cocoa themselves (Hulten, Broweus and Dijk, 2009). The company initially started its operations in UK as a catalogue business company. The company achieved success in its initial stages only and soon after that it made a plan of opening a website in UK. This plan helped Hotel Chocolat to secure its position in the market. The company started exporting chocolates to United States by means of an online ordering website. It started expanding its business operations in the domestic land and has opened 23 stores in the outlets of John Lewis and 43 stores in United Kingdom. Hotel Chocolat produces fresh chocolates and the taste of these chocolates is much more adventurous as they are produced using more cocoa and less sugar. The company has also worked with the local farmers of Ghana in order to learn the technique of cocoa plantation. The company started various other projects apart from producing chocolates. Hotel Chocolat has opened a restaurant at the cocoa estate in Saint Lucia. Presently the company is planning for internationalisation. Existing Market Position of the Company Hotel Chocolat is one among very few companies which has opened new stores in the high streets of UK as well as expanded its operations outside United Kingdom. The company follows focus marketing strategy presently and focuses only on the chocolate segment. The chocolate market is very competitive and is dominated by some brands like the Thorntons and Godiva. The market focuses mainly on four main time periods i.e. Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter. In this tough competition, the company maintains its uniqueness by providing fresh chocolates, with less sugar and more cocoa, to the customers. It has achieved a successful position in the chocolate market by targeting those customers who buy the premium chocolates as gifts. The company is planning to open new stores in UK. The company has also planned for further expansion in the overseas market with new concept stores like Roast & Conch. In these stores, the customers will be able to see the roasting of the cocoa beans. Goal formulation: Marketing Objectives of the Company (for next 5 years) The marketing objectives of Hotel Chocolat (for the next five years) can be evaluated by the SMART approach. The specific objective of Hotel Chocolat is to achieve a successful position in the new markets where it is planning to expand its operations within the next few years by the implementation of appropriate promotional and other marketing strategies. The measurable objective of the company is minimization of the cost structure and implementation of the promotional and marketing strategies in very cost effective manner. The achievable objective of Hotel Chocolat is to reach to the position of the financial break even by the increase of the sales and minimization of the operating expenses. The realistic objective of Hotel Chocolat is to gain a remarkable position in those areas where it has planned to expand its business operations within the business plan of next 5 years. The time bound objective of the company is the fulfilment of all the above mentioned objectives within a time limit of next 5 years. Strategy formulation Target Customers Kantar Media has pointed out the fact that customers within the age of 12 to 24 (male and female) prefer to eat chocolates in comparison to the other sugar confectionary products. According to Brassington and Pettitt (2003), it is the buying behaviour which decides the dynamics of the target `customer segment. Kotler agreed to this and said that the target market segmentation is always decided by the customer’s purchasing behaviour (Kotler, 1988). Study reveals that 70 percent of the customers prefer chocolates among all the sugar confectionary items. Customers generally prefer buying individual products over boxed chocolates because of the high prices. The demand for chocolates rises in Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter. The company needs to decide for the target segment before planning for the marketing mix of the next five years. Strategic Communication It is very important for Hotel Chocolat to identify its target customer segment before planning for any communication strategy otherwise it will become a wastage of the financial and non financial resources in making efforts to attract the non potential customers. The market has to be segregated based on the demographics, education level, income level etc. for making a successful communication plan (Berkowitz, 2011). A customer profile has been created for targeting the customer segment of Hotel Chocolat. Segment Age Group Annual Income Level Psychology Education 1 18-26 > ?40,000 Importance of ethical trading is very low. Individuals between this age group follow the social cues. They are seeking high school level or college level education. 2 27-45 ?40,000-?70,000 Importance of low calorie quality products is very high. The individual within this age group are willing to give excess amount of money for buying these products. . They are seeking masters level education. 3 46-65 >?70,000 They tend towards purchasing those products which will help in creating and enhancing their image within the peer group. The purchasing behavior in this age group is not affected by the education level. It is evident from the above analysis that the segment 1 and 2 will be the target customer segment of Hotel Chocolat in order to expand its business operations and also maintain its position in the existing market. The company should plan for a marketing communication strategy based on the demands or needs of the customers who are lying within these segments. In case of purchasing low quality calorie products education plays an important role for the customers as it helps to understand the advantages of the eco friendly products. Thus the company should target the customers lying within the age group of 18 to 26 and 27 to 45 to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors in the new as well as the existing market. 4P’s of Marketing (for next 5 years) 4P’s of marketing provides a set of policies associated with the price, product, promotion and place which has an influence on the purchasing decisions of the customers. The success of a company always includes a lengthy process where the achievement of success is dependent on the marketing activities; the success associated with the marketing depends upon the marketing strategies and the marketing strategies deal with the elements of 4P’s of marketing. It is due to this reason that implementing appropriate strategies in the 4P’s of marketing is essential for a business enterprise. Marketing mix is the mix of different marketing plans of a particular company (Belohlavek, 2008). Product The product strategy of a company should be planned in such a manner that it gains the attention of the customers very easily. The product strategy has should be such that it provides satisfaction to the customers. The products offered by the company should have a differential advantage over the product offerings made by its competitors in the market (Hobbs, 2011; Masterson & Pickton, 2010). Hotel Chocolat provides fresh chocolates, with more cocoa and less sugar, to its customers. The company should update the existing product line and bring in some more products of different flavours. The addition of some more products in the product line, which are new for the customers, will help the company to attract new customers as well as retain the existing customers. The company can also increase its service product line by offering special dinner or lunch packages that are not offered by the competing restaurants. Price Price is one of the most important elements of the marketing mix as the pricing strategy has an effect on the competitive strength, the sales, demand and the profitability of the company (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007). The wrong pricing decision will have a negative impact on the overall performance of the company. Hotel Chocolat should implement penetration pricing strategy for expanding its business operations. The company will keep low prices for its products initially and after achieving success in the new market it can raise the prices of the products. Promotion Promotion is the attempt made by a company for stimulating the product’s demand in the market, without any change in the pricing strategy, the channel of distribution or the product mix. The promotional activities include attempts made by the seller for providing information to buyers and influencing them to buy products. Hotel Chocolat can choose the promotional strategy of sales promotion. It can provide discounts on sale. This will help to increase the total volume of the sales. The company can also implement the strategy of fostering public relations. It should provide some special offers to the high consumers of the product. This will build strong customer loyalty with the existing customers and attract the new customers. Hotel Chocolat can provide attractive trade discounts during festivals or special events. The use of social media networking is an effective way to promote the company’s products. Place The place has to be selected in such manner that it helps the product to hold its importance. The company can open outlets or stores in the new markets. The young generation being the target market of the company mainly, the outlets should be near the college or school areas to attract the customers easily. Implementation Media Calendar Jan-June 2014 July-Dec 2014 Jan-June 2015 July-Dec 2015 Jan-June 2016 July-Dec 2016 Jan-June 2017 July-Dec 2017 Jan-June 2018 July-Dec 2018 Public Relations Public Relations Public Relations Sales promotion Sales promotion Sales Promotion Sales promotion Social marketing Social marketing Social Marketing Social Marketing Social Marketing Promotional Budget (from 2013 to 2018) Particulars Amount (in ?) Amount (in ?) Amount (in ?) Amount (in ?) Amount (in ?) Sales Promotion 2,000,000 4,000,000 3,500,000 3,500,000 4,000,000 Public Relation Activities 2,000,000 2,500,000 2,500,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 Social Networking Activities 1,000,000 1,000,000 500,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 Activities to meet the objectives 4,000,000 1,500,000 3,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 Total 9,000,000 9,000,000 9,500,000 9,500,000 12,000,000 DAGMAR Model DAGMAR is known as a hierarchical model of the communication process which comprises of the product awareness, the comprehension related to the product benefits, confidence in the benefit or advantage of the product and finally the action related to the product purchase (Fill, 2002). A modified DAGMAR model will help to understand the position of Hotel Chocolat among the customers after the implementation of the communication plan. 1° Perception The products of Hotel Chocolat contain more cocoa and less sugar in it. This has made the taste of the chocolates very different from that of the chocolates provided by its competitors. This will help to generate awareness about the product as well as the company among the customers. 2° Learning The social media marketing and public relation activities will help to generate the awareness related to the health benefits of the products of Hotel Chocolat to the customers. Moreover it will also help to develop a long term relationship with the customers. 3° Persuasion Logical message related to the company’s products will help the customers to take decisions that whether they will be purchasing the company’s products or not. Feedback and Control After understanding the positioning of the company using the DAGMAR Model, the next step is feedback and control. The company should take the feedback of the customers and based on the customer feedback, the company should plan for the further changes required in the product in order to satisfy them. Conclusion Hotel Chocolat has maintained a successful position in the confectionary market in UK. The company has been suggested to expand its operations. It is expected that the performance of the company will improve after implementation of the recommended strategies. The 5 years marketing plan will help the company to build a strong position in the new market as well as maintain its reputation in the existing market. References Belohlavek, P. (2008). Unicist Marketing Mix. Houston: Blue Eagle Group. Berkowitz, E. N., 2011. Essentials of health care marketing. 3rd ed. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S., 2003. Principles of Marketing. 3rd ed. London: Prentice Hall Financial Times. Czinkota, M. R. & Ronkainen, I. A. (2007). International Marketing. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Fill, C., 2002. Marketing communications: Contexts, strategies and applications. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Hobbs, D. P. (2011). Applied Lean Business Transformation: A Complete Project Management Approach. Newcastle: J. Ross Publishing. Hotel Chocolat, 2010. ROAST+CONCH. [online] Available at: < http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/> [Accessed 10 May 2013]. Hulten, B., Broweus, N. and Dijk, M., 2009. Sensory Marketing. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Kotler, P., 1988. Marketing Management Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. Masterson, R. & Pickton, D. (2010). Marketing: An Introduction. California: SAGE. Read More