Market Plan for Damas Gold - Case Study Example

Market Plan for Damas Gold Introduction Damas Gold was established in the year 2012. It is located in the industrial are of Abu Dhabi near the capital city. Its sole aim was to produce consumer products that are supplemented with food nutrients to ensure that consumers do not have to necessarily do a double shopping. Still, a focus was given to the working class; those people who have little time to prepare a whole meal because of the time available for the same. Damas Gold therefore chose rice as the product to manufacture. Target audience The United Arab Emirates capital is a cosmopolitan city. It is occupied by races from almost everywhere in the world. It is modern in its own way and a centre for different cultures making it distinctive (Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, 2008). The different races converging in this city cannot be able to be satisfied, each and everyone by their own staple foods. Due to this fact, rice was chosen to be the supplement for the different cultural diets of the population. Rice was chosen because it is available almost everywhere in the world and it has been almost fully adopted by different people of different cultures. Research has shown that about half of the world population has adopted the consumption of rice with rising numbers of consumption. Even though some continents like Europe have not fully adopted the consumption of rice, there were a good number of them using it (Kubo & Purevdorj, 2004). This makes the target population in Abu Dhabi to be influenced through cultural diffusion into adopting rice products. This assumption is drawn from the fact that the greater population in the United Arab Emirates are Asians so the dominant food will definitely be rice. Despite the fact that the UAE is a business hub and that there is a large population of foreigners, the businesses that exist there and the workers are largely Asian. It is therefore expected that a high number of them consume rice. The hotels around have rice as a common dish for those people ordering food from them. In this regard therefore, rice market is expected to be large in the city and that a company producing rice will market the rice easily to these consuming places. Product attributes (features) Damas Gold supplies a brand of rice called “Vitality Rice.” The name is branded on the product packaging material where consumers are able to identify. Still, the branding is done in the languages that are widely used in the UAE. Some of the languages are Arabic, English among others. The rice is enriched with minerals and proteins. This makes it to be easily consumable unlike other products of rice which need to be accompanied with another food like a stew. Through cooperation with the health and nutrition department of the government, the nutritional balance has been established and the facts printed on the packaging material. The population in Abu Dhabi are highly spice people. This makes the company endeavour in ensuring that the rice that is manufactured is in different flavours and spice tastes. Some of these spices that are used include chilli, ginger, coriander, garlic and so on. These flavours have been able to attract a number of customers. The branding colours are also bright in their appearance which has made many people to be attracted intensely to these brands. Another thing that makes people get attracted Vitality Rice is the packaging quantities. The quantities are packed beginning with the smallest that is a quarter kilo, half, one kilogram, two kilograms, and five kilograms up to ninety kilograms. This has enabled at least everybody in the society to have access to Vitality Rice at a good price that befits him/her. On top of the quantity packaging, there is another brand of rice that is sold when it is readily cooked such that it can be consumed right away. The brand also has is branded with “halaal” stamp in compliance to Muslim dietary control council. Finally, the packaging is secure and it cannot be affected by external factors like dampness, heat, chemical contact and many other things. Product modifications Fitting the cultural tastes of the people living in the UAE is a very hard because that means total satisfaction of each and everyone’s taste. However, this has not deterred Damas Gold from adapting itself to this culturally diverse population. In the first place, the neighbouring countries in UAE share some practices. Some eating habits have helped a lot in this regard. The use of spice by many Asian people has been helpful in capturing their tastes and there has been an increased sale since that modification was made. Chinese foods are some of the most attractive in the world due to their appeal to taste and deliciousness. This has also been captured by the use of spice to attract them (Shi-sheng & Yu-xian, 2010). The Indian diet too is much dependent on spices especially chilli. The rice brand with chilli finds a good market among the Indians working in the UAE. For them chilli is food, spice and household medicine. They regard it as a medicine for sicknesses such as high cholesterol, skin problem, high blood pressure stomach ache among others (Pawar et al, 2011). Secondly, observing of the dietary requirements of the Muslim religion, the rice is been approved by the Muslim dietary council to ensure that the Muslim consumers are satisfied. Thirdly, the diet has been secured through the enrichment to capture the western taste of nutritional balance, hygiene in handling of food as well as the ready-made food. In short the diet is simplified for the westerners who like simple and “rational” diets. They seek the principle behind the food no matter how delicious it is in order to derive a favourable satisfaction (Shi-sheng & Yu-xian, 2010). In the African continent the food habits are quite diverse. It has been observed that the food is quite cultural and indefinable compared to the other continents. The ways of preparing too is very much scanty and trying to mention any definite food as definite may miss the point. However, with penetration of Asians and the West, it seems Africans have no problem with diet and can adopt other foods outside their culture (Oniang’o et al, 2003). From the above observation Damas Gold as a company chose to ensure that the basic standards of hygiene as well as secure packaging are observed for a better appeal. As for the oceanic countries there it was first established that food is quite cultural but a notably western food habits are found there (Ikeda, 2006). Therefore, considering them was put in the western category. To this due it is so far assumed that the different cultures that are in the UAE are met by the several brands of the Vitality Rice which continues to have a good level of sales at present. Advert Analysis The advertisement that was used had many appeals engrossed in it to capture a multitude attention of the various communities in the UAE. It was aired in the televisions and the radios around. The advert was composed of two “mums” with one asking the other the problem with her family. The other responds by saying that some foods spoil the appetite. She adds that presently she has discarded the fear, and actually she buys fifty kilograms of Vitality Rice every day. The other in despair asks her why she wastes a lot of money every day on such rice. The other responds by saying that her family is suffering from a giant appetite and the only way to satisfy that giant appetite was by buying the delicious Vitality Rice. The other in disbelief goes and buys vitality rice which she takes home and cooks for her family. They all follow her to the kitchen asking if there was any more rice only to find it is finished and they cannot reach the grocery to buy more rice. Meanwhile with the continued use of Vitality Rice she realizes that the family is becoming healthier and healthier and each one feels stronger. In great embarrassment she runs into her store and picks all the other rice brands available and discards them off and replaces them with several bags of Vitality Rice. The advert ends with the “mum” and her family standing next to the Vitality Rice packet. The mum smiles and says “Vitality Rice, the only solution to a healthy family.” The advert above utilizes four things that make it attractive, namely; appealing to fear of other brands which are not quality tested. It also appeals to humour by having a family that consumes a whole bag of rice every day. It also compares to other brands as useless and should be discarded from a household and suggests that it is the only brand that can be loved more than others. Finally, its value is witnessed by family becoming healthier and healthier so it is commendable and it satisfies everybody in the family to the maximum. Perceptual Mapping This is a strategic management facility that can be applied in marketing. It enables users to understand the behaviours of its competitors and the criteria which consumers use to make purchasing decisions. Damas Gold will use the perception map to establish the interrelations between its product and those of the competitors. Consumers make decisions to purchase a product based on objective and subjective features of the product like colour, price, and size among others. They may also be influenced by consequences like being proud to be associated by a particular product (Kaynak and Kara 2002). Perceptual mapping will help the company to determine how much attributes to include in the Vitality rice in order to have a competitive advantage. In order to ascertain the competitiveness of the Vitality Rice in the market, the Damas Gold marketing team conducted a consumer survey. Both the existing and the potential customers were engaged in a conversation and our survey team used a structured questionnaire which guided them in the interview. To determine the position of the Vitality rice in the market, four other types of rice considered popular were used in the conversation since they are used as substitute products. The equivalent brand of rice used was Basmati Rice, Pakistan Rice, White Rice and Cooking Rice. The product attributes involved in the conversation were good taste, high price, availability in the market and high nutrient value. The marketing team engaged in a conversation with different customers in terms of age, occupation, education and their spending patterns. Customers’ perceptions towards the product attributes were measured by use of the Likert scales. Perception of customers towards Vitality Rice can be viewed properly by through mapping. High price Availability High nutritional value Good taste Figure 1A: Consumer perception map for Vitality Rice From the perception map above Vitality Rice is rated high in terms of nutritional value and good taste. Compared to others substitute products, our product has got lower price and this is why the company registers high sales of Vitality Rice. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs It is important for companies to understand the needs of customers so that they can produce products that satisfy these needs. Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs that human beings experience in their lives. He developed a model which shows that low-level needs like physiological and safety must be satisfied by individuals before they pursue the high-level needs like self-actualization (Poston, 2009). According to this model, a satisfied need is no longer a motivator, and a as such a person seeks for a higher level need. The diagram below indicates the Maslow’s hierarchy on needs. Physiological needs These are the low-level needs which human beings require to have a sustainable life. Examples of these needs include water, air, food and sleep. A person cannot go for high-level needs until the basic needs are attained. People cannot survive without the basic requirements of life. Safety Needs After the satisfying the physiological needs, individuals’ attention focuses on safety and security, which are the next level of needs. People now become concerned with physical and emotional protection. These needs can be satisfied through financial services, job security and living in a secure environment. Social needs High-level needs become important to individuals after the low-level needs are satisfied. Social needs are the first high-level needs and relate to people interacting with others. Such needs include friendship, belonging and desire to love and be loved. Esteem People develop need for esteem after they realize that their social requirements are attained. Esteem needs are both internal and external, where internal needs include self respect and achievement while external needs include social status and recognition (Poston, 2009). Need for knowledge and aesthetics was later introduced between the needs for esteem and self-actualization. Self-actualization This is the highest level need in Maslow’s model. It is the desire by a person to reach his or her full potential in life. Self-actualization is never achieved to the fullest since as a person grows psychologically, new opportunities emerge which facilitate growth. Very few people reach this level of need (Poston, 2009). Relevance of the theory to Damas Gold Manufacturers Ltd Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is relevant to the company’s product in a sense that Vitality Rice falls under physiological needs as indicated in the model. Maslow identified food as a basic necessity of life, and so is Vitality Rice. This is an indication that customers will depend of the product for them to feel to have satisfied their basic needs. This is an opportunity for Damas Gold manufacturers Limited to maximise the production of Vitality Rice. Basic necessities of life are inevitable according to the Maslow’s model, and therefore at any given point in time, customers will always purchase the product. Unlike other products in the market which does not fall at this level of needs, Vitality Rice is likely to survive for a very long time in the market if proper marketing strategies are maintained by the company. Products that are basic to human beings normally have high demand, and despite their pricing, customers are forced to buy. In this respect, Vitality Rice experienced increased sales for the last six months due to its attractive attributes compared to other brands from competitors. The fact that Vitality Rice falls under basic needs will help the company to strategize its marketing operations to be able to attract many customers. There are several competitors who produce equivalent products, and therefore the company cannot just relax hoping that its product will definitely be purchased. The company must continue producing high quality product with high nutritional value and taste. The price for the product should also be slightly lower than that of competitors. By putting these in practice, the company will have no problem selling Vitality Rice to its customers, and will have a competitive advantage over other companies considering the fact that the product is a basic need. Decision making processes Making decisions is a very important aspect in management and normally a difficult task to perform. Decision making processes can be explained in two main perspectives, that is deterministic and probability approaches (Damghani et al, 2009). Decisions made by Damas Gold manufacturers Limited will always have consequences on its business operations, and therefore they should be carefully analysed before taking appropriate course of action. The company may be required to assess the best decision process that fits Vitality Rice so as it can be able to utilize the opportunities in the market. Before identifying the best decision process for Damas Gold, it is good to understand the concepts behind these two decision making approaches. In deterministic approach to decision making, the decision maker is aware of the possible outcome of the actions undertaken, and thus a decision that is good is judged by its outcome. This is contrary to the probabilistic approach where by the decisions are made by considering both the outcome value and the risk associated with the decision. Deterministic and probabilistic approaches to decision making can also be understood by comparing the past and the future. In this respect, the past cannot be changed by what we do now, but whatever we do now influences the future events although the future is associated with uncertainty. Practically, most decisions in businesses are made with some degree of uncertainty, and probability comes in as a substitute for certainty. Decisions made by probabilistic approaches utilize probability assessment statistics of uncontrollable factors and the risk assessment of the decision (Damghani et al, 2009). By considering the two types of decision making processes that is, deterministic and probability approaches, the best decision making process that suits Vitality Rice is probability approach. This is due to the fact that the business is prone to risks the future and therefore the company should be prepared for any eventuality in the future. As indicated above, Vitality Rice has several substitute products and therefore the company should involve the risk factor in its decision such that even with stiff competition that may arise in future, it will be in a position to overcome it. When decisions are made considering some level of uncertainty, it allows the company to put in place precautions such that in case the risk occurs, the loss is reduced. Conclusion In conclusion, Damas Gold manufactures Limited’s product is performing well in the market compared to its competitors’. The company has the right target market which makes the company experience increases in the sales of Vitality Rice. With proper marketing strategies, the company will be able to realize high profits and survive in the market for long time than its competitors. The company has t continue analysing the behaviours of its customers so as it is able to satisfy their needs to the maximum References Damghani, K. K., Taghavifard, M. T., & Moghaddam, R. T. (2009). Decision Making Under Uncertain and Risky Situations. In Enterprise Risk Management Symposium Monograph Society of Actuaries-Schaumburg, Illinois. Ikeda, J. P. (1999). Culture, food, and nutrition in increasingly culturally diverse societies. Germov J, Williams L. A sociology of food and nutrition: the social appetite, 2. Kubo, M., & Purevdorj, M. (2004). The future of rice production and consumption, 128-141. Kaynak, E., & Kara, A. (2002). Consumer perceptions of foreign products: an analysis of product-country images and ethnocentrism. European Journal of Marketing, 36(7/8), 928-949. Oniang’o, R.K., Mutuku, J.M., & Malaba, S.J. (2003). Contemporary African Food Habits and their Nutritional and Health Implications. Asia Pacific of clinical nutrition. 12, (2), 231-236. 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