Marketing Plan for Stouffer Corporation - Case Study Example

Name: Registration Number: Institution: Tutor: Due Date Executive Summary Stouffer Corporation is a subsidiary of Nestlé’s USA, Incorporated in 1924 with current headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. Abraham and Mahala Stouffer founded the company in 1922 ("Stouffers", 2013). Stouffers introduced frozen meals in the 1950’s.This business of producing and sellingLean Cuisine was created in 1981 as a plan to provide a healthier alternative to Stouffers frozen foods. Later in 1984, Lean Cuisine captured most of the American frozen dinner marketing beating out its competitor at the time, Weight Watchers. Lean Cuisine originally launched with just 10 frozen meals options that fell just under 300 calories. Lean Cuisine has grown significantly since the 1980’sin the “healthy choice” dinners segment, becoming one of Nestlé’s largest United States Brands ("Funding Universe",2013). This paper’s goal is to focus on how the company can use marketing plan to achieve significant and long-term increase in sales of frozen comfort food line products, more specifically, home cooked meals on the lean side. There is a wide range of frozen comfort foods on the market, and the new business involving production and sale of Lean Cuisine has to master its marketing strategy further to gain an advantage over competitors and boost its sails. Marketing plan Marketing plan by the company would be beneficial as it would assist in clearly perceiving the customer, dealers, survey the competitors in the market, market demand and other potential forces that exist within the international capacity. This formal marketing planning to be incorporated by the company will greatly assist to forecast the situations in the market thus in return help in coming up with strategies for the later periods. The data to be collected through the marketing plan won’t only be beneficial in the process of marketing decision making but it will subsequently assist in gaining the capacity to construct decisions that are strategic and plans that are intentional. Components of the Marketing Plan   This marketing plan is in general for a period of twelve months. In order that they will be read, the organization has placed a premium on brief marketing plans that are written in the most precise manner. Again the management of the firm has proposed a single set of action programs as well as objectives (Morschett, Schramm-Klein & Zentes, 2010). The organization, however, has written into their plans alternative objectives or contingency plans as well as action programs that are applicable and thus can be used in the event of internal, competitive or consumer alterations in the due course of the plan implementation. The action of considering alternative course of action is significant in planning for effective alterations in market plans. Situation Analysis It is evident that the marketing strategy being used by the company has many limits which do not allow it to operate to their full potential thus has many risks involved and losses incurred. In the light of such events which are a disgrace, the efficacy of marketing plan can’t be stressed any further, therefore the company would help its effective marketing strategy progress through first commissioning market analysis which would address it main strategic gauges as strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats (Perkins, Shortland & Perkins, 2006). In consideration of marketing analysis, marketing plan would be rebuilt in order to do away with the setbacks. The connection can be understood between corporate strategy, marketing planning and marketing analysis because marketing analysis will be undertaken so as to find out if their marketing strategy is useful in delivery of projected value. The data mined as a result will display the cases where their marketing strategy is useless thus the firm will re construct the tactics under the model of the objectives and goals set by the corporate strategy of the firm. The tools required to carry out marketing analysis primarily include strategic analysis tools. The tools that the firm may utilize include PEST and SWOT analysis. For example, they would carry out a detailed SWOT analysis which would address its weaknesses as its structure in terms of cost involves 20 percent higher compared to that of its competitors. These tools would further highlight the threats it faces so as to help in restructuring strategies to combat such. Life Cycle and Ansoff Matrix The stage of a product in the product life cycle determines that type of marketing mix that should be used. During product development, the developer studies the market to determine if there are any efforts that can be made to launch the product. During introduction, there is need to create awareness of the product. During growth stage branding methods that distinguishes the product from other products should be used (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes, 2010). During maturity stage, customer loyalty is build and accomplished by means of special promotions and incentives. At the decline stage, the brand image can be reinforced to ensure the product stays in a positive light in the eyes of customers. Ansoff matrix involves four sections that are used to market a product. The section of market penetration, product development, market development and market penetration. In each of these stages, different marketing strategies are used based on the stage of the product at a particular time Marketing plan The first approach towards marketing plan is to conduct SWOT analysis of the business. This involves identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the business. The organization then conducts its marketing activities by making use of its strengths, accepting the weaknesses, making use of the opportunities and avoiding threats. Marketing plan process will also involves conducting research on the areas where customers need changes to be made on the product and the feedback from customers used to improve the existing products (Rugman, 2002). In addition, the products of a company can be posted on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google so that people who are online can access them and know about them. The terms of payments, delivery, prices and description should be indicated alongside the goods so that customers who are willing to buy the products can make arrangements to get the goods. Furthermore, during marketing process, it is important to conduct product segmentation marketing. This involves identifying customers who have similar demands for products and informing them about the products. This is relevant for companies that produce a range of products whose demands are different. Market segmentation can also be done based on demographic characteristics such as age gender and level of income. Marketing process should then be conducted based on the needs of people in various demographic groups. In addition, marketing process requires focusing on customer service. This involves provision of services fast enough to satisfy the needs of customers. It also involves listening to customer complaints and acting on them by creating a better relationship between the organization and customers (Tallman, 2007). For instance, customers can be asked to give their opinions regarding the services of the company and any changes they would like to be made. The organization then looks at the responses from customers and makes the changes appropriately to satisfy the recommendations made by customers. Marketing process can also be achieved by product differentiation. This involves offering something that competitors do not offer, thus giving a company an edge over its competitors and improving popularity of the products of a company. For instance, providing cleaner products and unique tastes for food products enhances the possibility of customers to prefer products from a particular company in preference to other companies. Another marketing strategy that can be useful for the company is to conduct competition pricing. Due to the fact that competitors will equally attract customers, the company can set prices a bit lower than that of competitors and when customers opt for its products, it can return to its initial pricing system. In addition, a company can conduct psychological pricing. For example, when the price of a product is $10, it can be set at $ 9.99 and when customers see this price, they associate it with low prices and buy the product. The right marketing approach should be based on the conditions that exist in the market and the level of competition from similar products. However, the guidelines provided in this paper create a right direction towards a successful marketing plan. Recommendations for implementation Sales promotion will help change the ways in which they convince their clients in the competitive market as they also look to extend their target markets and find new ways of attracting key employees. The company should take defensive action in advance so as to embrace diversification. This is the best defense against the change impact and relates to two key areas which are the product and the marketing activities. The basic reason that may prompt the company to embrace diversification is to maximize income but also the changing market climate and the aggressive competition will not be devastating if a variety of products and services continue to get stable. The same technique should be applied to their marketing so as to reach a wide market and realize more sales through utilization of diverse marketing styles. Conclusion The general assessment of the various factors affecting the proposed business i.e. the production and marketing of comfort food should have enabled the recognition that the analysis of the market and research is very crucial and that planning, assessment, strategic decisions, audition, could be done in a fair manner and more accurately after a firm has had the complete information regarding the external and internal factors associated with the company. Product position plays a significant function in its failure or success so the Lean Cuisine producing company should take great care when it comes to that. The behavior of the customer also plays a critical function and thus the study of how the customer behaves would again be carried out by the activities of the market research. References Howes, R., & Tan, J. H. M. 2003. Strategic management applied to international construction. London, Telford. Morschett, D., Schramm-Klein, H., & Zentes, J. 2010. Strategic international management text and cases. Wiesbaden, Gabler. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-6331-4. Perkins, S. J., Shortland, S. M., & Perkins, S. J. 2006. Strategic international human resource management: choices and consequences in multinational people management. London, Kogan Page. Rugman, A. M. 2002. Strategic management of multinationals. London [u.a.], Routledge. Tallman, S. B. 2007. A new generation in international strategic management. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=209986. Read More