Marketing Processes And Planning Part 2 Case Study

Introduction - Marketing Strategy and Competitive Analysis of Wheezy

The online grocery industry in the UK has been growing at the fastest rate in the current situation. The current report is based on the marketing plan of the Wheezy Company, which is planning to launch healthy and energetic bars in the market. Brexit has a negative impact on the working of the organisations in the UK and leads to increasing inflation. The company is able to create a loyal customer base but is lacking behind in providing the healthier option to the individual. The company is aiming at increasing the sales by 10% at the end of the current year for which the marketing plan has been produced. The company is using the cost-effective strategy for determining the price and social media marketing for promoting the product in the market. KPIs and the benchmarking technique have been used to determine the efficiency of the marketing plan.

Situation Analysis

Pestle analysis

Political factors: Rule and the regulation for the working of the UK retail industry have been impacted by Brexit. This had created political instability and uncertainty in the country (PESTLE analysis of the retail industry in the UK, 2023). The government has continuous change in the tax policy if the country impacts the cost for the organisation.

Economic factors: The inflation rate in the country has increased, which has changed the spending pattern of the customers. There is high fluctuation in the currency because of Brexit.

Social factors: The company is impacted by the changes in the needs and preferences of the customer. These will include the changes in the lifestyle, attitude and the buying habits of the customer, which impact the profitability of the company’.

Technological factors: Regular upgradation in the technology made it necessary for the company to invest in the new technology. Increasing the use of the digital method to complete the routine task and identify the upcoming trends in the market.

Legal factors: The organisation needs to comply with the legal requirements of the retail industry. The company needs to follow the standard for the FSA target and food safety.

Environmental factors: The UK government has placed emphasis on the zero-waste policy that the company needs to follow (Achinas, et al., 2019). The packaging of the product should not include the plastic and the material must be recyclable.

SWOT analysis

Strengths: The company is operating in the online mode so it has covered a large number of customers. Provide goods at a cheaper rate, as no middleman is included in the process of the distribution, which helps in attracting more customers. The company is able to create customer loyalty by properly obtaining their feedback and solving queries.

Weaknesses: The company is unable to provide goods according to the customisation because of the small areas of operation. The offering is not including the healthy food options, which do not attract individuals with the healthier lifestyle.

Opportunities: Today, most of the individuals are focusing on the healthier option in the food & drink sections (Phadermrod, Crowder and Wills, 2019). The company did not have many options for the healthier and more energetic food & drinks. Products in these ranges should be introduced by the company, which will help in attracting and gaining new customers.

Threats: In the UK, there is a high amount of competition in the retail industry, which made it difficult for the small company to maintain its existence. As the company is following the penetration pricing strategy, it will be difficult for them to increase their profitability.

Porter's 5 forces analysis

In the retail industry there is a threat of new entrants in the industry, as there are not so many complicated laws that need to be followed for entrance in the market. In the retail industry, buyers have strong bargaining power as the retail industry is operating in a perfectly competitive market (Arifin, et al., 2019). The supplier does not have high bargaining power due to the availability of a large number of competitors in the market. There is a high threat of substitution in the retail industry.

Market Objectives

The company is aiming at increasing the profitability to have sustainability in the industry. The goals could be achieved by the objective of increasing the sales by 10% at the end of the year.

Marketing Strategy

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning:

• Segmentation: The health bars will be segmented on the demographic basis. Hence, customers will be segmented on the basis of age and lifestyle.
• Targeting: The main target will be the individual with the age group of 14-40 years who are focused on living a healthy lifestyle.
• Positioning: The bar consists of the protein and the fats in a balanced amount, which will help in maintaining the energy level. The product will be provided at a lower price than the competitors' pricing.

Marketing Mix

There are 7 P’s of marketing that have been used to successfully identify the needs & preferences of the customer. It aims at launching the product, which will be useful in satisfying their needs. The marketing mix related to the new product launching by Weezy is as follows:

Product: The company has undertaken the market survey through which they have identified that the individuals in the UK are more concerned toward the healthier and more energetic bars. To fulfil the need of the target market, the company has decided to launch a range of healthy juice and bars.

Price: The company will be using the cost leadership pricing strategy, which helps in determining the exact cost for the product (Jindal et al., 2020). The profit margin will be added to the cost of production, which will help in determining the price of the product for the consumer.

Place: The healthier bar could be stored for a longer time without the fear of being spoilt. The company will be using the online mode of the distribution for making the product available to the customers.

Promotion: Under this, the company is aiming at including the digital method for promoting three products (Li, Larimo and Leonidou, 2021). Social media marketing is the crucial strategy that will help in attracting more customers through giving advertisements on Instagram and Facebook. The company will also promote their product through the advertisement on the TVs. Influencer marketing will also be used, which will help in making the most of the young generation.

People: This includes various stakeholders who are impacted by the profitability of the organisation. The customer feedback and queries will be solved by the implication of the websites where they can share their views. The company will focus on providing effective financial and non financial incentives, which will be helpful in retaining the employees in the organisation.

Process: The company is using a direct selling method for offering products to the customers. This includes no involvement of the intermediaries in the distribution process, which will help in reducing the cost for the consumers.

Physical evidence: The product will be sold with the primary packaging, which will also be done with the material that does not impact the environment.

Action Program

Controls And Monitoring

The company will use the benchmarking technique to identify whether the objective that has been set is achieved or not. Various financial, operational, and HR key performance indicators will be used as the standard on which the performance will be monitored. Deviation will be identified and the appropriate measure will be undertaken to reduce the differences.

References

Books and Journals

• Achinas, S., Horjus, J., Achinas, V. and Euverink, G.J.W., 2019. A PESTLE analysis of biofuels energy industry in Europe. Sustainability, 11(21), p.5981.
• Arifin, F.A.S., Syah, T.Y.R., Indradewa, R. and Pusaka, S., 2019. Sales and Marketing Strategies Duck Nugget Product Using Porter’s Five Force and SWOT Analysis. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic, 3(4), pp.71-75.
• Jindal, P., Zhu, T., Chintagunta, P. and Dhar, S., 2020. Marketing-mix response across retail formats: the role of shopping trip types. Journal of Marketing, 84(2), pp.114-132.
• Li, F., Larimo, J. and Leonidou, L.C., 2021. Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49, pp.51-70.
• Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R.M. and Wills, G.B., 2019. Importance-performance analysis based SWOT analysis. International journal of information management, 44, pp.194-203.

Online

• Pestle analysis of the retail industry in UK. 2023. [Online] available through:< https://www.scribd.com/document/117023053/pestle-analysis-of-retailing-industries-in-united-