Executive summary
When
it considers on the business operations and the marketing strategies of the
company, the brand of the product has a significant influence on the sales,
revenue as well as ultimately to the profit of the company. However, the brand
management of the company and the product is important to handle by the
marketing team of the company and it can be identified as a responsibility of
the marketing department as well as the top management of the company.
To
develop a marketing plan, the company must consider on the internal and external environmental factors within the
company. Here, the SWOT and the PESTEL
analysis can be identified as important. By identifying the internal strengths
as well as weaknesses with respect to the external environmental factors, the
company can decide and make the future decisions in relation to the future
objectives of the company.
Strategic
marketing plan development includes the establishment of the marketing
objectives and identification of the ways to achieve those objectives with
respect to the pre-determined marketing budget as well as well-planned project
plan criteria. Here, in this report, it is expected to forecast the marketing
budget plan for next two years of the selected brand of the company.
The
setting of the key performance indicators to measure the performance of the
operations or the marketing effort is another important factor here and it further
identifies the KPIs for the selected market plan to measure the performance and
the success of the marketing plan of the company.
As
such, this is based on one of the most famous brands
in Sri Lanka, which is ABC Soap, a brand under the multinational company of
Unilever. Here, the report is focusing on developing the marketing plan for the
ABC Soap for next two years in Sri Lanka.
Table of Contents
03. Quantification of Opportunities by setting
objectives
04. Strategy development and critical justifications
Advantages of segmentation to the company
4.4 Strategies to meet the unmet needs of the customers
in the market
05. Develop execution plan and marketing budget
5.3 Expected sales volume forecast
5.4 Project financial statement
06. Identification of KPI to the company &the
performance management system
6.2 Performance management plan for the company
List of Tables & Figures
Table 3 - sales
volume forecast
Table 4 - Project financial statement
Table 5 - The Key Performance Indicator
Table 6 - Performance management plan
01. Introduction
ABC Soap can be identified as a
brand which is famous in the soap industry of Sri Lanka since 1900 and
incorporate the operations by manufacturing in the country in 1940. Since then
the ABC Soap brand has developed by adding changes to the products for providing
more convenience to the consumers.
When it comes to consider on the
commencement or the starting point of this new brand, it can be identified as
in the year 1884 by William Lever. He created a soap which is mainly for the
purpose of washing clothes, with the ability of
rinsing the dirty spots more cleanly than other soaps. Here, it focuses
on marketing with low prices to be more affordable to the customers while
giving protection against the diseases and improvement in hygiene.
As such, in today’s market, it can be identified that the ABC Soap
has enjoyed more than 75% of the market share as the No. 1 product in the FMCG
industry in Sri Lanka. The Brand of ABC Soap has offered with the people’s
bands of the year in 2011 and Brand Icon of the year in 2004. It can also be
identified as the most recalled Brand in FMCG industry in Sri Lanka more than
12 consecutive months.
1.1 Brand competition
As
per competition for the ABC Soap from the other soap types in the market, it
can be identified that the current market has considerable market competition with
the brand such as Lifebouy, Wonder light,
Diva, and etc. However, the brand with the customer’s mind over 115 years ABC
Soap has achieved a considerable market share over the competitors through the
loyal customers to the brand as well.
According
to competition in the market, ABC Soap has to make more efforts to attract more
customers through differentiating the product by adding more changes, smells,
cleaning agents and etc. As the result of increasing the competition, ABC Soap has further motivated to
use more strategies to compete with the competitive
firms in the market as well.
1.2 Market size
As
per the market size of the ABC Soap, it can be identified that the ABC Soap has
currently achieved more than 75% of the total market share from the market in Sri Lanka. However, the
customers in the market who use the soap and detergent powder to wash the
clothes will have a considerable interest on the price as well as the ability
of the soap to clean the dirty spots in the cloths.
As
such the market size of the ABC Soap is significant with respect to the other
products in the soap industry. According to that,
ABC Soap has significant promotional strategies which they use in order to make
the product more familiar to the customers. Further, strategies can be
undertaken by the company by considering the promotional techniques by the
company for the future progress of the company.
1.3 Consumer Behavior
With
respect to the brand under the well-established company of Unilever, it can be identified that the ABC
Soap has a considerable market share due to its loyal customer base in the
market. However, as per the detergent powder market, it can be identified that
the Wonderlight has also had a completing
position in the market, where the customers are also preferred for the quality
of the powder as to clean the clothes well.
The
consumers highly consider and attract to the advertisements
and the ideas which are generated through those different media to attract the
customers to purchase the products more. As in such a case, the customers can
be highly influenced through using promotional campaigns in the market of the
soap industry. (Mark, Glynn
& Arch, 2012)
1.4 Competitor
analysis
When
it considers on the competitors of the soap industry, it can be identified that
there are different
types of soaps in the market such as beauty soap, herbal soap, baby soap as
well as for the cloths washing soap. As such,
from all these types of soap, there is a
significant effect on the ABC Soap in its market to develop more with the
competitors’ dynamic changes and aggressive competitive strategies in the
market.
However,
when it considers on the soap for cloth cleaning, the more customers use ABC
Soap and on the other hand, in the detergent powder industry, it affects with
the high competition from the Surf Excel detergent powder, which is also a
product of Unilever. However, as a well-established brand, ABC Soap still have obtained a considerable market share in
the market with respect to the other competitive firms in the industry.
1.5 Pricing and Profitability
The
management of the Unilever and the ABC Soap Brand managers mainly consider in pricing
the product with respect to the competitive pricing strategies in the market.
Here, the competitor’s prices are relatively same as the prices of ABC Soap. As
the most of the soaps are under the Unilever, they prefer to offer based on the
similar pricing strategies compared with the other products in the market.
As
such the pricing can be identified as competitive pricing with comparing to the
other product prices where ABC Soap prices are more affordable to the customers
which is Rs.50/= for 100g bar.
When
it considers on the profitability of the market for the ABC Soap, it can also
be considered that the increment in the sales led the company to increase the
profit of the product as well. Here, ABC Soap has continued its production with
a lower cost and supply it to the market for near Rs.50/=. As such, profitability
of the brand is relatively higher with comparing to the other brands of the
company.
02. SWOT and PESTEL Analysis
When
it concerns on the brand ABC Soap, it can be identified that the brand has
significant market share in the clothing soap industry. However, to analyze
about the brand, further, it is important to identify and get to know about the
SWOT factors as well as the PESTEL
factors which affect to the company internally as well as externally. (Robert,
David & Bruce, 2012)
2.1 SWOT Analysis
SWOT
analysis considers on the internal
strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats of
the market. Here, the following table identified the SWOT factors related to
the ABC Soap brand and its products in the soap or the FMCG industry.
|
Strengths ·
A well famous brand within the customers over 110 years in Sri Lankan
market ·
Brand is facilitated by the well-established multinational organization,
which is Unilever. ·
Skilled management team as well as the executive level employees within
the company. ·
Goodwill of the brand over the years about the quality of the products supplies to the customers ·
Higher market shares for the brand in the industry. ·
Top ranked brand in Sri Lankan market |
Weaknesses ·
Lower consideration on the competitors in the market ·
High self-confidence on the brand and the products of the company ·
Low level of consideration on the new product differentiations in
recent years ·
Less opportunity for the lower level employees within the company to
express the ideas to the top management.
|
|
Opportunities As the reputed brand, the company
can expend the brand through different
related products. Opportunity to add more smells and the chemicals which help to clean
the cloths well. Considers on healthy materials to use, where the customers are more
health conscious in today’s world. |
Threats The rise in
other competitive brands with different brand names. Increase the
use of detergent powders which is easier to use with. Increase in
the use of washing machines, which result to reduce the use of soap, However, the ABC Soap detergent powder can be
benefited from this. Many brands
in the market with the similar pronouncing names of ABC Soap such as, Wonderlight, Perlwhite and etc. |
According to the all the above factors,
it can be identified that the Brand ABC Soap has a significant effect on it's internal as well as the external
environment of the company. However, to analyze about
the external environment, further, it is important to identify the PESTEL factors of the company in detail as
follows. (Kotler &
Keller, 2009)
2.2 PESTEL Analysis
Political Factors
Here, it considers on the
political influence on the soap industry in Sri Lanka. Here the special
regulations and laws relating to the industry are
considered as the political factors, further,
the price ceiling and price floor situations in the industry is important in this regards.
Economic Factors
Here, the economic factors
considered on the factors such as expendable income of the consumer, the proportion
of expenses incurred by the customer from the income they received. Further, it
considers on the consumer behavior and
the other economic factors related to the soap and the FMCG industry.
Social Factors
Here, the social factors
consider on the customs rituals and the other cultural and social effect on the
buying pattern of the customers. Further, the habits of the customers to make
the purchases are also considered, based on that the life patterns of the
customers of the soap market is also influenced
to the sales of the ABC Soap in the soap
industry.
Technological factors
Here the changes in the
technology, the advancement in the production systems, the use of new
techniques to the production process of the company are considered. As such, the technological factors also influence
to the reduction of the cost of manufacturing as well as increase the
productivity of the company in its operations other than the competitive firms
in the industry.
Environmental factors
When it considers on the environmental factors, it identifies the
effect of the environment due to the changes in the operations of the
production in the soap industry or how the soap industry and its related
elements affect to the environment, which is in a good way or an adversely.
Legal factors
Legal factors refer to the laws
and regulations related with the soap and FMCG industry and with the consumer
buying behavior to its operations. Here, the legal factors are also combined
with the political factors in the country. However, the company must confirm with the laws and regulations of the
country which can be affected in the future of the company.
When it is considering on all
the above PESTEL factors the company, it can be identified the effect of the
soap or the FMCG industry how linked with the ABC Soap brand and how the
environmental changes affect to the
future operations of the company in detail.
03. Quantification of Opportunities by setting objectives
According to the previous section, it can be identified that there are
many opportunities in the market to improve the product as well as use
different promotional techniques to improve the sales revenue of the company
further. (Robert,
David & Bruce, 2012)
According to the identified opportunities,
the following set of objectives can be set by the company in order to improve
the brand image and future success of its operations.
|
Opportunities |
Objectives |
|
Few
competitors in the cloths washing soap
market |
Increase the market share
further to more than 80% of the total market |
|
Only
few variations in the products |
Introduce products with
different categories and variations in the products supplied |
|
Only
have all purpose soap types, where they can be segmented the market by
introducing the product categories varied according to the purpose and the
size of the soap |
Introduce the soap with
different sizes and the type of the cloths
and the nature of the cloth type |
|
More
consideration of the customers about the health and safety conditions |
Produce the soap by
considering the sanitary and facilitate to the good health of the people. |
However, by considering the
above opportunities, the company can consider on
creating new ways and methods to achieve the long term success within the company. Here, the objectives must
be in lined with the vision and mission of the company which facilitated to
contribute and underpin the future strategies of the company in its future
operations.
04. Strategy development and critical justifications
When it considers on developing
the business strategies for the identified brand ABC Soap, it can be identified
that the company must mainly consider about the
STP strategies which is about the
Segmentation, Targeting and positioning
the brand in the market. As such, these STP strategies must be cleared
identified in relation to the ABC Soap as follows. (Mark, Glynn & Arch, 2012)
Figure 1 - The STP strategies
4.1 Segmentation
Segmentation refers to the
division of the total market into separate small markets & then, the
company can serve the market with identifying the needs and wants of the
segment and satisfy their needs as required by them. Here in this scenario, the segmentation can be identified
based on different aspects and variables. As such, in common the segmentation
variables can be identified as follows.
ü Geographic
segmentation
ü Demographic
segmentation
ü Psycho-
graphic segmentation
ü Behavioral
segmentation
|
Base |
Description |
|
Geographic segmentation |
Geographic segmentation considers on the segmentation of the market
based on the cities, region, state, and countries that the company serves.
Here, when it considers on the ABC Soap,
they offer the same product category to all the geographical segments. As
such, the variations depending on the different locations can be practiced by
the ABC Soap to make the customers more delighted about the products and its
ability to satisfy the needs. |
|
Demographic segmentation |
Demographic segmentation segmented
the market based on the factors such as gender, age, religion, nationality,
social class, income level. family life cycle and etc. Here, when it refers
to the scenario of the ABC Soap, it can be identified that the brand ABC Soap
also can be segmented based on some of the demographic factors such as income
level, social class, family life cycle and etc. As such the company has to make some of the differentiations to
the product and its specifications. The size
attributes the quality of the ABC Soap Soap can be changed according to the
segment selected by the company. |
|
Psychographics segmentation |
Psychological segmentation refers to
the variables such as values, lifestyles, personal traits and etc. Here this
segmentation is based on the life pattern of the customers, as such the ABC
Soap and its market also can be segmented based on the life style of the
customers, where the detergent powders and the soap types can be differentiated
based on the needs and wants of the customers. Here, the company can
introduce new soap type to wash the white cloths
other than the normal cloths of the
customers. |
|
Behavioral segmentation |
In this Behavioral segmentation, it considers the segmentation
of the customers and the market based on the knowledge, as well as the
perception of the customers about the product. Here, it can be identified
that the ABC Soap can also use this to meet the needs and wants of the
customers and supply the required product to the customers. |
Figure
2 -
Segmentation
Advantages of segmentation to the company
·
Help
to focus on the segment market
·
Facilitate
to increase the competitiveness
·
Help
to expand the market
·
Customer
retention and improve the loyalty
·
Increase
the communication within the segment
·
Increase
profitability
4.2 Targeting
Here
in this strategy, it considers on the selection of the most suitable market to
serve by the company. The targeting considers
on the segment that the company can best serve and the segment that the company
can full fill the needs and wants of the customer easily and without failing. (Mark, Glynn & Arch, 2012)
As
such, ABC Soap and its brand can choose the target market by considering the
different segmentation variables and the sub-segments
identified in the previous section of the STP strategies.
4.3 Positioning
Here,
in the positioning, it considers on the
making the product or the brand of the company more familiar to the customers. This
strategy must be carried out by identifying the benefits and values of the
product to the customers. In positioning,
it identifies the differentiations in the product with other competitive
products in the market. As such, it can be identified as an important task to
the company as well as to the product in its future portfolio. According to that, the positioning tries to identify the
needs and wants of the customers along with the attitudes of them bout the product and the brand.
Usually, the positioning facilitates
to guide the customers for making their purchases into a particular brand and
build a strong position in the mindset of the customers.
4.4 Strategies to meet the unmet needs of the customers in the market
To
identify the unmet customer needs in the market and satisfy those by delivering
required services with required product features, the company has a responsibility towards the customers.
Here for that purpose, the following
strategies can be conducted by the company to identify the unmet needs. (Mark, Glynn & Arch, 2012)
Focus
groups
Focus
group helps the company to identify the issues related with the service or the product offered as well as it helps to
interact with the customers. This focus group mainly made out with the
customers of the company and helps to identify and discuss the problems related
with the product of the customers.
Discussions
with employees
Here,
by discussing with the employees, it
helps to get the ideas of the employees about the changes required to the
product and the different unmet needs of the customers in the market.
Customer
surveys
Through
conducting electronic or the written customer surveys, it helps the company to
identify the needs and wants of the customers. The customer’s feedbacks can be
identified as the most important factor to continue the operations by satisfied
and loyal customers. Here the customer's
survey helps to identify the unmet needs and wants of the customers as well as
the feedback and complaint of the customers in detail.
Development of Market execution
plan
To develop the desired market
strategies within the company, it is important to have a proper execution plan
within the company. Here, the company has the target to improve the market
share and the sales further to increase the sales revenue in future operations.
However, for that, the following process
of activities must be carried out by the company to make the operations
successfully. (Kotler &
Keller, 2009)
Develop objectives
To carry out the marketing
campaign successfully, it is important to have a
certain marketing objectives within the company and then, the company
can force the employees to handle the operations and take the best-required outcome from them. The well-informed employees about the targets of
the marketing effort will perform effectively to carry out the operations
expected by the company.
05. Develop execution plan and marketing budget
5.1 Execution Plan
In here, the objective of the
company is to increase the sales and find new customers to the company. As for that, the customers must be achieved by the
company by identifying the needs and wants of the customers and develop
marketing strategies within the company.
|
Plan
the strategies |
In this stage,
the company has to plan and develop the strategies to achieve the marketing
objectives of the company. Here, the company has to plan the strategies by
discussing with the management of the company also by identifying the
strengths and weaknesses of the company. |
|
Execute
the marketing campaign |
Here,
the marketing strategies include the personal selling, advertising, direct selling and etc. to
manage the operations of the marketing campaign. As to execute the marketing
campaign, the company must be identified the strategies to execute and the
activities to handle the future operations of the company. |
|
Measure
the results of the marketing plan |
After conducting the marketing
strategies, the company must identify the success of the marketing process of
the company by measuring the results of the marketing effort. Here, the
marketing objective as to improve the sales of the company, the sales revenue
of the company in relation to the previous sales revenue must be measured. |
|
Make
corrective actions or continue the operations |
In the
final stage, the company can identify the
reason for the deficiencies in the marketing results and make suitable
corrective actions against those strategies are important. |
Table 1 - Execution Plan
5.2 Marketing Budget
As according to the identified marketing objectives to
increase the sales revenue of the company, the following draft marketing budget
plan.
|
Budget category |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
|
Advertising ·
TV Commercials ·
Paper advertisement |
1,000,000 800,000 |
1,500,000 1,000,000 |
|
Mechanizing |
1,200,000 |
1,500,000 |
|
Publicity/
Public relations |
1,500,000 |
2,000,000 |
|
Agency fees |
1,000,000 |
1,400,000 |
|
Direct
selling |
500,000 |
600,000 |
|
Total
expenses |
6,000,000 |
8,000,000 |
Table 2 - Marketing Budget
5.3 Expected sales volume forecast
Through
the strategic management plan, it is
further expected to increase the sales value, volume as well as the
profitability of the company. Here, the table shows the drafted amounts that
are expected to increase throughout the years of operation in next two years.
|
|
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
|
Sales Value |
10,000,000 |
15,000,000 |
|
Sales
Volume(50 piece box) |
4000 |
6000 |
|
Profits (Rs) |
4,000,000 |
7,000,000 |
Table 3 - sales volume forecast
5.4 Project financial statement
|
Description
|
|
Year
1 |
Year
2 |
|
Income |
2000*250 Per pair |
10,000,000 |
15,000,000 |
|
Advertising ·
TV Commercials ·
Paper advertisement |
|
1,000,000 800,000 |
1,500,000 1,000,000 |
|
Mechanizing |
|
1,200,000 |
1,500,000 |
|
Publicity/
Public relations |
|
1,500,000 |
2,000,000 |
|
Agency fees |
|
1,000,000 |
1,400,000 |
|
Direct
selling |
|
500,000 |
600,000 |
|
Other expences |
|
500,000 |
400,000 |
|
Total
expenses |
|
6,500,000 |
8,400,000 |
|
Profit for
the year |
|
3,500,000 |
6,600,000 |
Table 4 - Project financial statement
*Assume
that all these figures are drafted amounts
06. Identification of KPI to the company &the performance management system
6.1 KPI
The Key Performance
Indicator is a type of measuring tool within the company about the
effectiveness and efficiency of the operations to achieve the objectives set by
the management. Here the KPI can be set for the different level as well as for
the different departments of the company or for the entire organizational
operations. As the measurement of the performance of the company, it is expected to achieve a high level
of performance and target achievements within the company. As such in relation
to ABC Soap, as their main objective to improve the sales revenue of the
company, the following KPIs can be identified with the company. (Kotler & Keller, 2009)
|
Increase the sales by 10% |
As the first parameter, the company is expected to
increase the sales by 10% from the current sales volume. Here, the sales of
the company can be increased by incurring the marketing expenses and more
marketing strategies within the company. |
|
Increase the market share |
As
per current market share of the ABC Soap soap, it can be identified that the
company currently has achieved near 70% of its total market. From using such
marketing strategies, the company is
aimed to achieve the market share and increase it by more than 10% from the
current position. |
|
Reduce the customer complaints |
By
using public relations and other marketing strategies it is expected to
reduce the customer complaint and get the customer feedback on the current
performance of the company. Here the ABC Soap can identify the feedback of
the customers by conducting customer surveys and feedback analysis of the
brand of and products of the company. |
|
Increase the repeat and loyal customers |
Here
this KPI ensures that the company can have a loyal customer base and repeat
customers to their products. This can be achieved by delivering a better
service to the customers and satisfy their needs as expected by the
customers. Further, the company can use
loyalty card system or the special benefits for the loyal customers of the
company. |
Table 5 - The Key Performance Indicator
6.2 Performance management plan for the company
|
Performance
criteria |
Description |
|
Achieve the sales targets |
Set the sales targets for the sales agents of the company
and review the weekly target achievements of the employees |
|
Reduce the selling and distribution cost |
Inform
the employees about the expected cost targets and motivate the employees to
reduce the cost of selling within the
company |
|
Increase the no of repeat orders |
Review and examine the results on weekly and monthly basis
about the repeat customers to the company and increase the no of repeat
orders |
Table 6 - Performance management plan
As by developing the performance management criteria within
the company, the management can motivate the employees by improving the commission
amount and special sales targets to the employees. (Robert, David & Bruce, 2012)
Conclusion
In this report, it has identified ABC Soap as the selected
brand which is one of the most famous brands in Sri Lankan market since last
few decades. Through this report, it is expected to identify the marketing
strategies which are conducted by the company and by identifying the current operational
strategies furthermore.
To develop the marketing strategies, it is important to
identify the SWOT and PESTEL analysis within the company and in relation to the
brand. In such a case, the company can plan its strategies well by using its
strengths and opportunities while minimizing its weaknesses and threats to the
company.
Further, it has identified the
marketing objectives of the company and identifies
the segmentation, targeting as well as positioning strategies to the new set
strategies for the company. As to achieve the objectives, the company has also
need to develop a proper execution plan and a marketing budget. Here in this report,
it has identified an execution plan for the target marketing objectives and the
draft marketing budget for the company.
When it considers on the performance
management of the company, the KPIs are important to identify and it helps to
the company to identify whether the company achieves
their targets successfully. As such, the report has analyzed those KPIs for the
company and to improve the brand image within the industry successfully.
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