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Introduction of Marketing Process And Planning Assignment
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This report will discuss the marketing process that refers to promoting the products and services of the company to reach the target audience. Marketing is a business activity to attract customers with a high-quality message. It aims to deliver value to the customers through effective content and helps the company in preparing long-term goals. Marketing combine both digital as well as traditional channels to advertise products and services. Marketing is the process of planning and executing price, advertising, and distribution of commodities, and thoughts to satisfy the customers and achieve organizational goals (Kotler, et. al. 2015). The report will discuss marketing strategies considering the case company HelloFresh which also involve reaching a large number of customers with quality and healthy meals. The second part of the report will highlight strategic marketing which effectively distinguishes the brand from its competitors by focusing on the company's strengths. Situation analysis helps the company to identify its opportunities and weaknesses (Rekettye, 2019). This report is made to understand the basics of company's internal as well as external factors which increase the performance of the business.
Part 1 Digital As Well As Traditional Business
The concept of marketing in the 21 st century
Marketing in the 21 st century is all about bringing the customer experience. Upcoming generations of customers will have less time, flexible income, and more choices, and will exhibit completely new expense patterns, depending on geography, age, and wealth. Marketing has developed significantly during the last few decades. It combines both digitals as well as traditional channels to advertise or promote the products and services. The era began in 1950 evolved into 1990 and changed into the digital technology marketing era in the 21 st century. Before the 21 st -century era companies had no other options like television, social media, newspapers, and radio channels to attract customers. The entrance of the internet has changed the perception of promotion from inbound to outbound marketing. Marketing eases two-way communication between customers and the company through social media, emails, search engines, and many other strategies (Hair, et. al. 2018). Companies use social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc, to attract a large number of customers and authority to improve their performance. The medium has developed into an important proposal for customers to share their experiences and opinions. Email promotion is a significant technique for sending customized messages to consumers and persuades them to buy products. Business in the 21st century has formed optimal email lists to perform electronic message marketing campaign. The list includes the email addresses of customers who have shown awareness of products offered by a company. The companies use search engine marketing strategies to reach the target consumers online. Unique, valuable, and high-quality content is required to achieve a high position on search engines. The marketing strategy in the 21st century is to help companies to achieve objectives like engaging customers, developing brand identity, and influencing them to make purchase decisions.
The role of marketing function with examples
Marketing functions comprise a set of responsibilities and tasks for the marketing team to organize, execute and design a successful campaign. The goal of a company is to sell and promote its products in a market. It helps the company to remain focused on its goals and gain competitive advantages. Promotion helps in creating brand awareness while educating customers about the products, it focuses on potential customers to purchase the product of the brand. Selling includes interacting with prospective customers and following sales leads. Effective selling tools help the company to distinguish its product from competitor brands. The company needs to manage its products which include the design, development, and improvement of services and products. The role of the company in product management is to make sure that a finished good meet the needs of the customer (Sarkum and SYAMSURI, 2021). The market needs to establish a price for the product while considering several factors of value and cost. They also need to check the price range of the competitors to gain a competitive advantage.
HelloFresh is an admired meal brand that delivers pre-portioned ingredients right to its consumer’s doors. The company's biggest strength is to work considering sustainability and offer the fresh product to all of its consumers. The company uses multiple promotional tools to create brand awareness and increase a large number of customers. HelloFresh expands its product through effective marketing strategies such as print ads, banners, billboards, coupon codes, and digital ads which helps them to increase its sales rapidly. The company's content strategy includes public endorsement by celebrities on commercials and social media. HelloFresh, take measure to reach many customers with a variety of budget. It creates flexible price plans which target different customers (Rangaswamy, et. al. 2020). HelloFresh invites employees across the organization to come up with new skills and ideas which will help the company to maintain its brand name in the food industry.
Figure 1: advertising strategy of HelloFresh
Source: ( Aditi Shastri, 2022)
Analyzing the marketing function works and interacts with other departments
Marketing is a promotional strategy that relates to most of the activities of the company's operation and is a necessary element of corporate strategy. The marketing function within any company connects all the departments. The marketing department works in a straight line with the operational division to ensure adequate research and growth which provide innovation, new ideas, and creative products to satisfy the needs of customers. Operations take on many other actions such as packaging, warehousing, and distribution. To a level, operations also include manufacturing, assemble, and logistics. Marketers need to sell goods and services that are in stock within a reasonable time limit. The marketing department also needs to work strongly with the investment department for a sufficient budget to meet the needs for promotion, research, and distribution. The finance department's role is to make sure the company's operation with financial capabilities. It focuses on costs, cash flows, and paying back the investment. The products offered by HelloFresh are offered online so that there is no cost for the purchase store. The company has financial stability that is backed by prospective investment from a trusted investor. The marketers also need to work with the company's human resources which provide skills and staffing levels in the research and development of new innovative products, create competent sale team and meet production targets. The human resource department has training and recruitment which needs to balance its suitable staffing levels and skills. Other functional responsibility includes employee motivation, health, safety, well-being, and performance management of human resource (Srinivasan and Ramani, 2019). HelloFresh is a customer-centric company that brings new customers and offers influencer marketing strategies in their business. Client service stipulation is very much included into marketing, as the marketing concept is used to satisfy the needs of the consumers as a central driver. Purchaser service is supported by information technology to make the development of customer support more effective and efficient and to incarcerate data on exacting activity.
The extended of marketing mix with examples
The marketing mix elements work together to help marketers in taking effective decisions that will define marketing strategies for a company. Marketing is a process of creating strategies for the products or services of the brand. These strategies are prepared to develop business functions and create value for the customers as well as employees. Marketing aims to gain a competitive advantage by offering innovative products according to the customer's demands and needs. A marketing mix is a tool or set of concepts that is used by companies to achieve their goals and objectives. The marketing mix elements of HelloFresh include cost, creation, advertising, place, people, procedure, and physical evidence which help the corporation to plan its marketing strategies. The company offers a variety of healthy and balanced meals, adding value to the quality, and customizing meals according to the demand of different customers. HelloFresh works closely with its producers to make sure customers receive seasonal, fresh, and healthy food with good quality in every meal. The company considers low inventory for perishable products. It follows a quality and price-driven strategy by removing several steps in the supply chain. The company has a fixed weekly plan for price and also customize plans for customers to attract them. The cost associated with advertising activity of goods through offline and online marketing channels. The distribution of goods takes place through the company's outlets located in different locations (Lahtinen, et. al . 2020). A business process is a consistent set of activities that accomplishes a specific task like the dispensation of a customer's order. In HelloFresh offline stores, customers pick up their orders and go to customer support for payments. The company is on a mission to change the eating habit of customers by providing them with convenient, fresh, home-cooked, and fully prepared meals without any shopping and planning (Wichmann, et. al. 2022). HelloFresh invests a large amount of time and money in employees' development and training. Physical evidence includes tangible representation of a business such as aprons, cookbooks, furniture, menu, reports, brochures, business cards, signage, and equipment. HelloFresh has a tremendous logo that makes efficient use of colors. Offline outlets are easy to navigate with all products in well-categorized form, which makes it convenient for the customers to find their products.
The marketing mix adopted by selected business or business unit contributes to the success of the organization in meeting their overall business objectives
HelloFresh follows all the challenges and trends to approach them with a solution by providing consumers with their needs and demand for better quality. The company provides balanced and healthy meals from scrape at their doorstep. HelloFresh has built a strong brand image by providing home delivery and customized meal solution in the global market. The company's goal is to change how customers eat by providing them with a safe, home-cooked, convenient way to enjoy a meal and a fully-prepared meal to the customers. The company's value proportion provides personalization, great tasting healthy meals, highly convenient, high value for money, and enjoyable product experience for its customers. Hellofresh provides data-driven food and many optimizations and creates a recipe by combining market-specific input from experience. Their food trend is based on ingredient-based points and customer feedback or rating. Hellofresh uses an optimizing tool that identifies customers' needs and demands concerning cuisine, ingredients, menu mix, and protein diet (Ravangard, et. al. 2020). The company has built a global network that offers an efficient supply chain based on a zero inventory model, global scalability, and a sustainable supply chain that benefits customers and suppliers. The company follows price-driven and quality procurement strategies backed by analytics engines. HelloFresh has detached several stepladders and intermediaries in the supply chain. This results in faster delivery of fresh items and allows it to detain the product edge across the whole value chain.
Figure 2: HelloFresh mission
(Source: Kwittken , 2018)
Justified recommendations
HelloFresh can offer an increased selection of add-ons like fruit boxes, ready-to-eat meals, snacks, soups, desserts ad seasonal boxes to attract a large number of customers. Due to postponement in delivery the meal get damaged which leads to health problem like food poisoning. This damages the reputation of the company because of customers' bad experiences. The company needs to offer speedy food delivery to the customer to satisfy the customers and protect its brand image. HelloFresh meals are quite similar to its competitor food packages which do not give any competitive edge (Thabit and Raewf, 2018). The company should invest more in marketing strategies by offering innovative and tasty meals to the customer which helps them in gaining a competitive advantage.
Part 2 Marketing Strategy, And Advertising Activities Planned For The Period
A strategic marketing plan with mission, corporate strategy, and objectives of organization
Strategic marketing is a performance through which a business separates itself from its competitor by focusing on power to offer better value and services to its consumers. The goal of strategic marketing is to make the most of an organization’s positive discrimination over its competition through the consumers’ needs and desires. A marketing plan is a step-by-step process for positioning the advertising efforts of a company in a specific period (Westwood, 2022). It outlines the promotional, marketing strategy, and advertising activities planned for the period. An effective marketing strategy helps the company to implement corporate strategies and achieve the company's objectives (Opresnik, 2018). Supermarket chain relies on outstanding marketing strategies to distinguish their outlets and gain competitive advantages in the retail industry.
SMART marketing objectives
An organization while identifying a marketing plan considers SMART objectives which help the company in long-term goals. The objectives should be measurable and attainable to achieve the targets on time. The SMART insight stands for measurable, specific, time-bound, relevant, and actionable which helps the company to achieve its objectives and goals (Whitler, 2018). These objectives are based on actions that increase the sales of products and build customer loyalty.
Marketing research for new product line
Market research for new product development can help companies to focus on different areas of the business to enhance their performance. The research helps the company to gain knowledge of current market trends, industry sales volume, and customer needs. The new supermarket business should identify specific customer segments and create a competitive analysis of the industry (Ayodeji and Kumar, 2019). The case company should focus on different geographical demands for the services which will increase their sales and revenue.
Situation analysis
Marketing audit
A marketing audit is a efficient and comprehensive analysis of the marketing background of the business. It covers the company's objectives, strategies, goals, and principles to identify any weaknesses or areas of opportunity. It also recommends a course of action that best go with the needs of the business (Anthonj, et. al. 2020). The companies while performing retail store audits should consider stock levels, sales volume, pricing strategies, store location, competitor's strategies, and many other factors (Hakimovna and Muhammedrisaevna, 2022).
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Strength
· Marketing and promotion techniques
· Quick and efficient delivery
· Better price range
· Quality customer services
· Brand equity
· Large distribution network
· High return on investment
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Weakness
· Small margin
· Many channels of advertising campaigns confuse customers
· Overpriced products
· Technological changes
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Opportunities
· Environmental trends and eco-friendly policies
· Rapid growth in a retail business.
· Focusing on customer preferences
· Investing in research and development
· Identify new trends
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Threats
· High competition
· Increasing regulations
· The increasing cost of raw materials
· Weak supply chain (Benzaghta, et. al. 2021).
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Pestle analysis
The technological advances and economic trends have geared up the market to fit multiple big retail businesses. The supermarket business can do pestle analysis to ensure the impact of external factors on the business. Political factors like government policies and political stability affect the business operation (Thomas, et. al. 2021). The retail industry must use technological advances in their product to attract customers with innovation.
5C analysis
The 5C's of marketing is the most common tool used in situation analysis to assist marketers in making well-informed promotion assessment. The 5C's are collaborators, consumers, company, competitor, and environment. Retail firms can use this model to make better decisions and this also helps companies to gain competitive advantages over their competitors.
Competitor analyses including marketing segmentation
Market segmentation is the process of subdivision of the market based on customers' preferences and needs. This helps the supermarket company to improve its ability to exploit and identify new market opportunities for expansion. It is also important for implementing efficient strategies in the business (Camilleri, 2018). Market segmentation improves customer satisfaction by satisfying their demands.
The new product value-proposition in the eyes of the customer
Product positioning helps supermarkets to plan the shelf space in a way that lad to customer satisfaction and increases sales. The brand must encourage retailers to order their stock and place them in a way that increases their sales and profits.
Marketing strategies applied to a marketing mix
A business must determine its target market and should develop marketing mix strategy to assemble the requirements of the market. The utilization of a marketing mix is an outstanding way to put the right product in the right place efficiently. The Marketing Mix is a crucial technique that helps to understand what the product offers for successful business operations. The marketing mix is executed by the 4 P’s of marketing i.e. Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. The supermarket offer variety of products from various brands. Price is an important element that affects the value that consumers recognize they got from buying a product (Wichmann, et. al. 2022). The distribution channel consists of retailers through which the products are passed to customers. Retailers should continuously communicate with customers through effective promotion techniques.
Marketing budget including allocation of planned spend
Budgeting plays a crucial role in preparing a company's marketing plan. It is a detailed outline for the allocation of resources in marketing activity. The supermarket needs to develop an effective marketing budget which helps them in identifying goals and the most favorable channel for reaching the customers. The business should identify marketing goals to generate direct sales to increase revenue. To create an effective budget the company needs to determine long-term as well as short-term goals to implement the marketing strategies (Minatogawa, et. al . 2020). The company needs to survey different customer segments to target a large audience. The manager should also decide the investment budget for marketing channels and brand awareness campaigns.
Tactical action
Tactical marketing is the accomplishments of a specific tool that can help a business in achieving its marketing goals. It also performs individual advertising activities such as conducting social media campaigns, publishing blog posts, generating leads, and hosting events. The company should carefully define the tactic strategies which will help them in achieving targets and goals. The supermarket can take an actionable step that supports large marketing objectives. The company needs to identify business goals by considering the area where the company needs improvement. The retailer should also define the current status of its existing customers and determine the locations. Effective tactical actions also include analysis of the company's weaknesses and threats such as competition, market change, inefficiencies, and limited resources. The retailer should also design marketing strategies that include brand awareness for customers.
Control and monitoring measures
Return on marketing investment (ROMI): it is a metric used by businesses in marketing to measure the efficiency of the campaign. It is used by companies that provide an additional level of control and forecast future cash flow. It also helps the business to improve its market effectiveness. It benefits the company in assessing their project market productivity and also reviews marketing budgets (Jönsson and Zahn, 2018). It allocates limited marketing funds over competing products, brands, media, markets, and marketing mix elements.
Customer lifetime value (CLV): it is a metric that is used to track the customer experience. This metric is lesser in cost which helps the company to keep existing consumers rather than targeting new customers, this will enhance the value of the existing customers to grow the business rapidly. CLV helps retailers in segmenting their target customers to get success across the entire customer base. This metric benefits the company in implementing strategies like advertising, price, sales, and customer retention to achieve the goals by increasing profits and reducing costs (Zorina, 2019). When the company knows its customer segment it can increase the spending to ensure maximum profits and starts to attract specific target customers. CLV forecasts help the company make advanced decisions around staffing, inventory, production capacity, and others. Without a prediction, the company overspends and wastes resources.
Comprehensive media plan
The media plan is the process by which retailers determine when, how, and where customers are given an advertising message. Media planners examine the channels, audiences, and advertisements to determine the well-organized way to communicate a message to the target audience. Markets are required to serve customers the right message, at right time, and on the right channel. An effective media plan consists of formulating a strategy and evaluating its effectiveness.
Media budget
Planning a media budget creates an effective marketing campaign. To attract customers to shop from online and offline stores the supermarket firm must set a media budget for the promotion and advertising of the products (Nurhasanah and Amril, 2019). The company should allocate its budgets based on marketing objectives, target audience habits, customer segments, public relations, and seasonality.
Recommendations
Print & Digital Promotion: customers ensure that they get the best value for the money that they spend on products. The retailer should contact those customers in the channels and need to create campaigns showing offers where the customers are browsing.
Seasonal campaigns: supermarket owners should offer seasonal campaigns which help the business sales to increase rapidly. Providing discounts on seasonal attracts a large number of customers.
Customization in-store advertisement: the retailer should always advertise their brand which matches the store color palette so that the customer can begin to generate a strong and positive connection with the brand.
Promotional prices: media activity for supermarkets is to offer promotional discounts. This will also make loyalty coupons and cards to represent customers back to the store to buy the product.
Appropriate digital, offline, and social media channels for communication
The company should use valuable online and offline marketing techniques and strategies to make products reach a large number of customers. The company should define its target audience and should communicate a clear message with the best-suited media channel. Marketers invest more in digital marketing campaigns to attract large customers with innovative products. The customers are target based on market segments like culture, age, and many other factors. Offline advertising channels include direct mail, newspaper and television advertisements, print advertisements, and many other ways.
Justification for a multi-media plan based on quantitative and qualitative criteria
Quantitative measure mainly focuses on numerical values and the growth over particular time period. This research is useful for advertising consultants as well as marketers creating a digital marketing strategy. The company can do research which helps them to analyze the efficient decisions for improving their product and brand name. The most common quantitative sources are social surveys, structured interviews, official statistics, Google analytics, and observation. On the other hand, quantitative research does not involve collecting numerical data and numbers.
Conclusion
This report has discussed marketing strategy of the Supermarket Company which helps the company in achieving its long-term goals. Marketing is a business strategy that is implemented through the promotion and advertising of products and services to reach the target audience in the global market. It is an overall plan made by marketers to reach potential customers and gain the company's objectives. This research is based on opinions and motivation to achieve the overall objectives of the report. The report has also highlighted the process of marketing that the company implements to enhance its sales and revenue. The supermarket business can do pestle, swot, and 5C analysis to ensure the impact of internal as well as external factors on the business operations.
References
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