Marketing Plan for D J Miles & Co Limited - Case Study Example

D J Miles & Co limited Marketing plan Executive Summary D J Miles & co limited is a tea and coffee company which was established back in the year 1888 and it is located in mine head. Currently the organisation specialises in the supply of both tea and coffee for keep calm and carry on to Beverage Company. D J Miles & co limited intends to introduce its products to the North West of England thus the need of a marketing plan which will ensure the successful entry of the company into this new region. Contents Executive Summary 1 Contents 2 1.0 Business Mission 5 Like any other business D J miles & co limited has a mission which guides the company into its day to day activities and every activity that is undertaken in meant to fulfil or be in line with the business mission. 5 Mission 5 To apply and make maximum use of the existing expertise and skills in the company which have been achieved through its long term trading in coffee and tea, 5 The company has expertise and skills in 5 Tasting of coffee and tea 5 Blending of coffee and tea 5 Roasting of coffee and tea to develop innovative tea and coffee for the customers (the young and the old) 5 The mission also aims at further developing the portfolios of its target customers and attains business growth through the expansion of their presence in North West of England. 5 Other aspects that are important to D J mile & co limited 5 2.0 External Marketing Audit 5 2.1 Macro environment 5 2.1.1 Political 8 2.1.2 Economic 9 2.1. 4 Social 10 2.1.5 Technological 11 2.1.6 Environmental 12 3.0 Internal Marketing Audit 13 3.1 Operating Results 13 3.2 Strategic Issue Analysis 13 3.3 Marketing Mix Effectiveness 14 3.4 Marketing Structure and System 14 4.0 Micro environment Analysis 14 4.1 Customers 15 4.2 Competitors 15 4.3 Distributors 16 4.4 Suppliers 17 D J Miles & Co Ltd is committed to source the tea and coffee with best quality. Since tea and coffee is not rare material, the company can easily switch to other suppliers. As a result, the supplier power in the industry is considered as low. 17 The suppliers must offer quality products and services for them to continue supplying the company. 17 5.0 SWOT Analysis 17 6.0 Marketing Objectives 18 7.0 Core Strategy 19 7.1 Target market segment 19 8.0 Marketing Mix Decision 20 8.1 IMC plan 21 8.2 Channel design 21 8.3 Promotion mix 21 9.0 Organization and Implementation 22 10.0 Control 22 11.0 Budget Plan for the Next 12 Months 22 Bibliography 24 Elias A. 2010, Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business & Product Name. California, Nolo. 24 Harvard Business Review, 2000, Harvard Business Review on Business and the Environment, Harvard, Harvard Business School Press. 24 1.0 Business Mission Like any other business D J miles & co limited has a mission which guides the company into its day to day activities and every activity that is undertaken in meant to fulfil or be in line with the business mission. Mission To apply and make maximum use of the existing expertise and skills in the company which have been achieved through its long term trading in coffee and tea, The company has expertise and skills in Tasting of coffee and tea Blending of coffee and tea Roasting of coffee and tea to develop innovative tea and coffee for the customers (the young and the old) The mission also aims at further developing the portfolios of its target customers and attains business growth through the expansion of their presence in North West of England. Other aspects that are important to D J mile & co limited Build customer loyalty Create a sense the customers Strive to be a well recognized brand in England and the rest of the world 2.0 External Marketing Audit 2.1 Macro environment The macro environment of a business entity is comprised of all the main external and unmanageable aspects that have an influence on an organisation decision making process, and it in one way affect the organizations performance and strategies (Armstrong & Kotler 2007, p. 102). The macro environment scrutinizes the overall business atmosphere in relation to the organization, but does not have anything to with organization. Factors that are considered under the macro environment of an organisation include: the economic factors environmental factors sociological factors political factors legal factors technological factors The PESTEL analysis is one among the major frameworks of a business and it is mainly consists of all the vital features that are applied when scanning the business environment as a core part of the advanced management of the organisation. This section deals with the pestle analysis of D J Miles & co limited. The figure below clearly depicts the elements of the PESTLE analysis. Adopted from http://ignitestrategicsolutions.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/pestle-analysis-diagram.jpg 2.1.1 Political Political factors in the PESTEL analysis signifies the way a business is affected he the government and also the extent to which the local government have an influence on the economy and also to a specific business. The aspects that are classified under this category include aspects such as the policies implemented by the government environmental laws tax policy labour laws tariffs trade restriction Based on the evaluation of the political factors there seems to be no significant political factors which are anticipated to affect the strategic development of D J miles & co limited. 2.1.2 Economic A countries economy is highly unpredictable and it is generally achieved through a blend of several factors. The factors that fall under this category includes aspects such as: the unemployment rate in the country alterations in the country taxation the interest rates charged the country economic growth inflation exchange rates which have been set by the country government All the above mentioned factors have a great influence on the business entity (Worthington & Britton 2003, p. 48). Based on the economic factors in the country and the current economic recession in the country it is likely for a large number of customers to prefer using products which costs less so as to reduce their level of spending significantly. Economic factors affecting DJ Miles co limited: Recession in the county may have a great influence on the of D J Miles co limited intuitive to introduce a high end tea product in the market it is greatly doubted whether the investment which have been put aside to cater for the company’s marketing campaign can be recovered under the current economic condition in the country thus placing a threat to the company. The diagram below shows the economic factors that are likely to affect any organization. 2.1.3 Legal The legal factors are comprised of all the laws that have a direct impact on the organisation and its core areas of operation. Aspects which are considered under the legal factors are aspects such as: Consumer law Antitrust law Discrimination law Health and safety law The health and safety may last also have an impact on the business is related to the health and+ safety of the workers. Also tea and coffee to be produced are to be affected since they should be of high quality and should not have any adverse effects to the health of individual consuming it and those producing it. If the consumer laws are violated in relation the production of tea and coffee the company may be sued and this will lead to legal actions against the company which may even result to the closure of the business (Elias 2010, p. 70). 2.1. 4 Social The social dimension of a country greatly determines the valise of the society under which the business ids operating and this in one way or another affects the operations of an organisation. The social factors include aspects such as the society’s customs and conventions View towards wealth Cultural heritage View towards scientific methods Mobility of the workers Respect to seniority All the above mentioned social factors establish the work culture in an organisation and mobility of labour as well as the work group’s mobility. All these factors seem to have an adverse and long-lasting effect to the business. There are certain factors that may affect D J Miles & Co limited they include: Tea and coffee are embedded in the British culture and it seems to be a vital part in the lives of the British people and the society, this in one way creates and provides a substantial market for the company products that is tea and coffee. There has been an increasing trend for young people to shop online. 2.1.5 Technological An organisation is to a great extent affected the technological advancements. The technology that a certain organisation incorporates mainly determines the good quality, type and quality produced at a certain time. The company’s technological environment affects an organisation in terms of their level of investment in technology. The aspects that fall under the technological factors are aspects such as: automation incentives Level of technological change. Technological factors have an adverse impact on several areas in an organisation for example: the minimum resourceful production level of the organisation quality of products produced costs of producing the products Outsourcing decisions. With the rapid development of information communication technology, marketing on the media has become easier and less cheap as compared to the older days and older means of advertisements. New technologies create new products and new processes. When technology is applied in most businesses it tends to reduce cost, improve quality, lead to new innovations and give the effect to the people. These developments can be of benefit to the consumers as well as the organisation providing the products. The technological factors that have an influence on the D J Miles & Co limited are: the advertisement media that are currently in use are: TV, Internet mobile advertising The young population tend to use the internet, mobile phones and the TV more often than the older generations. Since D J miles & co limited is intended to target a two market segments that is individuals between the age of 18 to 34 years and also between the age to 34 years to 54 years, thus it would be necessary to take into considerations advancements in technology and its impacts on certain age groups. For this case the younger generation seems to be more advanced in the use of current technology thus the will be of benefit to the company as they market to this young generation. 2.1.6 Environmental Environmental aspects comprises of all the factors that are in one way directly related and influenced or resolute by the surrounding environment to the business. This includes aspects such as: the weather the organisations geographical position the climate climate change Insurance. Environmental factors tend to be vital to certain business and can affect the company’s operations greatly and also the products that it offers to its customers. The environmental factors that have an effect to coffee and tea are: The growing of tea and coffee has been found to have adverse effects to the environment, since they requires a lot of water for a coffee plant to produce the coffee beans and it also tea requires a considerable amount of water to produce tea leaves to make a cup of tea. Also there exist a wide range of problems are also associated with the growing of tea and coffee these problem includes deforestation, pesticide pollution, habitat destruction and soil and water degradation. Thus the products that the company specializes in tend to have a great impact on the surrounding environment. 3.0 Internal Marketing Audit 3.1 Operating Results D J Miles & Co Ltd currently has significant presence in the market at south west of England. Driven by its current marketing strategies, its sales performance is satisfying and its operational cost is under control which resulted in healthy profit margin for the company. However, if the company wants to be successful in the market at North West of England then it is far from enough to simply replicate the current marketing strategy since it has proved to work well in south west England thus will in turn led to satisfying sales performance and low operational cost which will led to high profit margins for the company (Brassington & Pettitt 2006, p. 78). 3.2 Strategic Issue Analysis The company that is D J Miles & Co limited have certain objectives that it has to meet they include: Entering the market at North West of England and continue its success by exploiting its competitive advantage, which is the unique taste of the products Serve a wider range of customers and introduce a high-end product in that market. This can be achieved by: the modification of its current marketing mix to address the strategic issues in the market such as: the different taste of the younger customers Different strategies required to launch the high-end product. The company also aims at increasing product awareness among the old (34 years to 54 years) and the young (18years to 34 years) since they are the target market of the company. inform the target audience about features and benefits of the product that is tea and coffee and its competitive advantage Decreasing and removing potential customer’s resistance to buying tea and coffee leading a percentage increase in sales (Ahmed & Rafiq 2003, p. 180). 3.3 Marketing Mix Effectiveness D J miles & co limited marketing mix is comprised of the following approaches to pricing, promotion, place, and product. An effective marketing mix is supposed to align the customer needs, offer a competitive advantage that is well balanced and that matches with the organizations corporate resources. The company’s existing product might not be attractive to the younger customers so the product strategy should be modified. The company’s existing promotion efforts are not enough for it to quickly penetrate the new market thus additional promotional activities are required so as to attract a great number of the target group. The price strategy and place strategy are also not effective to facilitate the company’s entry into the market. 3.4 Marketing Structure and System The company has made a lot of efforts on the marketing communications which proved to be effective. However, no clear marketing systems have been identified which can assist the marketing activities of the company. 4.0 Micro environment Analysis The micro environment of an organization is comprised of all the stakeholders that a certain organization has usual dealings with. The manner in which this relation develops can have an influence on the costs, success of the organization and quality of products produced. The aspects that are considered under this category are: Suppliers Distributors Customers Competitors 4.1 Customers Customers seem to be vital to the success of very business. An organization therefore need to keep a clear and concise track of the customers need and seek to meet these needs now and in the future so as to enhance the sustainability of the business. The typical targeted customers are those between: the age of 18 years and 34 years those between the age of 34 years and 54 years The target group will comprise of both gender that is: the male females For those customers above 34, they might select the products based on the taste. For those younger customers, the packaging of the products might be a key selection criterion when choosing the products since the younger generation is more pleased with items are unique and have certain shapes. Thus products must be developed to meet the needs all the target customers. 4.2 Competitors A business success and behavior is manly determined by the level of competition that exists in tits industry of specialization. The competition in the market is very intense (Harvard Business Review 2000, p. 47). There are many competitors of different sizes in the market. For large competitors, they possess significant market power, which can be used to influence customers’ purchasing choices. For small competitors, they might have certain advantage in serving some niche markets. Moreover, the entry barrier of the market is very low due to the low cost of establishing such a business. This has further reduced the overall profitability of the industry. The company ahs a number of competitors such as: Café direct starbucks Smith coffee The drury tea and coffee company limited 4.3 Distributors The distributor’s often take the products to the end user. Due to the limited number of physical shops owned by D J Miles & Co Ltd, it has to rely on other distribution channels to boost sales. Larger retailers such as Tesco might have strong bargaining power due to its size of distribution networks so it is quite expensive to launch the products on their shelves. Most of the large retailers would have their private brand of tea and coffee so they might not be willing to provide shelf space to increase the competition with their private labels. D J Miles & Co Ltd’s online distribution channel can access to a wide range of customers at low cost and such a distribution channel is very attractive to young customers who are well conversant with the current technology. 4.4 Suppliers D J Miles & Co Ltd is committed to source the tea and coffee with best quality. Since tea and coffee is not rare material, the company can easily switch to other suppliers. As a result, the supplier power in the industry is considered as low. The suppliers must offer quality products and services for them to continue supplying the company. 5.0 SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is termed as an important tool for the management team since it helps the manager of an organization in determining the threats, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths of a business. When the SWOT analysis is applied in a business setting it assists a lot in curving a sustainable place in the market place. A SWOT analysis mainly involves: the specification of the business objectives The identification of the internal and external aspects those are approving and critical to the achievement of those objectives. The strengths of an organization benefit that a firm have over its competitors in the same industry while the weaknesses are the aspects which offer a company a disadvantage relative to its competitors. The opportunities and threats are generally termed as the external factors which have an influence on the business and may comprise of factors such as: technological change macroeconomic socio-cultural changes market place changes competitive position legislation that may have a direct or indirect impact on the company The opportunities are termed as the chances that are available to make the business to perform well while the threats are termed as the factors that may be of trouble to the business. The diagram below clearly demonstrates the strengths, threats, opportunities and weaknesses of the company. Strength Unique taste of the products Market leader Tradition, skill and expertise in both tea and coffee Weakness Limited financial resources Limited knowledge of the younger customers Low bargaining power with distributors Opportunity Emerging market opportunities Offering other services other than tea and coffee Threat Economic recession Intense competition Uncertainty of the coffee and eta market in the future 6.0 Marketing Objectives Marketing objectives are said to identify what is it that the company intends to achieve with its marketing activities. The marketing objective of D J miles & co limited is to: Increase product awareness among the old and the young since they are the target market of the company Inform the target audience about features and benefits of the product that is tea and coffee and is competitive advantage Decrease or remove potential customer’s resistance to buying tea and coffee leading a percentage increase in sales to enter the market at North West of England and serve a wider range of customers introduce a high end product in the market The company should combine the market penetration strategy with the product development strategy to build sales and market share (Peter & Donnelly 2007, p. 90). Financial objectives Attain sales level for up to $ 20,000 Open branches in North West England with at the lowest cost possible Target marketing 7.0 Core Strategy The target market of D J Miles comprises of both the young and the old and also from both gender that is the males and female in North West of England. The competitive advantage that the company is using is the unique taste of its products that is tea and coffee. 7.1 Target market segment Target markets In prior stages of the development of the marketing plan for D J miles & co limited, it was identified that their target market as affluent, well-educated. Over time, market research teams have recognized the new target market as the young, educated and in both the upper and lower income bracket and between the ages of 18 years to 34 years. The standard segmentation variable for the young generation (18 years to 34 years) is 60% This target group will have the following characteristics: Fantasized with unique product design, thus the company should develop products with unique packaging. The market research also recognised another target group in North West England as the old, retired and between the age bracket of 34 years and 54 years. The standard segmentation variable for the old generation (34 years to 54 years) is 40 %. This target group has the are more concerned with: Quality Cost of the product Quantity Market demographic 8.0 Marketing Mix Decision The company could develop product to meet young customers’ needs, offer low price and increase promotion budget to penetrate the market quickly, and develop new channels and further exploit the existing channels for distribution. With a wide range of distribution the company will eventually reach a higher number of the customers thus its success in the north west of England (Rafiq & Ahmed 1995, p. 99). The company could also develop products to meet the needs of the second market segment that is customers who are between the age of 34 years and 54 years that is the old. They will offer considerable prices for this group of customers which will also be coupled with the development of new distribution channels so as to ease the access to the company’s products. The company will aim increase the marketing budget with these increase more promotional activities will eventually take place thus leading to more enticements on the side of the customers thus an increase in the company sales. 8.1 IMC plan The plan that the company has taken into consideration so as to ensure that there is a clear and concise linkage between all the promotional tools used in the marketing of company products. In doing so the different departments in the organization that is the sales, direct mail and advertising will work together so as to integrate the data in regard to the company’s product. 8.2 Channel design Channel design mainly covers three aspects that are: Channel selection Channel integration Distribution intensity D j miles & co limited will apply the intensive distribution strategy to supply the company’s products that is coffee and tea. With the application of the intensive distribution strategy the company will be able to sell more of its products. 8.3 Promotion mix All the elements of the promotional mix will be integrated to meet the requirements of the selected target population. Certain elements will be aiming at the consumer without prior knowledge of their products, while at time the others will be aiming at the potential customers who have prior knowledge of the product. The components of the promotional mix which will be used include: Advertising which will be done in the Lancashire Life magazine in the food and beverage section, in the radio as well as in the social site sales promotion direct marketing Personal selling (Kotler et al 2008, p. 47). 9.0 Organization and Implementation Appropriate manager should be selected to coordinate the organisational resources and implement the marketing plan effectively. 10.0 Control The purpose of the D J miles & co limited marketing plan is to serve as a guide for the organization. A contingent approach will be used and it will play a major role in modifying the marketing plans if new changes or developments arise so as to achieve the desired marketing objectives. 11.0 Budget Plan for the Next 12 Months Schedule Budget Month 1 Marketing Research of targeted customers in North West of England £5,000 Month 2 Develop right product range to serve the target market £5,000 Month 3 Develop the network of distribution £3,000 Month 4 to 6 Advertising the products as well as the brand on a variety of media including radio, online website, social network sites, etc (Shao & Hill 1994, p. 88). £30,000 Month 7 to 11 Occasional promotional activities to support the sales £4,000 Month 12 Conducting research to evaluate the result of the marketing plan £2,000 Contingent budget to support any modification might occur across the 12 months £1,000 Total £50,000 Bibliography Ahmed, P. & Rafiq, M. 2003, Internal marketing issues and challenges, European Journal of Marketing, Vol.37, No. 9. pp. 177-186. Armstrong, G. & Kotler, P. 2007, Marketing: An Introduction 8th Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Brassington, F. & Pettitt, S. 2006, Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Elias A. 2010, Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business & Product Name. California, Nolo. Harvard Business Review, 2000, Harvard Business Review on Business and the Environment, Harvard, Harvard Business School Press. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Wong, V. & Saunders, J. (2008), Principles of Marketing Fifth European Edition, New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Peter, J. & Donnelly, J. H. 2007, Marketing Management. 6th Ed, New York, McGraw-Hill. Rafiq, M. & Ahmed P.K. 1995, Using 7ps as a generic marketing mix: an exploratory survey of UK and European marketing academics, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol.13, No.3, pp 4-15. Shao, A.T. & Hill, J.S. 1994, Global television advertising restrictions: the case of socially sensitive products, International Journal of Advertising, Vol.13, Issue 4, pp 347-366 Worthington, I. & Britton, C. 2003, The Business Environment, New York, Prentice Hall. Read More