Unlocking Brand Potential Across Countries - Essay Example

Nivea is an example of a consumer-led business enterprise; this means its consumers are the ones who ultimately determine all marketing efforts by identifying their perceived wants. The key parts of a marketing mix are a product (consumer-led), price (cost), placement (convenience) and promotions (communications to create awareness the product exists). All the parts have to work together to make a marketing strategy very effective. Being consumer-driven, any product must satisfy a consumer want or need; the price must be reasonable and affordable; convenience means the product can be found easily and obtainable in all distribution outlets and finally, communications to make people know a product they are looking for is available.

A correct balance of the 4Ps of this marketing mix is necessary to make selling efforts a success; one key element that is lacking or out of whack makes the entire marketing useless. In this connection, the strongest P is the product of Nivea which has acquired a nice reputation over the years as a reliable and safe product for a skincare routine; consumers are not sensitive to the price as they are willing to pay a premium for it; moreover, people are also aware of the product and no need to promote it actively.

Its weakest P or link is the placement or distribution channel. Product – Nivea has acquired a good reputation for product safety and quality. This is the company's greatest asset which is its excellent brand name and in this regard, it can exploit it by adopting aggressive pricing to position the re-launched product as a premium item. It may be necessary to re-define this product as good for sensitive young skin (teenagers) and not really for treatment of skin problems like acne or pimples (it is not a medicated skin product that causes adverse reactions like skin allergies, itchiness or redness); it is really intended for normal skin.

Price – the company should exercise greater control of its pricing decisions. It had left the option of price discounts to its retailers, which may undermine its marketing strategy due to a confusion on actual selling prices (some high, some low). It is clearly a price-setter in this regard and its price skimming approach is the correct way to do it (Smith, 2011, p. 71). Nivea has been on the market for quite a long time and target female consumers are willing to pay a premium. Promotion – Nivea can utilize advertising and other sales gimmicks to create so-called consumer awareness of its new product re-launch.

It can capitalize on its brand name by creating positive, worthwhile experiences such as giving away free samples (Gelder, 2003, p. 1) but only for a limited time during its designated introductory period. Additionally, it may also do some product demonstrations in supermarkets and other retail outlets where the product is being sold.Place – this is considered the most crucial (weak) as the product needs to reach target consumers. Nivea should utilize available distribution channels to give it easy access to potential buyers.

Since 65% of present sales come from large high-end street shops, it must focus efforts on the other 35% of market channels, which are supermarkets and big grocery chains like Tesco, Sainsbury's, and ASDA. Research showed mums buy it for their teenage daughters while doing their grocery shopping; this brings the consumer into the marketing mix (Gorchels, 2006, p. 4).