I think that my marketing strategy for Classic Cola would be mainly customer oriented, looking at how I can improve the product in order to meet customer requirements and boost sales. As I will carry out market research, I can look at what the customers think of the products and then adopt and adapt my marketing approach to help meet their many different needs and expectations.
2D. Communicating effectively with customers to satisfy their expectations
An effective network of communication is essential for any form of promotional activity.
It enables a business not only to communicate with its customers and satisfy their expectations but also to build an image.
The various tools used to communicate with customers to satisfy their expectations are known as the promotional mix.
Non-controllable communication is marketing messages that occur as a result of word to mouth or personal recommendation.
Controllable communication is marketing messages that are carefully directed to achieve a businesses promotional objective.
In my marketing strategy for Classic Cola, I think I will include a type of promotional campaign. Through my research, and from what consumers have told me, I have come to the conclusion that there is a lack of advertising done by Classic Cola. I will consider all different areas of the media for promoting the products, for example, television, radio, newspapers and magazines etc. I will also take very much into consideration what consumers think, to make sure I provide sufficient information in a variety of different ways.
Based on this principle, I will carry out market research before choosing the marketing strategy I would use. I would then use the results from the market research to identify and understand the ways in which I could improve the product in order for it to meet customer expectations.
E2
3A. Questionnaire on Classic Cola
Q1. Gender?
Male [] Female []
Q2. Age?
05 - 11 [] 26 - 30 [] 46 - 50 []
10 - 15 [] 31 - 35 [] 51or over []
16 - 20 [] 36 - 40 []
21 - 25 [] 41 - 45 []
Q3. Have you tried J-Sainsbury’s Classic Cola before?
Yes [] No []
Q4. Do you prefer Coca Cola or J-Sainsbury’s Classic Cola?
Coca Cola [] Classic Cola[] None []
Q5. Do you think Classic Cola is value for money at 64p for a 2-litre bottle?
Yes [] No []
Q6. Where you attracted to the packaging at first sight?
Yes [] No []
Q7. What other soft drinks you drink apart from Cola?
Q8. How much money do you spend on soft drinks every month?
£_______________
Q9. How many people drink Classic Cola in your household?
0 [] 1 []
2 [] 3 []
More []……………………………………
Q10. How do you think J-Sainsbury’s Classic Cola could be improved?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
3B. Result for the questionnaire
I did with questionnaire with 20 random people. 10 were men and 10 were women. The results I got were interesting because only 5 out of 10 men have every actually tried Classic Cola and I got the same result for the women.
As you can see 10 out of 20 people have tried Classic Cola, which I think is not good enough. People may not be aware that there is such a product, and so I need to find ways of people knowing there is such product available in the market.
Average amount of annual income
3C.
By looking at this table I can see that people who have bought or tried Classic Cola before are people on high incomes.
This information is very useful as I can decide if I can raise or lower prices for Classic Cola in the future.
What age group are you in?
3D.
By looking at this table I can see that people aged 25+ consume Classic Cola more then any other age.
This information can be very useful to me in the future, for advertising, because I know the age group to target so I can advertise Classic Cola.
3E.What other type of soft drinks would you buy?
By looking at this table I can see what types of different soft drinks people drink. This information can help me in the future if I wanted to make a new soft drink, and by knowing what people like to drink I can decide what soft drink to produce.
3f.How many people are there in your household?
By looking at this table I can see that people who have 3 or more people in their household buy Classic Cola.
This information is very important to me because I can analysis this information, which can help me when I want to launch new promotion. E.G. I can sell Classic Cola in 4 packs at the cheaper price then buying 4 single bottles.
BOSTON MATRIX
E3. 4A.
Like Ansoff’s Matrix, the Boston Matrix is a well-known tool for the marketing manager. It has two controlling aspect namely relative market (meaning relative to your competition) and market growth.
This is simplistic in many ways and the matrix has some understandable limitations that will be considered later. There are four main sections in a Boston Matrix grid:
Problem Child
These are products with a low share of a high growth market. They consume resources and generate little in return. They absorb most money as you attempt to increase market share.
Star
These are products that are in high growth markets with a relatively high share of that market. Stars tend to generate high amounts of income.
Cash Cow
These are products with a high share of a slow growth market. Cash Cow generate more and more than is invested in them.
Dog
These are products with a low share of a low growth market. They do not generate cash for the company they tend to absorb it.
By looking at the Boston matrix I can see that Classic Cola is a cash cow product as Classic Cola has a high share of a slow growth market. Also Classic Cola generate more money then invested.
4B.Ansoff’s matrix:
Market penetration
Existing products marketed to existing customers. Using new methods of marketing and promoting within the same area, to keep the existing customers buying the existing products without any alterations.
Market development
Existing products are promoted across a new market. Keeping the existing product without any alterations to a new market. This can be risky, but the previous market should give a rough idea on the success it will have in this market.
Product development
This is a new and developed product, which is marketed to existing customers who are familiar with the brand. The aim is to increase the sales by offering new or further developed products to the existing customers who currently by the existing products.
Diversification
Completely new products are marketed to completely new customers. This is very risky, because if sales figures are not high it could mean that the product is going to be unsuccessful in the market, acting as a loss rather than a method of profiting. This usually takes place on a small scale to monitor the progress of the product, to see if the product is selling well, and whether or not it is an appropriate product for expansion.
E3 linked with C2
5A. THE MARKETING MIX
In order to implement a marketing strategy that meets customer’s need, I have to pay attention to the basic ingredients of the marketing mix, otherwise known as the four P’s. This involves matching the product to consumer needs, determining the price, deciding where and how the product should be placed in the market and promoting through publicity, advertising and sales techniques.
From this we gather the four P’s, which are, Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
5B. PRODUCT
When designing a product strategy, it is important to identify precisely what is being purchased in terms of customer benefits and how these help to satisfy a particular need. This means that it is essential to be clear about what the product provides.
When developing a product, a marketing department must identify the three levels of satisfaction, and then design a strategy that allows customer satisfaction to be achieved at each level. This includes consideration of issues such as branding, packaging, labelling and the development of a range of products to cover all the stages of a product life cycle.
5C. Branding
Branding helps to identify a product and differentiate it from those of competitors. It is used to establish consumer loyalty and, in so doing, makes demand more price inelastic. It can also convey a feeling of quality and reliability.
5D. Packaging
Packaging can combine with branding to differentiate the product. It also helps to attract attention, describe our product and, ultimately, make the sale. A more affluent consumer is prepared to pay for the convenience, appearance, dependability and prestige that are communicated through better packaging.
5E. Labelling
Labelling contributes to the perceived quality of the packaging and, ultimately, the product. This is because it helps to identify the product type and the brand clearly. It might also grade the product, describe its features and provide promotion through suitable graphics.
6A. PRICE
Pricing is the only aspect of the marketing mix that directly produces revenue; the other aspects all involve costs. Therefore, it is extremely important to get the pricing strategy right as this determines the financial success of Classic Cola.
When I develop a pricing policy, I need to consider its strategic objectives, the price elasticity of demand for the product, the costs associated with the product, and competitor’s prices. These are the four stages to cover.
First, pricing objectives should reflect my organisations overall objectives. If my organisation’s overall objective is to maximise profits, it will estimate the potential demand and select a price, which maximises current profits.
Second, through market research, my organisation needs to establish the level of demand for the product at different prices. From this analysis, it may be possible to derive a demand schedule and determine the degree of price elasticity.
Third, my organisation needs to identify the costs associated with the product. Ultimately, the price must, in the long term, recover the costs of producing, distributing and selling the product, and be sufficient to generate profit.
Fourth, pricing should be competitive. It is important to analyse competitor’s prices and offers. Information can be gathered directly, by sending out researchers to compare prices and offers in the shops or by studying the prices of competitors.
Having taken these four stages I can then go on to select a pricing method. It should produce a price, which reflects the organisations objectives, the price elasticity of demand for the product, the organisations costs and competitor’s prices. It can choose one of six main approaches to pricing: cost plus pricing, target profit pricing, perceived value pricing, competitor based pricing, market skimming or market penetration pricing.
6B. PLACE
The marketing department has to deliver the product to the consumer as and when it is required. The extent to which this is achieved depends upon decisions regarding the location of the production organisation, the availability of the product and the method by which it is distributed.
6C. Location
Decisions on location should take account of the convenience of access for customers. The development of shopping precincts and out-of-town shopping centres and hypermarkets means that many consumers expect to be able to buy a range of products from one location. This is a lot easier for consumers and time saving them, who can obtain all their need in one, go.
6D. Product availability
I will have to make decisions regarding place, which ensure the availability of products and services when customers need them and in the quantity they require. This basically means that my organisation of production, storage and distribution must contribute towards the realisation of the consumer’s expectations.
6E. Distribution systems
The channels and system of distribution determine the way in which products reach the market. The marketing department seeks to establish the most efficient system so that the product is available at the right time and in the right place. A successful system depends upon efficient and rapid transportation and the quality of packaging.
6F.Direct marketing
The place component of the marketing mix does not just comprise decisions about location and distribution. There are a range of techniques that would allow our business to approach potential customers directly. By using different styles of communication like the telephone, post and the Internet, our company can target potential customers anywhere.
Direct marketing methods include, direct mail, telemarketing, the Internet and leafleting.
7A. PROMOTION
The purpose of promotion is to communicate directly with potential or existing customers, in order to encourage them to buy the product and recommend it to others. The main promotion tools are sale promotions, public relations and advertising.
7B. Sales promotion
A sales promotion is an attempt to communicate with our customers and encourage them to purchase or stock the product as well as to recommend it to other people. Consumer promotions are used to encourage potential consumers to try a product and, hopefully, to purchase it again. These may involve free samples of the product, discount coupon or voucher, free gifts, buy one get one free, etc.
7C. Public relations
Public relations is all about publicising and promoting a positive image of an organisation’s achievements with a view to influencing customers to buy products. Major retailers spend a great deal on public relations to promote a responsible, caring and high-quality image. Other companies carry out public relations to:
Increase understanding of the company, its scope and products
Bring the company and its products to the attention of a wider audience
Generate more business and profits.
8A. Advertising
Advertising is an important part of an organisation’s promotional activities. It’s the most effective tool and is used to inform, persuade and publicise to remind customers about our products and activities. Advertising is a mean of increasing sales. When a product is new on the market and nobody has ever heard of that product, advertises are put up to show what the product is.
When a business wants to advertise they have to think about how to advertise and what they need in order to advertise. Advertising cost a lot of money so businesses have to carefully plan out how to advertise or they will be spending so much money on advertisement and won’t gain anything from it.
There are several places in which businesses would want to advertise their product. They could advertise in the newspaper, magazines, television, radio, transports (buses, tube trains and taxis), etc.
From all this information we can see how the marketing mix can help us see customers needs.
E4. 9A.
SWOT Analysis: SWOT analysis is a technique much used in many general management as well as marketing scenarios. SWOT consists of examining the current activities of the organisation – its Strengths and Weakness – and then using this and external research data to set out the Opportunities and Threats that exist. SWOT stands for Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats.
SWOT analysis on Classic Cola
There are many opportunities for Classic Cola in the future to increase sales, but there are also many external influences, which are making people change the way the eat.
By looking at the swot analysis for Classic Cola I can see that faces high competition from other soft drinks like Coca Cola and Pepsi.
Also the world food organisations are trying to encourage people to stop dinking cola products as it damages health.
9B. PESTEL Analysis
Another way of analysing my company’s external environment is to do what’s known as a PESTEL analysis.
PESTEL Analysis:
Political influences
Political influences on my product would be taxes I.e. V.A.T value added tax, when my product goes on sale it will have a set price which will be to cover cost and make a profit and to cover tax deductions which the government charges. However children's shoes are exempt from taxes so when my product goes on sale the price for children's sizes will be lower as they don't use up as much material and they aren't charged tax for where as adult trainers are so they will be more expensive. Also the government might intervene with the manufacturing process of my product if there is a sudden shortage of raw materials which are used to make my product which result in preserving the raw material and less manufacturing of my product.
There are many political influences concerning the food industry. These influences will all depend on how well the product will be marketed.
The percentage of obesity among young children has increased as the years have gone by. This is due to the fatty unhealthy foods, which children are eating, as they are unaware of the health hazards and are drawn towards brand names and popularity in the food society. The government is advising companies to supply healthier foods.
Economic influences
There are many economic influences concerning the food industry. These influences will all depend on how well the Product will be marketed.
In order to increase profits in businesses, markets are taking advantage of customers. They are doing this by selling brand named unhealthy products, which children enjoy eating. So therefore the products popularity increases which means that there is more profit coming in from the marketing of that particular product.
Economical Factors, which could influence the success of my product, would be the rate of inflation because the current rate of inflation is about 2 and half percent. So if I plan to make 1million pounds in ten years time I have to take into account that 1million pounds this year might only be worth 8 hundred thousand pounds in ten years time so my goal have to be realistic and allow for inflation. Also if unemployment is at a low it could affect my target market as most unemployed people are young either dropped out of school of just finished university or have no money to purchase my product this could affect sales figures. As energy becomes more in demand the price of it might go up or companies might be required to use less of it
Social influences
I also have to consider the social factors such as the environment my product has to be environmentally friendly when it being used and when it is being produced e.g. the gases which can cause pollution the materials cant be harmful towards the environment of wildlife.
Technological influences
When marketing a new product or manufacturing a new product new technology plays a big part as it can help you cut costs and help you be a lot more efficient. It brings new opportunities to the management and to the low level workers i.e. e-mail and top of the range machines that don't need to be supervised by anybody that can do the job in a quicker time and to a higher standard.. It can help with energy saving which again will reduce costs. It will help introduce new materials, which could be environmentally friendly if my product was made of products that were friendly to the environment it might influence people to by it. If technology gets better then my competitors will have better technology and more opportunities to create high quality products, which could affect the sales of my product
Environmental
Materials and chemical that are involved in the making of the product have to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Legal
On any service or product there are legal restrictions and standards for example on my product as there is a highly competitive market for them you are not allowed to take some one else design’s or ideas. Or you couldn't take a product out on the market already and claim it to be yours or put your logo or design on it. Also you cannot create a monopoly in the market there has to be some sort of competition otherwise the competition commission will intervene as the company which creates a monopoly can price fix this will not benefit the consumers at all as if they want a cheaper option there wont be one as a monopoly is one company who dominates the market without any competition.