The Brand Name of Divine Chocolate: the Fair Trade Certification and Implementing - Essay Example

INTRODUCTION Divine chocolate, as the name suggests is a brand with incomparable and unmatchable qualities. It gives a heavenly feeling to the person who eats it. It is a start up business with no retail outlets of its own yet. It plans to extend its business line in the future but presently it is focusing only on making plain, dark and white chocolate. It has planned to increase its line of products shortly. It will also cater its customer by making chocolates in a customized manner. Divine chocolates also wants to increase its product range and wants to focus on making customized chocolates especially for occasions like Christmas, New Years Eve, Valentine’s Day etc. On these occasion people normally do not hesitate in spending money and are always seeking betterment and innovation in the products they buy. Divine Chocolates would be an eye catcher for such customers. Divine chocolate is not planning to open its retail outlets before the upcoming year. It intends to contact retailers at various stores and small outlets only. This is to make the product available and to create a brand image of the product in the market. For designed chocolates the interested customers could contact us through our website or through other social media related forum. Clients can place an order and their chocolates would be delivered to them on the mentioned address. Divine chocolate also believes in fair-trade goods buying policy. It strongly believes that the concerned underdeveloped countries from which it buys its products should be remunerated fairly for the products they purchase. This report presents the brand communication plan of Divine chocolate. The company at the moment is planning to further penetrate in the market and improving its branding would be one of the most important strategies to achieve this objective. This report analyzes the current strategies and marketing communication of Divine chocolate. The report also analyzes the brand image and brand equity of the company. The report then analyzes the overall chocolate industry and identifies opportunities that the company can use to improve its branding and communication strategies. The report also presents context analysis of Divine chocolate and then identifies the influence of companies that have fair trade certification. The report then presents the brand communication plan for the company and how the company can improve its positioning and branding in the market. CURRENT STATE OF THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS OF THE DIVINE CHOCOLATE Marketing is all about understanding and analyzing what a customer wants, who is that customer, when does he wish to buy, where does he wish to buy, how often do they buy and how much are they willing to spend to buy that particular product (Baines, Fill & Page, 2010; Design, 2005). Strategies are formulated once the organizations understand the consumers (Day, 1990). Whether the organization offers product or service, it is important to understand what factors influences consumers (Lovelock, and Gummesson, 2004) and then strategies should be formulated accordingly (East, Vanhuele, & Wright, 2008). Marketing communication plan consists of seven heads. These heads are Advertising Personal selling Sales promotion Interactive marketing Events and experiences Direct marketing PR and publicity (Fill, 2009; Smith, and Zook, 2011) However not all these are used by Divine chocolate. The heads that have been used by Divine chocolate are as follows: Advertising: When advertising a product, it should be kept in mind that what is the target market of that particular brand or product (Kumar, 2009). This target market of a product is usually determined by the company itself (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Mayer, and Johnston, 2008). Each product has different attributes which attract or are focused to a specific segment of the market (Wilson, & Gilligan, 2012). While advertising a product it should be kept in mind that whether it is targeting the correct segment or will it be able to attract that particular range of customers to purchase that product. Few people tend to advertise the product in such a way that it fails to attract the correct segment of customers (Pavitt, 2002). Divine chocolate to improve its outcome must make the brand known and renowned in the market. In order to do so it must use proper advertising so that it can successfully attract the target segment it is focusing on. Divine chocolate uses different advertisement strategies and the main focus of these advertisements is to attract the consumers to buy the chocolate being offered. Interactive marketing: Interactive marketing is more about online mode of promotion of a product (Hazlett, 2010). This process focuses mainly on how inbound marketing can help an organization grow (Pearce, & Robinson, 1997). Following methods are used for interactive marketing Business to business and Business to consumer High transaction and low transactions businesses (Wheelen& Hunger, 2011) Pre-sale prospect management and post-sale customer management (Mulhem, 2009) Divine chocolate is following the online mode of marketing. Being online allows the company to have two way communication (Samiee, 1998).It maintains to market itself on the social media like Facebook and Twitter. Apart from that it is also using its website to book orders for home delivery and customized chocolates as per the customer’s requirement. Events and experiences: The company has been implementing event based marketing strategy. While arranging an event it keeps in minds that it does not only help in attracting customers but it also helps in attracting investors to invest in the business venture (Kotler, 2003). Divine Chocolate participates in different events. Good events become memorable experiences and this can prove beneficial for the promotion of the product. The more the brand spends on the arrangement of events and sponsorships the more the product will gain popularity and familiarity in the market. Direct marketing: Divine chocolates is using the direct marketing channels which have been helpful for the company to communicate straight with the customers using advertising techniques such as text messaging on the cell phones, emailing prospect customers directly, display online advertisements, fliers showing new offers, forming an interactive consumer interface or web pages, promotional letters (Kotler, Armstrong, Wong, and Saunders, 2008). All these have been helpful in attracting people to buy and tempt them to purchase etc. Assessment Of Brand Image And Equity Of Divine Chocolate: Divine chocolate has a large range of chocolates. All these sub brands focus and target on different age segments. Some are very high priced and some are affordable for all. The custom designed chocolates are very expensive. As the brand has variety of products it can be said that divine chocolate is a brand for everyone. People from all age group can enjoy divine chocolate. INFLUENCE AND USE OF FAIR-TRADE CERTIFICATION ON ITS COMMUNICATION Different companies are using the fair trade certification for its marketing communication these days. The organization to show themselves as ethical and socially responsible purchase raw material goods at the price such that it remunerates the true cost of the production of that raw material (Kotler Armstrong, Wong, and Saunders, 2008). All the socially responsible citizens to increase the stability in the third world countries have promoted the use of raw materials that are fair trade certified. Being a certified fair trade product the company gets a chance to show that it is socially responsible and that the product that it sells is a socially compatible product (Piercy, 2009). Cocoa is amongst one of the products listed by WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) as a fair trade product. It has been debated many a times on public forums and the authorities responsible to implement social responsibility that the fair trade products must be promoted. Moreover, it should be brought to light that the remuneration must be fairly given to the producers of the third world countries. Every successful purchase of a fair trade product is a step ahead for promoting social responsiveness and that will prove to be beneficial for the developing countries. The more the fair trade products are consumed the more the people are moving towards the consumption of the ethical products produced by the developing countries. Context analysis Market research The chocolate industry is filled with growing opportunities for small business entities. The consumption of chocolate is increasing day by day. This is because the market is expanding. There are new innovations in the products. Chocolate has always been and will be considered as the best for gift giving. It is also widely used for cooking and individual consumption. The chocolate industry is dominated by a few brands when it comes to large scale production. The small business entities always strive to succeed by offering unique items or specialty items, Unique via taste or recipe and specialty by offering something different from the traditional methods like gift packaging etc. The primary demand driver for chocolates is the taste that the consumers prefer. A bar of chocolate is considered to be a luxury that the consumers can afford in the third world countries. The profitability for the producers of chocolates varies with the first world and the third world countries. The fair trade policy has affected the profit ratio of the chocolate manufacturers largely in the first world countries. They have to buy cocoa which is the main ingredient of making chocolate from third world countries at fair prices to offer a fair trade. This increases the raw material cost resulting in less profitability. Over the last few years there has been an increase in the use of sugar free and diet chocolates, which are low in sugar and calorie. Dark chocolate are good for cholesterol and blood pressure and its sales are increasing drastically. As mentioned above the fair trade certified chocolate is a fast growing segment. Consumers are ready to pay a premium to the companies producing chocolates to ensure that the product is being produced in an ethical manner. It has been noticed that the goods which are being produced in the developing countries are often subject to horrible labor conditions. A social movement to ensure that the labor of developing countries get remunerated fairly for their hard work a higher price for fair-trade products is paid for higher environmental standards. The chocolate industry has very efficiently sailed its way through the recession by showing innovation and meeting up to the consumer taste which shows that there would be stable growth and sustainability in the chocolate industry for the future. The trend in the chocolate industry is predicted to change drastically in the year 2013. Traditional chocolates such as milk chocolates and nuts would move to change towards brownies, cheesecake and strawberry. Meeting the market requirement is being hard to catch up. Seasonal chocolates like those of Valentine’s Day and Christmas Eve are sold at a very low price once the season ends. Promotional goals and positioning The aims of Divine chocolate is to improve the market growth rate of the organization and to structure its growth aiming towards increasing the sales of the organization. To do so divine chocolate must improve its brand awareness amongst the individuals and show innovation in its product line to attract new customers towards the product. Corporate goals The major corporate goals of Divine Chocolate are: Devine Chocolate aims its product growth and acquire an increase in market share by 5% in a year. It will launch new products to extend the brand line of products. The objective of divine chocolate is to sustain in the market successfully and produce chocolates with such innovation and quality that it becomes the most sold and accredited Fair trade chocolate brand. Marketing goals The most important marketing goals of Divine Chocolate are: It aims at making the brand well renowned amongst the people of all age brackets by introducing low calorie and sugar free chocolates. It aims to increase customer satisfaction level by 10% in next two years. Communication goals Communication goals of the company are: To increase interaction with the customers and use different marketing communication methods to interact with the customers. Coordinated promotional mix Public Relation and Publicity: The method of improving a company image and its relation with its customer is called as public relations where as publicity is all about getting the attention of the unpaid media to write something up about the company (Lovelock, and Wirtz, 2011). It can be about something positive or an achievement of the organization or it can be to point something out at the organization or to generate commotion about something (Gosnay, and Richardson, 2008). Publicity can be negative and positive. If a company moves towards innovation and it gets fame and is publicized in the media and others, the organization will automatically gain popularity (Haberberg, and Rieple, 2008). The production of fair trade certified chocolates to its customers and being a fair trade certified brand can help divine chocolate gain popularity and it can publicize itself as a socially responsible brand. This is the other strategy that can be adapted by the company in keeping its customers and other stakeholders updated. Personal selling: Divine chocolate can also use the personal selling which can be led by a well equipped sales force of the organization. An effective sales force can prove to be very beneficial for the sales of the product (Kotler, 2009). Having an effective sales force is very important because the person responsible for sales has to face the prospect customer directly and also has to answer to their queries and face to face (Haberberg, and Rieple, 2008; Blythe, 2008)). The person selling or promoting of divine chocolates will help attain high customer attention because the interaction would be direct and face to face. The message to be delivered can be customized with different customers accordingly (Kotler, and Keller, 2009).  The interactivity between the sales man and the prospect is high because spontaneous questions and queries of the customer need to be answered accordingly. Apart from that in direct sales one can always persuade the other or tempt them to purchase the product. Till the conversation ends there is always a potential or chance for the sale of that product or for the development of a relationship.  That potential often results in an opportunity to close the sales. The door to door or face to face sales process is effective but it is very costly (Zenker, & Martin, 2011). So it is very important to see that whether the product of divine chocolate that is being sold is profitable enough or whether that product can bear the cost of sales. The door to door sales process requires a lot of sales force or labor. And it can reach only a limited number of customers only. Sales promotion: The process of persuading a potential or a prospect customers to purchase that product is called sales promotion (Anderson, 1982). It is a short term process of increasing sales and neither is it designed nor does it help build a long term relationship (Thackeray, Neiger, and Hanson, 2007). A few methods of sales promotion which can be used by divine chocolates are by Issuing Money off coupons Arranging Prize competitions Distributing Discount vouchers Giving away Free gifts Point of sale materials Issue Loyalty cards etc. The above mentioned methods may improve sales of divine chocolate but they may be for a short span of time because various products included in the product line require various methods for sales promotion. Communication strategy: A brand is communicated to its customers when they come across the brand. Like when the product is Advertised When the customer comes across the brand on the shelves of a super market. When the brand gives sponsorships This is the need of the brand that it should market itself as soon as the customer comes across it. Divine chocolate should follow these strategies to communicate the existence of the brand effectively and efficiently. A perfect communication plan must consist of the following: Establishing challenging goals Identifying alternate communication or marketing routes Take measured and weighed risks Search for a route which has potential benefit and can be accomplished within the financial limitations of the funds available. In the communication process the feedback and the response from the customers is the most essential and needs to be kept in mind. Therefore Divine chocolate should continuously focus on taking feedback and response from the customers so that the plan can be modified in such a way that the customers are satisfied. Scheduling The company will be scheduling its campaigns according to different occasions and seasons. For instance, during the Christmas season, the company will be offering chocolates that are more connected with the Christmas. Similarly, during the Valentine’s Day the company will be promoting products that are more linked with love. Resources The company will be using internal resources available and at the same time use different resource from outside as well in order to achieve the objectives. Implementation control and evaluation To implement the communication plan Divine Chocolate must maintain a relation of trust with its customers. That trust is the basis of corporate reputation. The more popular the organization is the more it successfully gets its customers trust Being a socially responsible and a fair trade certified brand Divine Chocolate already has the trust of its customers as being a better brand amongst the existing. With proper advertising of the positive traits that the organization has the brand can easily enter the global market. The product has ruling policies and it follows all the regulations way better than the existing brands available in the markets. The brand using proper media activities can easily succeed in publicizing itself as a leading brand both locally and in the global markets. CONCLUSION In the end it can be concluded that the brand name of divine chocolate is very strong and if positioned properly it can successfully attract a lot of potential buyers. The brand name is already reputable due to the following of the fair trade certification and implementing all the policies and procedures to the brand. With little innovation and its successful advertising the brand can grow locally in its current established markets of UK and US and also in the global markets in the surroundings of those areas which adapt and believe in the same cultural values and norms as that of the existing market. RECOMMENDATIONS: The brand must focus more on extending the product line. It must focus on making the product readily available on the shelves to catch attention of the buyers and get noticed. It must adapt aggressive marketing strategies to familiarize the people with the existence of the brand. References Anderson, P. (1982). 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