Marketing Idea for Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company - Essay Example

Principle Marketing Project Contents Principle Marketing Project Contents First Part 2 Business 2 Competitive Forces 5 Data Collection Methods 6 Second Part 6 Target Market 6 Positioning 7 Marketing Research 7 Marketing Mix 7 SWOT Analysis 8 Budget 9 Controls 9 Works Cited 10 Introduction The aspirations of consumers is a crucial component of marketing management because it is imperative for an organization to understand what consumers want, and work towards fulfilling such needs. Therefore, marketing research provides the necessary information about the consumer to the marketer to enable him or her to evaluate and monitor marketing actions so as to develop a robust marketing program that will the interests of the consumers (Arora and Mahankale 2). This research identifies a marketing idea for Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company, which is a specialized diet center that provides a complete nutritional plan, preparing dieters and normal people to set clear goals for weight loss or healthy lifestyle. The market research analyzes the market situation of the aforementioned organization, in terms of competitive forces and environmental forces. Also, in this marketing research, issues pertaining to the target market, positioning, marketing mix, budget, external and internal factors and controls for the company have been evaluated and analyzed. First Part Business Live Healthy Eat Fresh is a diet center which provides unique, healthy food. The center provides a complete nutritional plan, preparing dieters and normal people to set clear goals for weight loss or healthy lifestyle, foreseeing roaring appetite and "need to eat" moods and anticipating conduct to deal with them. The enterprise ensures that clients are welcomed by trained personnel to ensure that their welfare and satisfaction are addressed sufficiently. Through qualified and certified dietitians, Live Healthy Eat Fresh is committed to help its customers modify their standard way of eating and transform it into a healthier one. The main aim of Live Healthy Eat Fresh is to provide a unique healthy food with the best ingredients. To achieve this goal, Live Healthy Eat Fresh will be serving a variety of menus, which include, Lebanese, Indian, Italian, Chinese and American food, where quality be given the first priority. Understanding the skills that will be used to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations is important in building a market base (Shiring, Jardine and Mills 69). Therefore, the needs, wants and demands of clients will be fulfilled by provision of a variety of ingredients. Market Situation The market of the hotel and hospitality industry in the UAE is expected to improve by more than 10% in three years to come (Jones par 1). This means that more than Dhr 17.99 billion of revenue will be realized from the hotel and hospitality industry (Jones par 2). This dynamic growth in the hotel industry has lead to the emergence of innovative hotel designs, as well as, attraction of diverse talents. Openings by chained hoteliers and local players, as well as, internationally respected brands have been witnessed in the UAE (Euromonitor International Par 2). More hotels have been opened since 2004, making the industry more competitive. Given these developments, Live Healthy Eat Fresh is set to be affected by both environmental and competitive forces. Environmental Forces Harsh climatic conditions are prevalent in the UAE. Therefore, the country is not food self sufficient, leading to importation of majority of the country’s food and beverage products because on fifteen percent of dairy, poultry and sea products and fruits and vegetables are produced locally (International Markets Bureau Par 4). In terms of population, the UAE is composed of a large percentage of transient, expatriate-based workers. The most populated emirate is Abu Dhabi, followed by Dubai. The tremendous economic growth and development in the country has resulted into majority of the population settling in urban areas. The UAE culture has its origin in the Middle-East. As much as, people tend to emulate other cultures, Islam is the predominant religion and Arabic is the national language in the UAE (International Markets Bureau). One positive aspect of UAE’s population and culture towards food eating habits is that people of the UAE generally accommodate the new needs for food, language, life style, entertainment and religion. Expatriates hail from China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Korea and Iran, among other Asian countries (International Markets Bureau). Also, there are Western expatriates from Europe, Northern Africa, Australia and Latin America. In the UAE, education and training are given high priority. This is because school for both girls and boys is compulsory from primary to secondary levels, and it is provided free to the Emirate nationals from primary level to university level (International Markets Bureau). This has led to a remarkable improvement in literacy in the UAE. There are unlimited choices in food service for the nationals of the UAE (International Markets Bureau). It is estimated that there are more than eleven thousand restaurants in the UAE (International Markets Bureau). Expatriates expect to go for a taste of home, meaning that they prefer quick service restaurants, which are centered on their national cuisine, and Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company is expected to provide most of these cuisines for clients. Most people prefer to take their meals quite late in the evening to avoid the heat of the day, and many people like spending their time with family enjoying a meal (International Markets Bureau). Eating out among the UAE citizens is an imperative element of life in the UAE. In the UAE, lunch is the main meal of the day for most nationals. Consumers the UAE’s largest emirates prefer hypermarkets for their food needs, but they also visit smaller shops and convenient stores frequently for their food needs (International Markets Bureau). Hotels, restaurants and institutional catering companies play a major role in the food service sector. An increase in obesity and other chronic diseases in the UAE have led to the provision of information and initiatives that are related to healthcare and nutrition by the government and the media (International Markets Bureau). Therefore, consumers have to make their food choices, based on general health and specific concerns. Health eating is of prime priority among most of the UAE nationals. The aforementioned environmental and economic factors, exhibited in the UAE food service market are likely to contribute to exceptional performance for Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company. The large, transient expatriate population will create a market opportunity for foreign cuisines that the Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company is set to serve. In addition, Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company will be situated in the most populated Emirates, securing a greater marketing opportunity. The high levels of literacy will also contribute to the success of Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company’s marketing efforts because; educated people would like to live healthy by eating fresh foods. The fact that there are numerous cases of obesity and other chronic diseases will drive people into healthy eating to reduce such incidences, and Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company will be their ultimate destination. The government and media campaigns on healthy eating will boost Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company’s market for various, nutritious cuisines, prepared from fresh products. In addition, the health, national policy is expected to create a marketing opportunity for Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company because most nationals will be required to stay healthy through healthy eating. Competitive Forces Most local restaurants in the UAE have resolved into offering nutritional and healthy alternatives on their menus (Anastasiou Par 2). Food joints such as Kcal and Comptoir serve health-conscious and organic dishes (Anastasiou Par 2). Ixir restaurant’s wellness chefs ensure that ingredients are chosen for their nutritional value (Anastasiou Par 4). These companies and restaurants pose competition on Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company. Other restaurants offer door delivery for healthy and nutritious food packages to clients. However, the current competitor of Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company is Health Watchers. This is a diet consultation centre that provides nutritional plans for those people who want to change or modify their eating habits to adopt healthy lifestyles (Health Watchers). The dietitians also help diabetes uremia and hypertension patients in losing weight while properly maintaining their health profile (Health Watchers). Health Watchers is a large organization, with a large market share in the UAE and it is uses online advertisement as a marketing strategy. The organization also offers doorstep delivery for clients. Customers are given an opportunity to choose their nutrition plan, and order online. However, Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company will begin as a small company, and will be offering promotions for its valued customers to counter the competition. Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company is a specialized diet center with an aim of providing a complete nutritional plan, preparing dieters and normal people to set clear goals for weight loss or healthy lifestyle. This will be achieved by providing a unique healthy food, with the best ingredients and a variety of menus, including, Lebanese, Indian, Italian, Chinese and American cuisines. The Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company’s slogan is “Quality Comes First”. The restaurant will ensure that the food is professionally cooked to ensure high quality. The restaurant will also seek to use the finest ingredients available in order to increase the value of the food served. Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company will start as a small business with online presence, but it will have two branches in the UAE, one in Dubai and another in Abu Dhabi. The company does not have a service capacity currently because the company will start as a small business, but it is expected to expand its business in the future, as its demand increases. Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company works with nutrition doctors, cooks, delivery trucks, employee, supervisors, secretary and top management. The key measures of Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company’s performance are quality, efficiency, speed, availability and price. The company’s overall strategy includes offering a free, two-week period in fitness, at the GYM, as it targets anyone who is willing to stay fit, enjoy a healthy life, and lose weight. The target people are old and young, fat and slim, as long as they want to have a healthy lifestyle. Further, the Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company allows flexible online payments and delivers orders promptly. Data Collection Methods This marketing research for Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company will use secondary methods for data collection. The secondary sources of data, which will be used, include existing information, statistical databases, information found in magazines, online and electronic databases, annual reports and company websites. In this project, market data collected by commercial market research organizations such as Euromonitor will be used. Competitor companies’ reports will also be used to collect data from the companies’ report. Trade publications will be an essential source of data for this project, as well as, the information in newspapers and journals that are accessible online. Secondary sources of data are the most ideal for this project because it saves time and money (Kolb 85). For instance, a lot of money and time would be used to conduct expensive surveys in gathering information that might already exist (Riley). This is in line with the fact that Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company is a small start-up company, with limited funds. Most of the secondary data is accurate and it is updated regularly. Therefore, reliable data is collected instantaneously (Zikmund and Babin 160). Second Part Target Market Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company targets anyone who is willing to stay fit, enjoy a healthy life, and lose weight. The target people are old and young, fat and slim, as long as they want to have a healthy lifestyle. The restaurant segmented the market on the basis of consumer behavior. Depending on education levels and nutritional needs old and young people respond differently to different products. These people may be fat or slim, but as long as they want to have a healthy lifestyle, Live Healthy Eat Fresh will target them because the main goal of the restaurant is to provide healthy and nutritious foods for clients. Positioning Live Healthy Eat Fresh Restaurant seeks to effectively communicate the benefits of nutritious and healthy food packages to potential clients. As a result, the restaurant targets people who crave for a healthy lifestyle. Other restaurants and food service centers claim they provide healthy foods in their menus, but Live Healthy Eat Fresh Restaurant will ensure that it offers a variety of nutritious and healthy foreign cuisines at reasonable prices, while maintaining high quality. The restaurant will also ensure that it is present online to allow online purchases and doorstep delivery. Marketing Research Findings from the secondary research carried out pertaining to the market situation in Dubai and Abu Dhabi provide valid answers to the research questions of this research. For instance, it was established that there are numerous foreigners living in the UAE who would like to eat healthy and nutritious home meals. Secondly, a significant portion of UAE’s population is in danger of suffering from diet related diseases such as obesity and hypertension, among others. Government and media campaigns supporting healthy eating are significant. In this regard, the Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company is likely to scoop a significant market share, by employing appropriate marketing and positioning strategies. Also, there are significant numbers of people who want a healthy lifestyle that will compose the center’s market and potential customers. However, the secondary research for this project was limited by time factors. Most of the companies’ websites do not present crucial marketing information. Secondly, the data obtain, might have been updated sometimes back, meaning that it might have been somehow inaccurate. The sample information was collected from two Emirates, which might not sufficiently represent the whole UAE population. In future, primary research should be included to augment the findings of secondary research because consumer needs are subject to frequent changes and they may fluctuate but recorded data is not frequently updated. Marketing Mix Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company employs the four Ps of marketing. In terms of product, the Live Healthy Eat Fresh Centre seeks to offer healthy and nutritious food packages in the menus. Secondly, the nutrition center will ensure that the food is professionally cooked with high quality, and using the finest ingredients available in order to increase the value of the product. The nutrition centre will offer a variety of menus including Lebanese, Indian, Italian, Chinese and American to meet the needs of expatriates from these countries. This is because it has been discovered that consumers need a healthy lifestyle. More dishes will be added to the menu regularly. In terms of price, the nutritional centre will ensure that the prices of food packages are reasonable so that the target consumers will be able to afford the food prices. The Live Healthy Eat Fresh nutritional centre will offer a free, two week offer where clients will visit the GYM. These will attract more clients. The nutritional centre will use its website to place adverts that will contribute to increasing awareness of the product. Customers will be able to make orders online and the product can be delivered online. There will be a free dietitian consultant responsible for performing checkups for clients for free. There will be questionnaires seeking feedback from clients. Finally, in terms of place, the nutritional centre will target the two largest Emirates in terms of population. The Live Healthy Eat Fresh Company seeks to establish in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where it is expected to scoop a large number of customers from the large population. SWOT Analysis Strengths Professional and qualified team of dietitians and cooks Large variety of foreign cuisines Healthy and nutrition focused menus Online presence Weaknesses Limited finance for operations and promotion Relies on importation of ingredients for its menus which is expensive Opportunities Can target more people from the other Emirates Can increase market share by opening more outlets Can effectively use technology to promote innovation Threats Competition may unveil unique products and snatch customers’ attention May be a victim of bad debts because of the flexible payment options after delivery of product Customer preference fluctuations Budget Item Amount (DHR) Anticipated Sales 1,500,000.00 Advertising Costs 400,000.00 Website Management Costs 335,657.34 Delivery Costs 238,595.32 Marketing Research Costs 31,288.23 Total Costs 1,005,540.89 Profit (Anticipated Sales Less Total Costs) 494,459.11 Controls In monitoring and evaluating the marketing research project for the Live Healthy Eat Fresh nutritional center, various approaches and controls will be used. The first control is the budget. There will regular checks on expenditure to ascertain whether there is a significance variance between the actual expenses and the projected expenses. Secondly, as mentioned earlier, the use of a questionnaire to collect customer feedback will be valuable in monitoring the performance this marketing research project. Questionnaires can also be used to get information on customer satisfaction. A sales analysis will be done to evaluate whether the achievements or increase in sales corresponds with the expected objectives of the marketing plan. This will also act as a control of the nutrition center’s promotional activities in terms of performance or achievement. Works Cited Anastasiou, Andrea. "The UAE’s Top Restaurants for Healthy-Eating." 27 October 2013. Web. 28 December 2013. Arora, Richa and Nitin R Mahankale. Marketing Research. New Delhi: Delhi PHI Learning , 2013. Print. Euromonitor International. "Booming Hotel Industry in the UAE ." 2013. Web. 28 December 2013. Health Watchers. "About Us ." 2013. Web. 28 December 2013. International Markets Bureau. "The United Arab Emirates Consumer Behaviour, Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Food Products." December 2010. Web. 28 December 2013. Jones, Rory. "UAE Hotel and Tourism Sector to Reach $7.5 Billion by 2016." 9 October 2012. Web. 28 December 2013. Kolb, Bonita. Marketing Research for Non-profit, Community and Creative Organizations. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Press, 2008. Print. Riley, Jim. "Marketing Research - Secondary Research." 23 September 2012. Web. 28 December 2013. Shiring, Stephen B, R William Jardine and Richard J Mills. Introduction to Catering: Ingredients for Success. Albany: Delmar Thomson Learning Press, 2000. Print. Zikmund, William G and Barry J Babin. Exploring Marketing Research. London: Thomson Learning Press, 2007. Print. Read More