Customer analysis :
Confectionery purchases remain heavily skewed towards women, where penetration is higher than for males in all product categories.
This table shows that children are also an important category of customers within the confectionery market. This is particular true for bars of chocolate items when children (5 to 9 years old) purchase more than 90% of those products in UK.
Competitor analysis :
The major competitors of Candice are:
- Cadbury Schweppes PLC
- Nestle Holdings (UK) PLC
- Mars UK Ltd
- The Wrigley Company Ltd
- Kraft Foods UK Ltd
Cadbury Schweppes PLC :
Cadbury Schweppes PLC currently leads the UK confectionery market with a share of around 31%. The company is a global player in both confectionery and beverages, operating in overseas markets. In the year ending 2nd January 2000, Cadbury Schweppes PLC’s turnover increased from £4.3bn to £4.11bn representing a rise of 4.7%.
Nestle Holdings PLC :
Nestle Holdings (UK) PLC is the subsidiary of the Swiss food and drink conglomerate Nestle SA. It also manufactures beverages, dairy products, soups, sauces, pet foods and breakfast cereals.
In the year ending 31st December 1999, its turnover decreased very marginally to £1.82bn.
INTERNAL MARKETING AUDIT
Scrutiny of an organisation enables systems to ascertain its strengths and weaknesses. It focuses on the activities and performance of the company in the light of the external marketing environment therby establishing a relationship between the Control Environment and Audit Testing.
There are several vitals that underpin the Internal Marketing Audit.
Operating results: For an organization like Candice to achieve the desired objectives, they need to emphasise on certain aspects, i.e. Sales, market share, profit margins and costs.
SALES:
The above-mentioned table substantiates the sales figure for Candice for the last 5 yrs. The peaks and troughs clearly show that the year 2003 has been a golden period for Candice.
Market share:
Americans love chocolate candy, consuming more than 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate each year, or 11.7 pounds per person. The U.S. chocolate confectionery market has shown growth of 11% from 1998 to 2003, but the forms in which consumers prefer their chocolate candy appear to be shifting, as indicated by growth in certain segments of the market (Chocolate 2003).
Having looked at the table we can now deduce about the reputation of Candice in the US market. It’s very emphatic as per industry’s point of view. This clearly shows that the product is effectively positioned in the mind of consumer and the consumer has preferred it.
Profit margin :
Precisely it’s the cost that can play the major role in the mind of consumer. Candice desires to target all economical groups so that every person can afford the items it produces, thus following effective segmentation technique. It sets the price at affordable rates. It can’t vary its price according to the elasticity of market as they are in Oligopoly, i.e. they can’t change the price if they are situated in more than one city.
Strategic Issues Analysis :
Every firm follows a concrete strategy in order to achieve desired objectives. Strategy is used to forecast and to efficiently utilize the resources of the firm. Since Candice’s moving to UK market, there are several essentials which it’ll need to undertake for its survival and growth. Candice’s Main Objective is to launch its first range of Edible products into the UK market.
The company should segment the middle class public so as to get a firm grip of the market and subsequently attaining desired objectives. Its competitors are immensely
famous amongst local public and thus it’ll have to segment according to the composition of population in order to capture a high market share.
The competitive advantage of Candice is its new variety chocolates which it’ll introduce in the UK market. Moreover the US culture will have some excitement in the minds of consumer so as to how they actually make their chocolates and biscuits. This could be a healthy way to appeal people to get them persuaded towards the products.
Core competencies identifies units of competency at a standard that an industry has agreed to. It is essential to be achieved if an Organisation is to be accepted as a competent at a particular level.
Candice has got several core competencies:
- Adaptability
- Client Focus
- Communication
- Organizational Awareness
- Problem Solving and Judgement
- Results Orientation
- Teamwork
Candice should have a set of unifying principles for their firm. It has given top-notch preference to quality and that could be a healthy feature for them in entering markets as well. Since Candice is coming from US, they have a unique style of making chocolates, which can help them to create an individual identity in the market, which is threshold to consumers’ heart.
Marketing Mix Effectiveness:
Candice intelligently uses the Marketing Mix to differentiate its products and services from its competitors and to devise its marketing strategy. Marketing Mix is a combination of seven elements used by management to provide customers with what they require at the right time, the right price and in the right manner
Marketing Structures and Systems:
This is vital for Candice in order to organize and affirm its position in the UK market. Now we shall elaborate on some marketing structures.
The concept of Market Structure is central to both economics and marketing. Both disciplines are concerned with Strategic Decision-Making. In Decision-Making Analysis, market structure has an important role through its impact on the decision-making environment. The extent and characteristics of competition in the market affect choice behaviour among the actors (Boumal 1961). Market structure, at best, only provides an average of consumer diversity.
Marketing Training is essential if employees are to reach their potential. Training should help them feel like they are improving and creating better opportunities for themselves. Training is anything an employer does to help employees learn to do their work the way the employer wants them to do it. Training is an investment in people, benefiting both the employer and employee. This would amplify the over all structure of Candice.
Its important for Candice to have a competitive and efficient marketing and computer Information Systems to coordinate, and direct research and design the computer-related activities of firms. They help determine both technical and business goals in consultation with top management, and make detailed plans for the accomplishment of these goals. For example, working with their staff, they may develop the overall concepts of a new product or service, or may identify how an organization’s computing capabilities can effectively aid project management.
Thus, the new skills that employees gain after transformation or training will help the employees to be more efficient at work. Therefore, the increase of the efficiency will help the company to perform better and so provide a good service that the public required, even to exceed their expectations and so gain the market share.
SWOT ANALYSIS
We shall now look at a methodological tool which will aid us in carrying out a strategic Planning Process for Candice. This is known as a SWOT Analysis and is used by Companies to evaluate the position of their business and also for determining their Management strategies for the future market. Candice being established in the UK, will have the following Strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
After carrying out a Marketing Audit and Swot Analysis for our chosen company, the next step on the Agenda was to specify the Marketing Objectives for Candice. These are the aims and goals which Candice would be trying to achieve as an Organisation through its Marketing activities and Business. Two types of Objectives are taken into consideration: the Strategic Thrust and the Strategic Objectives.
Strategic thrust:
The Strategic Thrust makes it possible to identify the Market in which the Product is to be sold, thus defining the Future direction of the Business. In this case, Candice is planning to enter into the UK Market with its exquisite taste of Chocolate products. Basic Alternatives have been summarized for the Strategic Thrust of Candice which can be seen in The Ansoff Growth Matrix illustration below.
Strategic OBJECTIVES:
Strategic Objectives for Candice will relate to the outcomes that will strengthen the overall business position and Competitive vitality.
Strategic objectives for each Product made by Candice would need to be agreed. It is at this point the Process of Planning begins at the Product Level with 4 major alternatives.
These are :
- BUILD
In order for Candice to be successful they need to build their market share and sales.
This is a vital point as it will be giving Candice stability. This is a sensible step for the company to take for the present time and also long term. Increasing and building shows a healthy sign of development
(2) HOLD
Holding market and sales shares are equally vital for the success of Candice.
Holding on to something which the company already has can be of great benefit. This is something which the company already has and cannot loose very easily. Therefore Candice will not have to make a huge amount of effort to try and make more as they will be securely holding something as it is.
(3) HARVEST
This is where sales and market shares are able to fall but profits are maximized. This is a technique which may also be used by Candice. The sales of the various different chocolates and market shares may be allowed to fall but overall the profits would be maximized. Overall Candice would be improving their profit margin by taking on this technique.
(4) DIGEST
This is the stage where the product is dropped or sold in the Market Place. This is where Candice would actually drop all their products which they produce or to sell them all off. This is known as the Digest Process where andice will interact with Consumers and Suppliers so as to carry out their daily Business Activities.
CORE STRATEGY
Now we shall look at the Core Strategy which would be followed by Candice for the efficient running of it’s Business. This is a Development Plan Document which sets out the vision, strategic Objectives and core policies which will be needed by Candice for the spatial development of it’s Industrial Environment.
The Core Strategy comprises of 3 components which leads to it’s existence:
TARGET MARKETS :
To ensure an effective launch it is important to highlight and define the end customer,
in terms of consumer habits, profile and dispensable income. In this Case Candice, would be Targeting consumers based mostly in their new UK market, thus enabling a vast Communications Network to be established between both the countries and directly affecting the Overall Business. This market when established would be given more Preference and Importance than the US, thus Targeting is said to take place.
After deciding which Markets have to be Targeted it becomes essential to divide Consumers into various groups or segments, These segments could be in terms of Customer’s taste, values, beliefs, Age, Sex, Intelligent Quotients (I.Q) or even weight. This procedure is known as Segmentation which makes it easier for Marketers like us to carry out Research and Analysis.
After Segmentation and Targeting of Markets is entirely complete, it is necessary to influence the overall perceptions of the potential and valuable customers by developing a specific Marketing Mix which we shall study further. This stage is known as Market Positioning and is carried out so as to improve the Organisation’s Effectiveness and
Brand Image. A systematic version of STP Processes (Segmentation/Targeting/Positioning) occuring can be seen in the diagram below.
Evaluate market segment Target Marketing Strategies
Undifferentiated market
Fit
Basis of Positioning
Positioning
COMPETITOR TARGETS :
The second stage is for Candice to choose Competitor targets. A difficult battle to be won
as most of its established and Fully grown opponents have already been carrying out their
Business in the UK for very Long. These competitors for the Confectionary Industry would include: Cadbury, Bendicks, Thorntons, Mars, Nestle, Wrigley and many more.
First task for Candice would be not to take all of them at once but to target and select the
Weak competitors. They will be viewd as easy prey and the Companies resources can be allocated and channelled to attack them.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE:
Perhaps gaining a Competitive Advantage is one of the most important aspects of a Business plan. This can only be achieved by Candice by satisfying and benefiting their customers in such a way that it’s Competitors find it difficult and Uneconomical to replicate. It is for Candice to challenge it’s Weak competitors by showing quick Anticipation of Customer’s needs, superior Quality and Service and above all to maintain this relationship.
There are 4 generic Competitive Strategies which could help Candice gain a Competitive Advantage. These are Diferentiation Strategy, Cost Leadership, Differentiation Focus and Cost Focus. At the present stage when Candice would be entering a new Market, we feel that it would be Differentiation Strategy and Differentiation Focus which will help to establish it’s Foundation. The former would help Candice to attract Customers by providing a fast and good quality service in addition to good taste giving the customers a reason to prefer the product over it’s competitors. The latter we believe, would enable Candice at this stage to take over it’s Weak Competitors by allocating it’s resources efficiently and productively.
MARKETING MIX DECISIONS
Candice can use the Marketing Mix to differentiate its products and to devise its
Marketing Strategy. Marketing Mix is a combination of elements used by the Management to sell their products in the market. There are Seven elements of the Marketing Mix namely; Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Physical evidence, Process and People.
PRODUCT:
Candice can offer the UK Market a variety of products with it’s popular range of Countline chocolate bars including Peanuts, biscuits and Toffee centre varieties. However, due to intense Competition in the Market it needs to differentiate it’s Products and can do it by introducing new Confectionary items. These need to be designed by keeping in mind the Customer’s choices regarding Brand Names, Features, Quality, Design, Packaging, Warranties and additional services that will accompany the Product.
PRICE:
Entering the UK Market will be a big challenge for Candice and it needs to sell it’s
products at Competitive prices. It can also offer lower prices online. Candice needs to adopt a Marketing-Oriented Pricing Strategy. Techniques such as Trade-off Analysis, Economic value to the Customer and Experimentation can give Candice estimates of Customer value but a great deal of Management Judgement still enters the occasion. Pricing is also influenced by Positioning strategies, new Product Launch strategies, Competitive Marketing Strategies and ethical issues which could be taken into consideration.
PLACE:
The Target Market for Candice is UK. It needs to consider the most suitable Distribution Channels, Location of it’s outlets and methods of Transportation. It can also Target certain Locations in the UK such as the North of England. A key decision is effectively Managing the flow of it’s products to the Consumer. It needs to carefully analyse and make decisions about it’s Distribution system so that the Products reach the Consumer at the right time and place.
PROMOTION:
Candice can promote it’s products through Advertising on TV, sponsorship and direct mail. It uses the internet to keep its customers informed about products, new technologies and special offers.
Advertising about their websites on TV, in newspapers, magazines, posters, on the exterior of buses can make people aware of their online services. Advertising should have a clear objective of targeting a particular audience and should be consistent with the other modes
of the promotional mix. Direct Marketing can be used by directly mailing customers about new products and services online, inserting leaflets in magazines and catalogue marketing.
Candice can use Sales Promotion by having competitions, price discounts, prize promotions, and money off on their websites. Candice can use public relations by organizing exhibitions of their products and participating in trade fairs. The people
visiting these places should be encouraged to visit the company’s websites for placing
order for their products and arranging free home delivery facilities (Jobber 2003).
PEOPLE:
The People making and delivering the Product play a vital role in making the Customer’s Experience a memorable one. Hence, they need to be aware of the Customer’s needs and expectations, be efficient and competent.
By providing front line personnel with an insight into the customer, Candice can personalize their customers experience and in this way, become more helpful to that customer during a shopping experience. Candice can keep a track of the date of key Life Cycle Events such as Birthdays, Valentines Day and Anniversaries, in order to alert a customer and suggest items that may be of interest to him.
PROCESS:
This is another element of Service and the Extended marketing mix which is a means of achieving an outcome at different points in time. For Candice, it will be the overall actions carried out by the Company which would lead in enhancing Customer Experience. E.g Customer buys the Product once for the first time, tastes it, adores and cant resist it, finds an attachment towards it and then he buys it again in the near Future, recommending to his friends and family too. Second example can be taken of the same customer who completely satisfied with the quality of Candice Products decides to send exquisite and tasteful Chocolates to his friends and family on occasions like Valentines Day and Birthdays. This stage will only occur if the Customer finds an Attachment towards the Company like in the first example.
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE:
These are the Tangible evidence of a service, including everything which can be seen, touched, smelt and heard (Pearson 2005).
Candice needs to make sure that it’s products not only satisfy customer’s taste buds but also are Packaged beautifully. Their Location such as their Placement on the shelves of Supermarkets is also important making it easier for the Customer to get well acquainted with the Product.
ORGANISATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
In order to establish in an efficient way Candice will have to structure a well-organised hierarchy for execution of tasks and meeting the desired objectives. In my view, the main goal of the HRM within the company is the manpower management. It has put all its resources to transform the inputs to outputs to enable the employees, the environment and the company to be efficient and so produce good service. Since it’s a different land altogether they will need to create an emphasis in the market so as to attain a fair market share and build in a decent brand image. They will have to managing brand equity. This can be achieved through:
- Designing and implementing branding strategies.
- Introducing and naming new products and brand extensions.
- Managing brands over time.
- Managing brands over geographical boundaries and market segments.
CONTROL
Control is the final stage of Marketing Planning Process. Its main aim is to evaluate the results of the marketing plan so that corrective action can be taken if performance does not match the objectives. Candice needs to undergo these processes for its growth. Managers’ needs to stand back from week-by-week and month-by-month results to critically reassess whether plans are in line of their capabilities and environment. They have to feasibly approach the roots of the deviation if it’s been caused during the course of action. SWOTAnalysis and PEST-G are foundation blocks which will help Candice to scan and assess the current market condition. Marketing audits will help them assessing the internal capabilities and external environment. Thus, all the above mentioned stages are vital and are like branches of a tree called ‘Candice’ without which it might not be able to floursh.
APPENDICES
APPLYING PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL ANALYSIS FOR CANDICE CONFECTIONARIES
The five forces model developed by Professor Michael Porter is a micro-environmental model used to identify an organization’s competitiveness. It helps a firm to increase its potential by being aware of its competitors (Sloman and Sutcliffe 2004). We will scan Candice’s microenvironment by using Porter’s five forces model as illustrated in the figure below.
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