This is the result from question five. It shows that Dairy Milk chocolate is the overall favourite type, but not by much. Dark chocolate is only slightly more popular than plain chocolate. Milk chocolate is the main type of chocolate used in chocolate bars, so I would expect it to be the most popular.
This is the result from question six. It shows that nut/fruit is the most popular filling, but not by much. Caramel and honeycomb are equally as popular, and fudge is the least popular. There wasn’t much of a difference between the popularity of the fillings, but as nut/fruit was the most popular I will use that. Although I haven’t done a pie chart for question seven, which was “What is your favourite chocolate bar”, the majority of the people asked said things like Fuse, which backups up the case for the use of nut/fruit.
This is the result for question eight. The majority of the people asked said they would eat more chocolate if it contained added vitamins/minerals. This shows that there is a market for ‘healthy’ chocolate. The results also show that there aren’t many chocolate bars that contain vitamins/minerals, so the market will be unsaturated and could even be a niche market.
This is the result for question nine. It shows that over half the people asked are very concerned about their health. This compliments the findings made in the last question, and the results point to the fact that people would like more healthy snacks.
This is the result from question ten. Over ninety percent of the people asked said they didn’t eat chocolate as a supplement for a meal. This shows that there isn’t a market for chocolate as a meal supplement, only as a snack.
This is the result from question eleven. The majority of the people asked said they would try a new product straight away. This shows that the majority of people who eat chocolate would try a new chocolate bar.
This is the result from question twelve. The results show that slightly more people wouldn’t buy on recommendation than would. This shows that certain advertising methods could be ineffective.
This is the result from question fourteen. This shows that the majority of the people asked pay the most attention to TV advertising. This shows that advertising on TV would be the most effective method.
What I have discovered from the questionnaire
From the questionnaire I have discovered many things that will be important to consider when marketing the new chocolate bar. The amount that people tend to spend on chocolate bars is between twenty-one and fifty pence, so it would be a good idea to price the chocolate bar somewhere within this price range depending on the pricing strategy. The favourite types of chocolate are closely matched, but Dairy Milk is the most popular so it would be wise to use this type of chocolate in the new chocolate bar. The most popular type of filling is nut/fruit, so a ‘Fuse’ type chocolate bar would be the most sensible decision to make. This type of filling should also be used because the results of the questionnaire shows that people would eat more chocolate if it contained vitamins and minerals, and nuts and fruit could easily have more minerals and vitamins added to them. The case for adding vitamins and minerals is strengthened further by the fact that most people are very concerned about their health, and so would rather eat healthier foods. By making chocolate ‘healthy’ by adding vitamins and minerals it would open up a new niche market and attract many more customers.
The questionnaire also helped me decide on what type of marketing to use. The results show that people pay the most attention to adverts on the TV, possibly because the TV uses motion pictures and sound, but it would be extremely expensive. One of the questions I didn’t make a pie chart for was question thirteen “Where do you buy chocolate from?” because of the number of different places that came back. The most common response was from shops within local communities, and not so much large supermarkets for individual chocolate bars, so selling the new chocolate bar at small community shops is probably the best option.
Marketing the Product
The four ‘P’s’
Now that I have done some primary and secondary market research, I have to decide on the Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Product
I have to design the concept for a new chocolate bar for Chocolate Plc. Now that I have done some market research I can take the results of that research and design the chocolate bar.
The results show that Dairy Milk is the most popular type of chocolate, so I will use that as the foundation of my chocolate bar. As the most popular filling is nut/fruit I will use this type of filling. The actual content will include apple, banana and orange. As this is going to be a ‘healthy’ chocolate bar, extra vitamins and minerals have to be added to the bar. I researched vitamins and decided that vitamins A, C and D should be added, as well as calcium and iron. The mixture will need to be tested and refined until it is ready for mass production.
The next thing to design is the packaging. The packaging has to be a colour that is related to the natural world and good health, i.e. green or light blue, to emphasize the healthiness of the chocolate bar. BP chose a similar packaging tactic when promoting their ‘environmentally friendly’ angle by re-imaging themselves/garages and trucks in green and using a sunflower as their logo. This apparently works in fooling the consumer into feeling more at ease with polluting the environment. There would also need to be pictures relating to the natural world and healthiness. The packaging also has to appeal to the target audience, which are twenty one to thirty year olds, as the secondary research I collected shows.
The final thing the chocolate bar needs is a brand name. The brand name will have to communicate the naturalness and healthiness of the chocolate bar, and as with the packaging it will have to appeal to the target age group. I will leave the brand name to Chocolate Plc to decide upon. Chocolate Plc also have the advantage of brand loyalty, so the brand name should not affect the sales to much as long as the Chocolate Plc logo is on the packaging.
Price
I have to decide on a pricing strategy to use with my chocolate bar. The strategies I can use:
● Penetration pricing – When a company set a price for a product lower than rival product in order to attract customers and break into a market.
● Competitive pricing – When a company sets a product’s price at the same level as similar products.
● Cost plus pricing – When a company adds a percentage to the cost of production to decide the price.
● Price skimming – when a company sets a high price because it is expected that people will be willing to pay more for a new product.
I believe that, depending on the amount of profit the Chocolate Plc want to make,
There are two possible pricing strategies that can be used. The two pricing strategies
that can be used are price skimming and cost plus pricing. I believe that these are the
only possible two because the new chocolate bar is entering a niche market, so
penetration pricing can’t be used, and because it is a niche market there are no other
products, so competitive pricing can’t be used either.
The two main choices are cost plus pricing and price skimming. I think that the pricing strategy of price skimming should be used, because looking at the results of the market research a lot more people would buy a ‘healthy’ chocolate bar and be willing to pay a higher price than for a normal chocolate bar. Chocolate Plc could use the cost plus pricing strategy, but I believe that it would only increase sales slightly, so it would be a lot more beneficial to use price skimming.
Place
I now have to decide where to sell my new chocolate bar. My market research shows that most people buy individual chocolate bars from small local shops, not big supermarkets, so these would be good places to sell the chocolate bars. However, I would still use large supermarkets to sell multi-packs of the chocolate bar, as a customer in a supermarket is much more likely to buy a number of the same chocolate bar than an individual chocolate bars. Supermarkets would also be a good place to do consumer testing, as there is a wide variety of people from a large area.
Promotion
The next thing I have to do is advertise my chocolate bar. There are many ways of advertising a product. I researched a few methods of advertising.
The chart above shows a few different methods of advertising and the cost. The most cost effective place is the radio station GWR, as you are reaching nearly half a million people for only forty-five pounds. I recommend that GWR and other local radio stations are used around the country for the most cost effective advertisement, and also the Carlton TV station during peak time, as this has the largest audience. I also think that the new chocolate bar should be advertised in the sun, as it has a different type of audience than Carlton TV does. This will maximise the amount of people who hear about the new chocolate bar.
Conclusion
From my finding I discovered many things about the confectionary market. I found that the type of chocolate bar people want is another Fuse type bar. Most of the population care about their health a great deal, and so it would be a good idea to exploit this when marketing the new chocolate bar. Basically, the general public want a chocolate bar with out such a fattening factor to it, which is what should be done by adding extra fruit and vitamins.
Recommendations –
Beyond my findings, it is obvious that politicians and society are increasingly anxious about their health. Because of this I would advise that a ‘healthy’ chocolate bar is produced to satisfy the population’s need for healthy foods and snacks.
Bibliography
I used the following sources of information to help me with my report:
Business Studies GCSE book
www.quickmba.com
www.cadburys.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
Questionnaire
I put together a questionnaire, a copy of which is attached below, to help me decide what type of chocolate bar to create. I will mould the development of the new chocolate bar by the results of this questionnaire.
1. Age 10/15 16/20 21/30 31/51 51+
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
2. Male Female
( ) ( )
3. How often do you buy chocolate per week?
1/2 times 3/5 times more
( ) ( ) ( )
4. How much money do you spend on chocolate each time?
10p/20p 21p/50p 51p/£1 £1+
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
5. What is your favourite type of chocolate?
Dairy Milk Dark Plain
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6. What is your favourite filling?
Caramel Fudge Nut/Fruit Honeycomb
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
7. What is your favourite chocolate bar?
___________________________________________
8. Would you eat more chocolate if it contained added vitamins/minerals?
Yes No
( ) ( )
9. How concerned are you about your health?
Not very Quite Very
( ) ( ) ( )
10. Do you eat chocolate as a supplement to a meal?
Yes No
( ) ( )
11. Would you try a new brand straight away?
Yes No
( ) ( )
12. Do you buy chocolate on recommendation?
Yes No
( ) ( )
13. Where do you buy chocolate from?
______________________________________
14. What type of advertising do you pay the most attention to?
TV Radio Newspaper Internet
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
End of questionnaire.
Chocolate Plc Report Page
