The Marketing Plan of Diet Food Takeaway - Case Study Example

Diet Food Takeaway Marketing Proposal Name Course Instructor’s Name May 28, 2010 Executive summary Introduction A marketing plan is a plan that is written laying down clearly the objectives of the business. It also lays down the SWOT analyses of the firm and the marketing strategies that the firm employs. It clearly defines the control measures that the business employs in the achievement of its objectives. The marketing plan of Diet Food Takeaway states the objectives of the firm. These are that the firm intends to make a sales turnover of $4,000,000 and a profit of 1,429,000.The firm also has an objective of expanding its business and reaching to more parts. Diet Food Takeaway also has a marketing strategy of employing the marketing mix so as to reach its clientele. It employs the 4Ps of marketing to capture its market. These include the product. The enterprise ensures that the products that are produced in the business are quality products. This ensures customer satisfaction that in turn creates customer loyalty. The business also lays great emphasis on the brand names they give their products as well as on the packaging of the products as these capture the attention of the customers. Diet Food Takeaway also uses the price concept as a marketing strategy (Simkin, 2002). This is used as a means of ensuring that the prices are favourable and they filter through the whole clientele of the business. The concepts employed here are price discrimination, price flexibility and also application of the concept of seasonal pricing. Other than price, the firm also employs the concept of place, which refers, to the availability of the goods to the customers. The firm considers the channels of distribution as well as the transportation costs incurred in distributing the goods. Finally, on the marketing mix the firm uses promotion, which is the communication of the availability of the goods to the customers. The firm employs cheap means of business promotion such as online marketing so as to reach large numbers of people at a cheap cost. It also uses billboards in all corners of the city. The business employs the use of newspapers and journals so as to communicate the services of the outlet. The business also has the identified the niche market which mainly consists of the elderly people who go for the healthy diets. The niche market also consists of people who have conditions such as sugar diabetes and cancer as they are usually on restrictive diets and they need diets that are healthy (Simkin, 2002). Marketing plans are essential for all businesses and they should be employed at the onset of all businesses. They should also be applied in the running of the business as they allow the proper control measures to be taken. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Business objectives 5 Marketing vision 6 Situation analysis 6 Competition Analysis 6 SWOT analysis 7 Target markets 9 The marketing strategy 10 Market analysis 12 Control & Evaluation 13 Conclusion 13 References 14 Introduction A marketing plan is a written plan, which are both a strategic plan and a tactical plan. It clearly draws out the marketing objectives of the firm. It is normally a tool that is very crucial in the running of the businesses of any firm (Allred, Addams, and Chakraborty, 2007). It defines clearly the vision and the goals of the enterprise. They serve the purpose of ultimately achieving the ultimate goal of being profitable as well as being competitive. The marketing plan ensures that the business carries out the appropriate market audit. This also includes the proper analysis on the market situation as well as the market condition (Sandhusen, 2000). The elements herewith are the analysis, which gauges the strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats that are facing the business. When properly evaluated the marketing plan results in the achievement of the organization’s objectives. This is the case whether the business trades in goods or services. The length of time that is usually covered by the business plans are usually one to five years (Baker, 2003). Before the lapse of this period the business achievements is periodically compared to the set goals so as to identify whether the business is making progress. This paper incorporates a business plan for a diet food takeaway restaurant that is called Diet Food Takeaway Boxes (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2003). This enterprise offers healthy food takeaways. The marketing plan will include the situational analysis, the market analysis, the SWOT analysis, the marketing and the financial objectives as well as the target markets for this entity and the current positioning of the outlet (Grover & Vriens, 2003). Business objectives The main objectives of the Diet Food Takeaway are the financial objectives. The outlet looks forward to make increased sales as well as increase the profit margins. These objectives of the business are specific, measurable, agreed, and realistic and time bound so as to ensure their viability. The predicted sales for the year is $ 4,000,000 and the predicted gross profit is $ 1,429,000.This specificity clearly makes the teams to be well aware that a lot of effort is needed from them in order to achieve the objectives. The business also has an objective of hiring 500 employees within a period of one month and of opening other branches within the vicinity of the city and also outside this horizon (Grover & Vriens, 2003). The other objectives that the enterprise has are the ethical and social responsibility. The business is seeking a social responsibility of ensuring that the health of the customers is checked. It is the objective of the manager as from the onset of the enterprise that the organization meets all these objectives within the period of one year (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2003). Predicted sales Achieved sales difference Predicted gross profit Achieved gross profit difference $ 4,000,000 $ 3,678,550 $ 321,450 $ 1,429,000 $1,189,980 $240,020 Marketing vision Diet Food Takeaway Boxes is an outlet that is organized around a common love for healthy diets. It provides takeaway boxes for people who cannot prepare their own foods and they, want to live a healthy life (McDonald, 1992). Situation analysis Brisbane City is the situation of the business. This location is appropriate because it is a big city and because the population is large. Competition Analysis The competition analysis reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors of the business. The business mainly uses media scanning as a tool of gauging the businesses that it competes with. One of the main competitors is Foods and Beverage Cafe (Isenberg, 1987). That is just across the street. They have a very high clientele and they have strength of being popular among the people. This the business will counter by establishing a relationship with the customers that will give the business an opportunity to learn the advantages of the business (Allred, Addams, and Chakraborty, 2007). The weakness of this business as compared to the firm is that it mainly trades in high cholesterol foods. The business shall counter the weakness by offering the diets that are low fat foods. New entrants are also a probable competitor that the business has to counter. SWOT analysis This is a strategic planning technique that normally evaluates the strengths, the weaknesses and the threats and opportunities available to the business entity. In this analysis, the external factors and the internal factors that affect the business are put into great consideration so as to capitalize on the strengths and opportunities and to counter the weaknesses and the threats (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2003). Strengths The strengths of Diet Food Takeaway Boxes are the fact that around its environs no other restaurant has such a marketing idea. Most of the restaurants and takeaway restaurants offer fatty diets. This gives the business a competitive advantage when it comes to marketing the products of the business in their new position (Grover & Vriens, 2003). The business also has strength from the fact that the management of the enterprise is well versed with the best marketing decisions, the management team is well qualified and they are knowledgeable in the business perspectives. The enterprise will utilize the asset of its management team who are all, knowledgeable on what is healthy for consumption and what is not healthy. This will ensure that the products, which are produced and sold as takeaways, are checked for quality and prepared to the appropriate standard as per the bureau of standards. Some of the top management is outlined below with their qualifications (Baker, 2003). Weaknesses The weaknesses that the business faces are the fact that the infrastructure in the business enterprise is not up to date. This is because the ovens and the cooking machines that are available in the enterprise consume a lot of fuel and this may tend to eventually be very expensive for the enterprise (Allred, Addams, and Chakraborty, 2007). This is due to the fact that it increases the oil prices and thus the cost of production. The other weakness that the enterprise encounters is the number of employees who are too many and therefore due to the wages and salaries that they are given being high the cost of production is increased lowering the cost of production (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2003). Opportunities The opportunities available to the enterprise are the large opening available in the market that creates a gap for the enterprises to trade its products (Ruskin-Brown & Clarke, 2000). This opening is created by the fact that most restaurants produce and sell products that are not healthy and that have high cholesterol values. On the other hand, there are many people who are trying to fight obesity and are thus looking for non-cholesterol or low cholesterol diets. This leaves a large gap that the organization can trade its products (Wedel & Kamakura, 1999). Threats The threats that the organization faces is the probable ban of outlets that package food products in the form of takeaways. This is due to people buying these products disposing the waste products in the wrong way (Simkin, 2002). If this ban would go through then the outlet would have no option but to close down the enterprise. This would be based on the environmental risk that is caused by the waste paper bags and packaging material used by the enterprise (McDonald, 1992). Another threat is the probability of the land where the enterprise is situated being taken up by the city council as they claim the land was acquired by the leasers in an illegal manner. This would mean that the enterprise would have to incur losses until the compensation from the initial leasers of the building is taken. Target markets The survey conducted on the market situation came up with the identification of the niche market. This refers to the groups that have similar like’s tastes and preferences and they therefore tend to behave similarly whenever there are changes in the market (Wedel & Kamakura, 1999). In other words, they have a similar code of consumer behaviour. Some of the niche markets that were identified are the elderly (Allred, Addams, and Chakraborty, 2007). They form the niche market because they mainly go for the low cholesterol meals and therefore they go for the meals that are produced in the restaurant. This class of people will rarely go for junk food. Unlike the young people, the relatively old people prefer to eat healthy meals. They also do not have so much time to prepare these meals for themselves. They therefore can use the opportunity offered by the restaurant to them of getting takeaways and consuming them in their home settings (Ruskin-Brown & Clarke, 2000). The other target market is people who have conditions such as sugar diabetes or even cancer patients. These people have restrictions from their doctors on what they should consume and what they should not consume (Davids and Newcomb, 2006). Most times these people are on low fat diets and also on low sugar diets. They therefore form a niche market for the business because the business produces foods that fit their diets. The target market will also be young families who will not have enough time to go and prepare meals in their houses due to the time factor. This will also be the professionals who are so busy in their careers to get time to prepare homemade meals. The marketing strategy The marketing mix is the main strategy that the enterprise will employ in its marketing strategy. The marketing mix is normally composed of the 4ps, which are product, price, place and promotion. Some of the catching elements as far as the product is concerned are the brand names, which the goods or the different packages are going to bear (McDonald, 1992). The brand names the aspects that attract the customers. The marketing team puts the brand names into serious consideration. The quality of the diet that sets the business apart is also given great consideration, as the diets are prepared. This is to ensure that the meals are attractive and at the same time, they are cholesterol free. This also ensures that the food and the diets that are packaged to the customers are attractive to the customers and that they are appetizing (Ruskin-Brown & Clarke, 2000). The packaging of the product is also given great consideration so as to be appealing to the customers. The marketing team understands that the product has to appeal to the public and this alone plays a large role towards attracting customers. Some cost is therefore incurred so as to achieve an excellent packaging material (Steuernagel, 1998). Price The price decision is also very core in the marketing mix. The marketing team puts into great consideration the fixing of the prices. One of the main strategies that the team puts into consideration is the style of pricing to be employed (McDonald, 1992). For new products, the marketers use penetration method of pricing while for the relatively old products the marketers use skim method. The company also employs seasonal pricing where the products go for relatively high prices during the peak seasons and relatively low prices during the off peak season (Davids and Newcomb, 2006). This strategy is meant to ensure the constant flow of customers and to ensure that the customers are always favoured by the prices even during the off peak seasons. Price discrimination is also employed. This is so as to reach the poor and the financially unstable and to ensure that they too get the goods at relatively low prices. Price flexibility is also an important concept that is applied as a marketing strategy tool (Weinstein, 2004). Place The place of supply of the goods is also very important. The place is a key concept as far as marketing strategy is concerned. This includes such issues as the distribution channels that are involved for the goods to reach the target markets (English, 2006). The marketing team ensures that cheapest distribution channels are employed so as to ensure that the cost of distribution is cut down. The transportation of the raw materials to the premises is also considered so as to ensure that transportation costs are low and thus reducing the costs of distribution. The market coverage of the products of the enterprise is also put into great consideration this is to ensure that it is exclusive distribution (Weinstein, 2004). Promotion Promotion is the process of advertising the products of the enterprise. It actually involves the marketing promotion of all the information concerning the product. The enterprise employs online advertisements as a way of creating awareness about the availability of the company products (Baker, 2003). This channel of communication is chosen due to the fact that it is widely viewed and it is also a cheap means of communicating the availability of the product (Sandhusen, 2000). It is also easy to identify groups of people who watch healthy ways of eating and this is because there are sights on the internet which give information concerning these people. The company uses these sights to advertise its products and communicate the advantages of consuming such products. This is a strategic means of getting market for the diets as some people order for these goods through the internet (English, 2006). Other forms of promotion that the enterprise uses once in a while is placing advertisements in the daily journals as well as using bill boards and screen advertisements along the avenues so as a to reach people all over the city and even outside the city (Isenberg, 1987). Market analysis In the market analysis, one of the major concepts that is analysed in the market is the potential competitors. The potential competitors for the business are the competing businesses that are around the business. The products that are offered by this business will counter the competition that the outlet faces from similar businesses or entities offering substitute products to those offered to the business (Baker, 2003). There are businesses that offer products that are healthy meals and people can easily settle for these diets. The business will counter these competitors by getting appropriate means of capturing the first time customers by offers of packaging extra pieces at lower costs (Ruskin-Brown & Clarke, 2000). The entity will also ensure that the products match the customer’s tastes and therefore this will ensure that the customer’s loyalty is captured. Control & Evaluation The sales revenues will be checked on quarterly basis. An annual audit will also be conducted yearly so as to ensure that the business is meeting the set objectives (Steuernagel, 1998). The quarterly analysis will be aimed at analysing the market share the company is analysing. The number of customers that the business gets will be analysed so as to tell whether they reduce or increase (Davids and Newcomb, 2006). In case they reduce, there will be corrective measure s of carrying out research from the customers on the cause of the said drop in the number of customers. The business performance in the market share will also be used to take corrective measures in the performance of the business. This could also be used to determine the times when innovations ought to be done (Simkin, 2002). Conclusion Marketing plans are essential tools for laying down the objectives of the enterprise and how to achieve them. The plans cover up to five years of the actions that the business intends to undertake. A solid marketing strategy is the main element that is used for the proper functioning of the firm. It should always incorporate the SWOT analysis, which helps the firm to note and act against the threats and weaknesses. It also helps the firm to know its strengths and opportunities and capitalize on them so as for the firm to maximize its profits and increase sales as in the case of Food Diet Takeaway. It should also contain the marketing strategy as well as the financial objectives of the enterprise. The niche market identification is also very important for the organization and this will help in the achievement of the objectives of the enterprise. There should also be ma control measure in the marketing plan that ensures that the business performance is measured against the projected figures and this is then analysed to give feedback and to take corrective measures. References Allred, A., Addams, H.L., and Chakraborty, G. 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