Digital Marketing Plan: Quality Pet Care - Essay Example

Digital marketing plan - Quality Pet Care Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction and Company Overview 3 Situational Analysis 3 Market 3 Company 4 Competitors 4 Customer 4 PESTLE analysis of the Pet Care Market 5 SWOT Analysis 5 Key Issues 6 Objectives 7 Market Segmentation and Strategic Decision 7 Customer Segmentation 7 Proposition for Each Segment 7 Digital Marketing Plan 10 Customer Journey for Each Segment 11 Conclusion 12 Reference List 13 Introduction and Company Overview The report is focused on designing a digital marketing plan for Quality Pet Care (QPC) which is a medium-sized pet shop chain with a total of 27 pet stores across different towns and cities of the Southern part of the England. Apart from their pet store chains, the company also possess fully-functioned eCommerce site (Case Study). Since the last five years, the organisation has witnessed an average 5% per year decline in their sales volume which has resulted from economic slowdown, aggressive discount by supermarkets and different national chains and lucrative loyalty programs of rivals (Case Study). Hence, the company has planned to shift their focus towards reframing their digital marketing strategies along with the modification of their product line and services. The further discussion will detail the current business and market situation of the organisation along with the key marketing issues and major objectives for future growth. It will also detail the strategic digital marketing plan through proper market segmentation and proposition. Situational Analysis The situational analysis will detail the current condition and impact of the macro and micro environment of the business. The analysis will detail the company, its competitors, core market, external business climate and customers (Myers and Tauber, 2011). Market The pet food and accessories retail market in Britain can be considered as one of the strong market due to increased preference of population to provide healthier food and hygienic living condition. The total yearly value of the pet care market has been estimated approximately £4.8 billion, out of which £2.1 billion is served by the pet food market. Dog food value sales have demonstrated a growth of 15.6% during 2007 to 2012. Alternatively, during this period, cat food value sales increased by 21% (Mintel Group Ltd., 2013). The dog food market has been forecasted to demonstrate a steady performance during the span of 2013 to 2017, while, the cat food market has been estimated to grow rapidly (Mintel Group Ltd., 2014). Company QPC mainly deals in traditional pet food. The organisation is also indulged in the marketing and sales of pet accessories which is responsible for almost 16% of their annual revenue. Due to their gradual decrease in the sales volume as well as increased market competition, the organisation has redecorated their stores and offerings (Case Study). They are widely expanding their products and services which include: Organic pet food and herbal medicines along with the traditional foods and accessories. Pet grooming services within 10 stores with targeted annual revenue of £ 500,000. Pet hotels with the capacity of 20 rooms near Poole, Winchester and Dorchester store locations. The expected annual revenue for this service is £250,000. Pet insurance with an initial target to sell 1000 insurance in a year. Redesigning the website for more unique and convenient experiences for the consumers. They are also planning to establish click and collect facility in the near future. Competitors The UK wet and dry pet food retail market is one of the highly competitive market which comprises of a number of major payers such as Mars Petcare, Nestlé Purina, Butchers Pet Care, Wagg Foods and P&G. Pedigree, the well-known dog food section of Mars Petcare has secured the leading position in the market as per their brand value. It possesses 19% market share through brand value while other dog food brands such as Bakers of Nestlé and Butchers of Butchers Pet have secured 18% and 11% of the market share respectively (Mintel Group Ltd., 2014). Butchers Pet Care has out-performed the market in terms of their sales volume with the assistance of the rigorous marketing campaign and price cuts. Alternatively, Nestlé has accrued the leading position within the cat food market through Felix which covers 27% market share. Apart from Nestlé, Mars Petcare also has secured a strong position in the market through different brands such as Whiskas Pouch, Sheba etc (Mintel Group Ltd., 2013). Customer Near about 63% of the population in Britain owns different pets, out of which, a major section is occupied by dogs and cats. The ownership of pets is higher within the population aged between 35-44 years. It has also displayed significant growth within couples with children (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013). The tendency of owning dogs or multiple pets is higher within families while the old age population prefer to own cats. The ownership rate of dogs within single and retired couples is significantly low (Siettou, et al., 2014). PESTLE analysis of the Pet Care Market Political and legal factor: The pet food industry in Europe is highly regulated with a number of guidance and industry codes. These codes and guidance influence the pet food manufacturer to concentrate on the manufacturing of safe, healthy and hygienic food items. There are over 50 legislations that are governing this industry out of which few share similar guidance as the human food manufacturing process. Pet Food Manufacturing Association (PFMA) and Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) are the major units and legislations for the pet care industry of Europe. Economical factors: The cat food market has shown a higher growth while, dog food market has shown steady condition. Though the sales volume of the dog and cat pet food sector increased by 16.5% and 21% during 2007 to 2012, it has also demonstrate rapid decline during 2010 due to economic slowdown. The growth in GDP of the UK since 2012 has significantly indicated almost 4% growth within the pet food sales volume (Beckett, 2013). Social factors: Since 2003, the practices of one-person or single household are increasing within the social structure of the UK. Though couple household and families dominate a major part of the society, the one person household has grown near about 5% till 2008. Hence, the demand for pets has increased within these households to minimize the loneliness. As per a research report of PFMA, 27% of the population consider pets for companionship, while, 31% own a pet due to their love towards animal (Howell, 2013). Technological factors: The pet food market is highly driven by technological innovation in terms of food manufacturing, testing and distribution process. Most of the leading players prefer to use advanced parameters to maintain and check their product qualities. The utilization of digital media is also increasing due to the ease of marketing and customer targeting process (Beckett, 2013). SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis will enable the marketers to analyse the internal strength and weaknesses of the organisation while evaluating external threats and opportunities (Ayub, et al., 2013). Key Issues The key issues regarding the marketing and sales procedure of QPC include: Lower revenue and profit that hampers their further investment plan. Lower acquisition and retention of in-store consumers which demonstrate lower gross profit. Despite of well-structured online site, the online sales demonstrate lower gross profit than expected. Declining sales due to increase in the old age population and preference towards homemade pet food. Objectives The major objectives of the organisation include: Designing lucrative and innovative digital marketing platform to acquire more than 2400 new consumers within a span of 8 months. Modify the digital promotion, offerings and advertising procedure to attract and retain new and existing consumers. Differentiating the digital marketing process as per specifications of different consumer segmentation. Properly manage the entire consumer portfolio along with their preferences and demands. Market Segmentation and Strategic Decision The digital marketing plan for the organisation needs to segment the potential market as per consumer characteristics, preferences and demands. Therefore, the organisation needs to design the digital marketing strategies accordingly (Weinstein, 2013). Customer Segmentation The retail pet care consumer market needs to be divided as per the age of the population, family status and user status (Wedel and Kamakura, 2012). The age of the population needs to be divided within three categories such as 16-34, 35-44 and 45+. Out of these age categories, population from 35-44 age displays much affinity to own more than one pet, therefore, their demand for pet product will be higher. On the other hand, population aged more than 45 years demonstrate declined interest in terms of possessing multiple pets. Finally, the population within 16-34 years also tends to have single pet. The family status segmentation will divide the consumers in single, couples, family with children and retired couple sectors. As per user status, the customer needs to be divided into two parts such as existing and new consumers. The marketers need to target mainly the existing consumers of 16 to 44 age groups within the family with children as well as couple category. The marketers also provide high focus on new consumers within the same age and family status. The last target market should be retired couple who are aged more than 45years. Proposition for Each Segment Segments Proposition Existing consumers within 16 to 44 age groups such as family members with children and young couples. The marketers need to utilize web cookies to analyse the purchasing behaviour of all the existing consumers within the specified segments. They also need to gather the details regarding number of pets these consumers possess and their average spending habit through their provided details during website visit or transactions. The marketers need to introduce well-structured discussion blogs for the existing consumers to connect with other customers as well as specialists of the organisation. The blog will provide time to time details regarding pet health care tips, healthy food habit for pets etc. The contents of the blog should be updated on a time to time basis. Hence, they need to hire third party content writers who will collaborate with the managers and specialists to assure timely and accurate delivery of messages as well as answers to queries. The marketers need to use their existing consumer data base to design personalized offers for every consumer as per their requirements. The marketers should promote these sales offers through pop-up bar during the eCommerce site visit of the customers. They also need to send e-mails and SMS to the consumers to promote these offers. The digital marketing plan needs to allocate reward points for the existing consumers as per their recommendation of new consumers. These points will be redeemable during next purchases of the existing consumers. New consumers within 16 to 44 age groups such as family members with children and young couples. The organisation should focus on their presence in different social media sites to increase their visibility to new consumers. They need to design and regularly update their pages in Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. The marketers should use the social media pages to promote different in-store offers and events regarding pet health care programs, free grooming sessions and discounted shelter. The marketers need to utilize third party web page designer to introduce attractive posters and banners. The invitation for free participation in different pet care and grooming sessions need to be circulated through social media sites as well as e-mails and SMS. They also need to update all the details, pictures and videos of every events and programs through the social media sites. They need to provide lucrative discounts for new joiner of the eCommerce site to motivate their purchasing tendency. Retired couple aged more than 45years. The organisation should introduce convenient shopping options for the retired couples that include free or discounted home delivery facility. The organisation needs to utilize personal calling and e-mail facility to aware the consumers regarding product offers as well as discounted pet hotel facilities. Digital Marketing Plan Tasks/Time period Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Market segmentation                 Designing and initiation of discussion blog                 Personalize offers and discounts for existing consumers (e-mail and SMSs)                 Social media page design                 In-store event organization                 Personal calling and e-mail services to retired aged couple                 Customer Journey for Each Segment Segments Customer Journey Existing consumers within 16 to 44 age groups such as family members with children and young couples. The existing customers can gather the answers for their queries regarding their pet health care and food habits. They can also gather expert feedbacks and other consumer’s experiences to decide upon their product purchasing as well as grooming requirements. Hence, they can utilize the customized and personalized discounts and offers as per their requirements. The reward points will encourage the consumers to suggest new customers to the organisations. The lucrative offers as per their requirements, rewards and discounts will enable the marketers to increase existing consumer loyalty. New consumers within 16 to 44 age groups such as family members with children and young couples. The new consumers can gather information about the offerings events and product ranges of the organisation through different social media sites as well as emails and SMSs. Attractive online advertisements can allow them to attend different events of their local stores which will increase their eagerness towards the products. Discounts for new joiners to the e-Commerce site will also enhance the probability of new consumer acquisition. Retired couple aged more than 45years. Door step delivery and lower delivery charges will encourage the consumers to avail the online purchasing facility of the organisation. Conclusion The overall discussion of the study has evaluated the current internal and external organisational situation and issues of businesses for Quality Pet Care. The discussion has evaluated the digital marketing strategies for the organisation to attract new consumers while retaining the existing one. The digital market strategies has evaluated a number of promotional and marketing activities such as advertising through social media, blog monitoring and online discounted purchases etc. Finally, it has detailed the customer journey as per the recommended digital marketing strategies. Reference List Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013. Consumer Trends Pet Food in the United Kingdom. [pdf] Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Available at [Accessed 8 June 2015]. Ayub, A., Razzaq, A., Aslam, M. S. and Iftekhar, H., 2013. A conceptual framework on evaluating SWOT analysis as the mediator in strategic marketing planning through marketing intelligence. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 2(1), pp. 91-98. Beckett, A., 2013. Pet Food and Supplies. [pdf] Mintel Group Ltd. Available at [Accessed 8 June 2015]. Howell, P., 2013. The Dog Fancy at War: Breeds, Breeding, and Britishness, 1914-1918. Society & Animals, 21(6), pp. 546-567. Mintel Group Ltd., 2013. Pet Food and Supplies - UK, February 2013. [pdf] Mintel Group Ltd. Available at [Accessed 8 June 2015]. Mintel Group Ltd., 2014. Pet Food - UK, August 2014. [pdf] Mintel Group Ltd. Available at [Accessed 8 June 2015]. Myers, J. H. and Tauber, E., 2011. Market structure analysis. New York: Marketing Classics Press. Siettou, C., Fraser, I. M. and Fraser, R. W., 2014. Investigating Some of the Factors That Influence “Consumer” Choice When Adopting a Shelter Dog in the United Kingdom. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 17(2), pp. 136-147. Wedel, M. and Kamakura, W. A., 2012. Market segmentation: Conceptual and methodological foundations (Vol. 8). Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media. Weinstein, A., 2013. Handbook of market segmentation: Strategic targeting for business and technology firms. London: Routledge. Read More