Shishaah as the Purest Rolled Tobacco - Research Paper Example

Promotional Plan Introduction The market for smokes has been growing for a long time as the population of the world continues to grow as well. Although laws that regulate the number of products that can be smoked continues to affect the consumption of these products, an increase on the number of customers willing to smoke any products regardless of what health impacts it may cause has been in the increase. However, serious cautions have been taken by the people who smoke regular cigarettes and therefore led to a consequent reduction on number of customers willing to purchase and smoke cigarettes. In this case, the product for launching with this promotional plan is Shisha but for marketing and trading purposes is it marketed as Shishaah. The adaption of the second brand is due to the fact that products of the same nature exist but lack the ‘ah!’ factor. Through flavor and processing the best tobacco in 6teh world, Shishaah is presented as one of the purest form of rolled tobacco. The packaging of this product takes a rather more stylish look than the other products that trade in the same markets as the target markets for the Shishaah. The packaging includes the use of bio-friendly cover and a covered top presenting the illusion of an executive pen. By launching this product, the promotional plan aims at presenting a new tobacco product to the market to create a market share from those customers or cigarette smokers with the intentions to quit. While cigarette smoking and criticisms have led to reduced consumption of tobacco, the aim of this promotional plan is to launch a product that rates lower than cigarettes in terms of health – one that satisfies the smoking cravings of the regular smoker and the struggling quitters. In the past, various people, presumably users of conventional cigarettes have been documented filing law suits due to health problems that they associate directly with the consumption of tobacco from capable companies such as British American Tobacco (BAT) (Centers For Disease Control And Prevention a, 19). In this case, intense research on all possible effects of smoking Shisha have been identified and through the introduction of a better processed and flavored Shishaah major concerns are handled primarily. The selection of target market follows research results from a prefeasibility study that shows the number of people quitting cigarettes and their reasons for quitting. In addition, the number of quitters willing to take a break from conventional cigarettes presents an initial market as their motive for quitting conventional cigarettes is to try new products that may give a better feeling than the comfort sought from cigarettes. The target market mostly comprises of 25-50 year olds who are at their prime stage of developing their career foundations or at their active smoking phases (Centers For Disease Control And Prevention b, 33). The positioning of the Shishaah would be targeting all customers of the ages 25-50 and with a base income of more than $60,000 per annum. This target market is selected due to the fact that the product is released with the tagline ‘Shishaah! A product for the premium consumer’. Hence fore, the marketing positioning for Shishaah will be targeting middle to upper class customers within the industry. Competition in this area is presented by products such as Marlboro and Bucks as they are products, although not similar to Shishaah, that target the same cohort of consumers as the target market for the Shishaah. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths With regards to the target market of Shishaah, a considerable number of active smokers in the UK alone stand over 13,700,000 within the urban settings alone. On the international market, the US is estimated to have a total of 18% of adults smoking on a regular basis – the Center for Disease Control reports. The CDC also identifies that a majority of working US adults are quitting smoking due to reasons central to health issues. In this case, one of the strengths of Shishaah is creating a diversion for quitters of conventional cigarettes. In addition, research into the current smokes’ market shows that nicotine is responsible for various throat and lung cancer. Hence fore, as an strength, Shishaah presents products that are regulated of nicotine and appeal in terms of after-taste. Hence fore, what is referred as quitting of cigarette smoking is more of ‘getting bored with the same product and taste’ – the perfect diversion is Shishaah (Soto-Mas et al., 12-14). Weaknesses Shishaah is a new product whose aim is to replace the bad tasting tobacco cigarettes that have been in the market since World War II (Wald, and Nicolaides-Bouma, 15). Regardless of whether Shishaah is better off than the conventional cigarette, its position in the market as a new product restricts its marketability as consumers find it hard to switch from their products. In addition, the popular ideology that smoking affects one’s health is a tough myth to beat within a market filled up with critics and conflicting laws. Hence fore, the organization’s position is as good as that of any other competing organization and falls short of identifying with customers due to popularity of other companies (Department Of Health, 45). Opportunities The decline of cigarette smokers from more than 40% to less than 20% from 1965 to 2013 shows that there are less people smoking today as compared to 48 years ago. This is not true as time is a determinant factor to the number of smokers at any given moment. For example, the number of people in the US in 1965 was 194,302,963 while the current population is 317,254,000. Considering the actual figures 1965’s 40% and 2013’s 18% shows that the former had 77,720,800 smokers while the latter has 57,105,720 smokers (Register Office For Scotland, 23). In this case, it shows that, with respect to population growth, the actual change in smokers is 20,000,000 people for every 48 years – however, there is no actual formula of predicting this chance in the next 48 years (Office For National Statistics, 11). Therefore, one opportunity in this case is that, Shishaah targets the entire smoking population within the US and the UK while grasping a portion of the quitting population. Threats While Shishaah is a product for smoking, its launch in an open market is faced with millions of threats associated with criticisms of other smoking products. However, the main threats with direct impact to the marketability of Shishaah include: Government regulation of the tobacco industry Health concerns of consumers and health activities Increased restrictions on the production and advertising of tobacco products Customer loyalty to competitor products (The Treasury, 3) PESTEL ANALYSIS Political The political factors with an impact on the marketing of Shishaah include; Instability of policies that regulate tobacco manufacturing companies Heavy taxes levied for the manufacturing of tobacco products Expensive licenses for operating tobacco manufacturing company Economic The economic factors with an impact on the marketing of Shishaah include; The exchange rate of the Sterling Pound against other currencies such as the US Dollar Instability of economic growths of the major target markets such as the US and the UK Increased levels of inflation leading to restricted consumer spending A decrease in the disposable income for consumers hence less spending (Szilagyi, & Chapman, 225) Social The social factors with an impact on the marketing of Shishaah include; Increased population translating to increased consumers A high number of people attaining the smoking age of 18 or 21 Increased health consciousness leading to a decreased consumption of tobacco products (Centers For Disease Control And Prevention c, 13). Technological The technological factors with an impact on the marketing of Shishaah include; Uniformity of technological adaptation by competitors Changing technologies requiring regular and systematic upgrades Increased social platforms on the web enabling e-marketing solutions Convenient customer service made possible by open online communication channels. Environmental The environmental factors with an impact on the marketing of Shishaah include; Production of tobacco due to changing climates and decrease in productive land Corporate social responsibility requirements in the production of tobacco products Pollution policies for the production of tobacco products or any other product Legal The legal factors with an impact on the marketing of Shishaah include; Requirement for tobacco products to be labeled appropriately with inclusion of their health effects Restriction on advertising hours in some target segments such as billboard ads near academic institutions Proof of product safety to coincide with market and production standards (U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services, 5) Advertising Strategy The advertising strategy for the Shishaah includes real life research on the various available media platforms available. While the social media is a major platform, emphasis is given to news agencies who have a larger audience as compared to the social media which is segmented unevenly. Considered in advertising are four newsrooms, CNN, FOX News, CBNC, and MSNBC. According to the Nielsen Media Research, FOX News is watched by an average of 656,000 people on a daily basis, CNN is watched by 596,000 people, 296,000 people watch the MSNBC, 241,000 people watch the CBNC, and 235,000 watch the CNN Headline News. With regards to the demographical considerations of 25-50 year olds, some 277,000 people watch Fox News, CNN is watched by some 202,000 people, and MSNBC is watched by 150,000 people within the US alone. The same numbers are reflected in the UK but only in percentage forms taking national population as the base factor. With regards to the promotional budget of 1 million Sterling Pounds, it is observed from research results that 30-second adverts or commercials on these news agencies cost $3,000 to $4,000 during the day and around $20,000 during prime time for the Fox case. CNN on the other hand has a larger scope of audience and therefore day commercials range between $6,000 and $7,000 while prime time commercials gross up to $30,000. In these two cases, advertising is billed in terms of frequency and choice of media house. In this case, the following table shows how much 1 million Sterling Pounds make in US Dollars using the current exchange rate of one Sterling Pound to one US Dollar of 1:1.632 as well as the frequencies of daytime and prime time appearances of the commercials News Agency Frequency Primetime per week Frequency Day Time per week Total Budget in $ At $ 15,000 At $ 3,500 Fox 35 20 Total 795,000 70,000 865,000 At 27,500 At 7,000 CNN 20 25 Total 540,000 175,000 715,000 ?1,000,000 = $1,632,000 $1,580,000 Table 1: Ad placement summary With the assumption that 1 week focus on adverts may not complete the promotional plan as desired. The number of times an ad will run either on CNN or on Fox News will be maintained at 45 times, 20 for prime time and 25 for day time ads, and stretched over a period of 21 days (3 weeks) for the CNN and 55times, 35 for prime time and 20 for day time ads. Hence fore, the total amount to be spent on promotional activities involving ads will total to $1,580,000 leaving $52,000 unused. The 52,000 will be directed to web designing and support of the official Shishaah website, http://www.shishaah.com and a month long of online advertising on Google platforms as well as Facebook at a respective ratio of 3:2 on the $45,000 that will remain after $7,000 is used for web designing and website maintenance. Works Cited Wald, N. And Nicolaides-Bouman, A. UK Smoking Statistics. 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1991. Register Office For Scotland. Calculation Derived From ONS Population Estimates, Mid-2012 (England & Wales), General Register Office For Scotland, 2012. Office For National Statistics. 2011 General Lifestyle Survey. Office For National Statistics, March 2013. The Treasury. PSA Delivery Agreement 18: Promote Better Health And Well-Being For All. The Treasury, Oct 2007. Department Of Health. A Smoke Free Future. A Comprehensive Tobacco Control Strategy For England. Department Of Health, 2010. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention. Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2011. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report 2012;61(44):889–94 [Accessed 2013 June 5]. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years Of Potential Life Lost, And Economic Costs—United States, 1995–1999. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report 2002;51(14):300–3 [Accessed 2013 June 5]. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years Of Potential Life Lost, And Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report 2008;57(45):1226–8 [Accessed 2013 June 5]. U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services. The Health Consequences Of Smoking: A Report Of The Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, National Center For Chronic Disease Prevention And Health Promotion, Office On Smoking And Health, 2004 [Accessed 2013 June 5]. Soto-Mas, F, Villalbi, JR., Granero, L., Jacobson, H., Balcazar, H. The Tobacco Industry’s Internal Documents And Smoking Prevention In Spain. Gaceta Sanitaria, 2003, 17(Suppl. 3):9–14. Szilagyi, T. Chapman, S. Tobacco Industry Efforts To Keep Cigarettes Affordable: A Case Study From Hungary. Central Europe Journal Of Public Health, 2003, 11:223–8. Read More