Marketing plan for dove skin-care products for men - Essay Example

? Marketing Plan for Dove Skin-Care Products for Men Marketing information This is one of the most important parts of marketing – availability of information about products and people. The first information need that a marketer must meet is consumer orientation. We have to identify the target market, which in this case is the male population, aged 15-34-year-olds. This is a growing segment of users of facial skincare products. Skin care products, like moisturizers and deep-cleaning facewash, are products that should be built up through the marketing mix. More information of these products has to be analysed and enhanced as the information from the market segment becomes rich and valuable. A market analysis for introducing a new kind of product which, according to Mintel, is a need product for 15-34-year-olds of the UK male population, has to be done with several factors to be taken into consideration. It is not only the customers and their needs that we need to understand. We also have to take into consideration the organisation’s capabilities, and this includes our competitors’ capabilities, how the customers’ will respond or react to the product, the organisation’s economic needs, the technological aspects, and other important elements in the supply chain. If we have to anticipate customers’ needs and wants, we must have a thorough understanding of consumer behaviour. This part of marketing is complicated but it can be done through research and surveys. The needs and motivations of the male population, the 15-24 and the 15-34 demographics, can be accomplished through online surveys. Surveys can also be done by hiring an independent firm who knows the mechanics of surveying potential customers and their needs. The company needs marketing insight. Marketing insight is also known as “voice of the customer” over which the manager’s decision is to be based. A firm has to understand the customer; when this is accomplished, product planning and development, including department communications and other relevant information, are easily done. Customer insight is attained by means of the activities in the marketing mix. With the Internet and Information Technology, advertising and promotion are easily accomplished. A firm can conduct online surveys and use the results in formulating plans and future product goals. Online surveys are popular these days. It can acquire a lot of information regarding the customer and their preferences on products and how products should be made. (Jobber and Lancaster 31) Marketing insight is similar to market orientation because it focuses on acquiring information about customers, competing firms, and the marketing environment. The information has to be examined and analysed in the context of the business perspective; how the information can be used to deliver products of value or quality; and how the product can satisfy the customer. (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel 6) A. Overall Marketing Strategy for Dove From consumer orientation, the firm must focus on customer satisfaction as part of marketing; meaning marketing should be customer focused and consumer oriented but should be in line with corporate objectives. The next part of the marketing concept is systems orientation. Marketing of Dove products must be a part of a system and to be implemented by a team functioning in unison. (Jobber & Lancaster 23) The key to a successful marketing is ensuring that the needs and wants of customers are met and the products provide these needs and wants. This is the trend in the globalised business. The company should attain customer loyalty, with a focus on the price. Men’s moisturizers may not be a new product but there might be stiff competition in the market. Companies might have taken it for granted but with the recent surveys provided by Mintel, what business needs now is product enhancement. And we can’t get this through outsourcing. Product enhancement should be done in-house. The marketing concept is based on the customer’s decision to buy and not on the sales force’s talent in selling. The customers’ preference on the kind of product, whether moisturizers or face wash, determines the success of business and not on what this company produces. In other words, the marketing concept, when applied to the new target market of men aged under-45 depends on what they prefer and want and not on what the company produces. (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel 5) Marketing strategy involves selecting and analyzing the target demographic. After that, a desired marketing mix must be applied and this includes the aspects of product, distribution, promotion, price and people. A marketing strategy provides a plan that will capitalize on the organization’s resources and strategies to meet its desired goals. (Jobber and Lancaster 18) Segmentation A market is a group of customers with almost the same needs. From this group of customers there are divisions or subgroups, called segments, which have quite different needs from the others. When we identify these subgroups, we are applying segmentation. (Croft 1) Segmentation marketing is an effective way of marketing and producing valued products. Having quality product is not sufficient – it is important you know who your customers are. Segmentation means knowing who your customers to whom you offer your valued products, and providing them the product they want as per reliable information (Weinstein 4). Reliable information about the customer can be attained through constant contact with them, constant communication, or through surveys by way of interviews through sales people or field representatives, or through online surveys. Marketing orientation relies on the concept of customer-focus. This is a trend in business in the age of globalization. Segmentation was first heard in the academic world but it was later introduced into ‘planning strategy’ (Weinstein 4). Market segmentation has been applied by global businesses and small businesses. Service organizations and even non-profit institutions have also mimicked this kind of activity because of its effectiveness in acquiring results. Segmentation is a system of dividing markets into segments or groups who are potential customers with different needs, traits and demographic. It is an effective marketing tool and has been applied by businesses and organizations. The primary objective of segmentation is to analyze a particular market and find opportunities to market a product. In this case study, the market segment is composed of men aged 15-24 years but can also be applied to 15-34 years old. As we apply segmentation for the moisturizing and facial wash products, we identify the 15-24 years and 15-34 years old from the 45 years-under, so we can enhance Dove products from these particular segments. Targeting Once segmentation is done, the firm must be able to analyze each identified segment to determine its characteristics in relation to the company’s product and whether it provides opportunities that can cope with the existing resources. When a market segment is identified, it does not mean that the firm will right away pursue its objective of marketing with that segment. If the resources cannot meet the demand of the market segment, then it has to be dropped. Other reasons for dropping a market segment include scarce resources, inability to meet the firm’s objectives and goals, stiff competition in the segment, or perhaps ethical and legal implications. (Ferrell and Hartline 181) Positioning Positioning is about creating an impression of the product in the mind of the customer and its distinct features with respect to the other competing products. Differentiation refers to the reality of the product while positioning is about customers’ feelings of the product’s benefits, whether real or imaginary, that the product has. Positioning and differentiation emphasize product characteristics and features, but the firm has to provide a relative position for the product in the customer’s thinking. In doing this, the firm (in the person of the marketing manager) has to identify customers’ needs and wants. (Ferrell and Hartline 209) Marketing goals Marketing goals are about the necessary outcomes the organization aspires for. But companies do not plan goals in proper writing but just set their decisions as motivational factors in the planning stage and subsequent activities. (Ferrell and Hartline 147) B. The Integrated Marketing Mix Product Plan First, moisturising products have been surveyed as a market need, but still it has to be developed. In developing the product, branding is an important aspect. This has to be a part of the plan: the name of the product must be chosen in such a way that it fits the target market’s needs. The brand must be a result of a careful study. Firms use it to entice customers to repeat-purchase their brands. This is different from unbranded products, which are called generic. But branding alone has to be implemented with a strategy. Branding can be applied with strategies that fill men’s personality, emotion, or self-concept needs. These are given in television and bill-board ads, but also on websites. (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, and Mookerjee 523) A product has a life cycle. When it first appears in the market, its profits register at zero, or below zero, and the company has to incur expenses to promote and distribute the product in the market. As time goes on and when promotion and advertising have successfully introduced the product, revenues go up. Developing new products requires millions of dollars to be successful. In the global age, thousands of products coming from the different parts of the world are introduced in the market. Some of these products make it to their designated segment and target market, but many are to be discarded. It becomes a waste of money and resources when a product is not well planned and does not provide the necessary positioning and differentiation. (Rosalind and Picton 3) Integrated Promotion Mix Promotion and communications are collectively known as promotional mix which includes ‘advertising, personal selling, public relations and sales promotions’ (Morgan and Summers 166). Integrated promotion mix refers to multiple promotion aspects integrated in one medium, for example social media. The popularity of the Internet has provided a different kind of advertising and promotion for firms and websites. Individuals or ‘citizens of the Internet’ (the coined word is ‘netizens’) can communicate with other people who are in the other side of the globe by means of a computer with Internet connection. The advantage is the existence of consumer to consumer communication. Customers can also interact with websites and firms through the Internet. Businesses and organizations can advertise through thousands of websites, with a minimal fee, unlike billboard advertising and ads through television which are very costly. (Glynn and Faulds 357) Some researchers argue that sales are negatively affected by price promotions (Foekens et al.; Jedidi et al. qtd. in Ataman, Van Heerde, and Mela 871). On other hand, discounts provided by firms have negative effect on price elasticities. Brand-oriented advertising, which does not focus on price, enhances brand image, impacts on product awareness, enhances differentiation and brand equity (Aaker qtd. in Ataman et al. 871). Two schools of thought can be stated here on the effect of advertising on price. The first theory states that advertising triggers competition in providing information to the consuming public about products and alternatives. Price elasticity is negative. The second theory on market power states that advertising enhances product differentiation. Price elasticity here is lower than the effects of the first theory. Finally, ‘brand-oriented advertising increases price elasticity while price-oriented advertising decreases’ price elasticity (Ataman et al 871). Place Place is another term for distribution. A good product should have an effective distribution strategy, otherwise the excellence of the product will be put to waste. There should be an effective distribution system. This is also known as supply chain. Supply chain for Dove moisturisers and facial cream for men must reach the proper place and the proper time. This can be effectively executed with adequate appointment of retailers in primary malls and supermarkets in the UK. Price Most price strategy is based on demand in the market and the cost of production. Firms introduce different price techniques, for example, an introductory price is usually lower than the product has penetrated the market and has identified its niche. Others maintain their price to acquire loyalty from customers. (Gitman and McDaniel 295) C. Reflection How can the concepts and strategies above be accomplished? Some of them are easy said than done. For example, we have to take into consideration supply chain. Supply chain is an important part of a marketing strategy. Without a transparent and effective supply chain, we cannot market it to a large and growing segment, the 15-34-year-olds of the UK male population. Will the company outsource Dove skin-care products for men? Many companies have been doing it, outsourcing the manufacturing part of a product. If Dove skin-care products will be manufactured in-house, we have to make sure we can supply the market in big volumes. There are underlying problems to this kind of company strategy. While this kind of product can be outsourced, we have to take into consideration the quality. Quality sometimes takes a back seat in the outsourcing stage. The marketing manager needs to answer some questions in marketing moisturizing products for men. These questions include: How and when is the time moisturizers and facial skin care products peak sales? What kind of promotional mix can attain customer enthusiasm? How will this kind of product increase company’s sales and profits? The company has to acquire more information and refocusing of goals to address customers’ needs and wants. Customer closeness is a requirement for customer focus and loyalty and is significant in demand-oriented capabilities and performance. Supply chains should be aimed at immediate and speedy delivery of products to the customers. Works Cited Ataman, Berk, Haralda Van Heerde, and Carl Mela. “The Long-Term Effect of Marketing Strategy on Brand Sales.” Journal of Marketing Research, 47 (2010): 866-882. EBSCOHost. Web. 2 December 2012. Croft, Michael. Market Segmentation: A Step-By-Step Guide to Profitable New Business. New York: Routledge, 1994. Print. Ferrell, O. C. and M. Hartline. Marketing Strategy (Fifth Edition). Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Gitman, Lawrence and C. McDaniel. The Future of Business: The Essentials. Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print. Glynn, Mangold and David, Faulds. “Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the Promotion Mix.” Business Horizons, 52.4, 2009: 357. Elsevier Science Ltd. Web. 3 December 2012. Hawkins, Del, D. Mothersbaugh, and A. Mookerjee. Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill. Jobber, David and G. Lancaster. Selling and sales management, sixth edition. England: Pearson Education Limited, 2003. Print. Lamb, Charles, J. Hair, and C. McDaniel. Marketing. Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Masterson, Rosalind and D. Picton. Marketing: An Introduction. California: Sage Publications Inc. 2010. Morgan, Melissa and J. Summers. Sports Marketing. London: Thomson Learning, 2005. Print. Weinstein, Art. Handbook of Market Segmentation: Strategic Targeting for Business and Technology Firms. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc., 2004. Print. Read More