Marketing Processes and Planning Assignment Sample
Assignment 2: Process benchmarking
Identifies and compares the extended marketing mix for two selected ‘luxury’ non-food products
Marketing mix can be regarded as extensively essential for the promotional and presentation purposes of the products of the company to the potentially targeted customers. Through applying the 7p marketing mix of Unilever, two different product ranges such as Dove and Seventh Generation would be demonstrated for their impacts towards the success and growth of the company.
Products
Unilever has a wide product range with 400 different varieties of brands around the world (Unilever, 2022). Furthermore, through these products, the company has a vision to provide positive impacts on the planet. Among all the products, Dove can be witnessed to be providing beauty of skin and hair to the wonderful women of the planet alongside skin and hair care of grown up women, Dove has also launched products for the sensitive skin of the babies. Along with that, Unilever has also exponentially marketed Seventh generation in its product range for upgrading the well being and cleanliness of the clothes. Furthermore, the seventh generation have other varieties as well such as hand wash, disinfectant, deodorant and others (Unilever, 2022). Two different products can be seen to be attracting a wide range of customers. The dependence of the company can be seen to be diversified on different products, which signifies enhanced revenues from one or the other products.
Price
Pricing strategy can be said to be crucial for attracting the target customers of the company. Thus in different products of Unilever, the company can be seen to be using different ranges of prices for marketing its products in the market. In this regard, Dove can be witnessed to be adopting a premium pricing strategy for avaliabiling its products among a certain standard of people. Whereas, the product of Seventh generation can be witnessed to be concentrating more towards providing sustainability in terms of all the aspects of its products, prices and others. Thus, its prices can also be seen to be of competitive nature, focusing on enabling the benefits of the products to every class of people (Gupta et al. 2021).
Place
Place plays a crucial role in getting the attention of a wide range of people. Availability of different products to the consumers impacts the revenge of the company extensively. Thus, for the products of Dove, it can be found both in the traditional stores as well as through the online mediums. This availability in both the mediums can be seen to be increasing the sales of the product in the company. However, the seventh generation mainly sells its products through online mediums and availability of the products in the stores are critical (Help, 2022). Hence, it can be seen to be bringing down the sales due to its shortage of availability to the consumers.
Promotion
Promotion can be referred to as one of the most crucial activities of any company in getting the attention of the customers towards the products of the company. Thus, different companies can be witnessed to be leveraging upon different promotional strategies, both through online and offline mediums for reaching a wide range of consumer base. In this regard, Unilever can be seen to be promoting different products differently. Primarily, dove can be seen to be promoted throughout the media channel and social media sites. Furthermore, different celebrities are researched for advertisement purposes of the products (Aditya, 2022). Thus, it can be said a large emphasis is given in advertisements of traditional channels along with social media platforms. On the other hand, promotion of Seventh Generation has largely depended upon the electronic word-of-mouth and different events or advocacies. Thus, decreasing the coverage or reaching to the potential consumers.
People
Primarily, people can be referred to as the personnel that are responsible towards meeting consumers and listening to their queries, complaints and others. Additionally, Unilever can be witnessed to be having a huge number of employees and a wide range of distributors, distributors, media personnel and others. These people make the vision of the company real with a significant time frame.
Process
The processes adopted by Unilever are to provide sustainable products at a diversified price range to its customers and alongside that provide uninterrupted and speedy customer services. In regards to Unilever, the company can be witnessed to be utilising chatbots for increasing the efficiency and speed of communication with its potential customers (Voqin, 2022). Furthermore with the help of chatbots technologies, customers queries can also be solved quickly, providing enough time for employees to focus on different prioritised tasks. Additionally, Unilever is also seen to be promoting new products through whatsapp chatbots due to the increased use of whatsapp among people. As per the records, around 2,90,000 messages get exchanged in 7 days and along with that, product sales has been increased by 14 times (Infobip, 2022). Moreover, Unilever has also launched ‘Bella the Bot’ for assisting skincare shoppers (Robert, 2017).
Physical evidence
Physical evidence plays a major role in creating a mentality of the customers regarding the potentiality of the product. Thus, Unilever can be seen to be providing sustainable packaging for providing the environment with a positive impact. It can be seen that consumers are inclined towards such products which are sustainable in nature. Additionally, attractive packaging is made for attracting the attention of the consumers together with providing a unilever logo and unique designs of the products.
Evaluation of marketing strategies and tactical approaches adopted by each business in meeting their overall business objectives
The main aim or objective of Unilever can be witnessed to be driving positive changes through the brands of the company. With above 1 billion people using different brands of the company and even more just by showing their advertisement on online and offline channels, Unilever can be said to be have immense power to bring real differences in the lives of people (Unilever, 2022). Furthermore, their vision is to provide positive impacts on the mental and physical well-being of the consumers and the focus has been further increased after the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, through different strategies of Unilever’s marketing, these objectives can be seen to be reaching at a phenomenal extent.
Figure 1: Revenue of Unilever
(Source: Statista, 2022)
The revenues can be seen to increase, which can be said as positive impacts of the vast marketing strategies adopted by the company. Thus, it can be said that the above mentioned, pricing, promotions, diversification of products and others are aligned appropriately for attaining the objectives of the company. Adding to that, increasing revenue can further enable the company to become more sustainable through application of innovative technologies.
Conclusions
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Unilever is a very large company with a large base of diversified products and different targeted consumer bases. Through application of effective and efficient marketing strategies, the company has been able to launch its products successfully in the market. Alongside that, the company has a vision to positively impact the planet, which further increases the chances of attracting various categories of customers into making purchases of the brands of the company. Thus, it can be said marketing strategies are in line with the objectives which can be seen to prove effective for the Unilever company.
Recommendation
It is evident that the retail giant has already been using great marketing tactics to grab a huge number of customers, but as it is willing to increase the sale of Dove and Seventh Generation it has to take some advanced strategies. It can be recommended that the company can use celebrities for promotional purposes in a more effective way if it will focus on some aspects while choosing a celebrity to promote the product. Unilever can be more active to use the characteristics of celebrities for promoting any specific product. For instance, in order to attract the young generation, the company can make the strategy for endorsement of celebrities have a separate fan base.
In this era of globalisation as like other international business organisations Unilever is also using digital marketing, though there are some ways to increase its effectiveness. Customers nowadays are always ready to check reviews before buying a product and social media influencers use to play a significant role in that (Zeljko et al. 2018). Therefore, it can be recommended to the organisation that it can involve some influencers to review their products that will influence the product demand.
Additionally, the company can involve some YouTubers to promote its products. It is evident that people are more active in online platforms as the use of smartphones has increased and that is the reason that YouTubers can be involved in the marketing of the company (Ongkrutraksa, 2021). Famous YouTubers have a strong fanbase and if they review any product in a positive manner the demand for that product can increase, which will influence the sales growth rate of specific products.
References
Aditya, S., 2022. A Complete Case study on the Marketing Strategy & Campaigns of Dove. [Online]. Available at: <https://iide.co/case-studies/marketing-strategies-of-dove/> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Gupta, V., Ivanov, D. and Choi, T.M., 2021. Competitive pricing of substitute products under supply disruption. Omega, 101, p.102279.
Help, 2022. Where can I purchase Seventh Generation products locally? [Online]. Available at: <https://help.seventhgeneration.com/hc/en-us/articles/218287417-Where-can-I-purchase-Seventh-Generation-products-locally-> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Infobip, 2022. Unilever: Promoting new Products with a WhatsApp Business Chatbot. [Online]. Available at: <https://www.infobip.com/customer/unilever> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Ongkrutraksa, W., 2021. THE ANALYSIS OF CHILD YOUTUBERS’VIDEOS IN THAILAND TO DEVELOP APPROPRIATE YOUTUBE ADVERTISING. AU eJournal of Interdisciplinary Research (ISSN: 2408-1906), 6(2), pp.34-41.
Robert, W., 2017. Unilever, Saatchi launch ‘Bella the Bot’ to help skincare shoppers. [Online]. Available at: <https://www.marketingdive.com/news/unilever-saatchi-launch-bella-the-bot-to-help-skincare-shoppers/447890/> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Statista, 2022. Revenue of the Unilever Group worldwide from 2012 to 2021. [Online]. Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/254603/estimated-revenue-of-the-unilever-group-worldwide/> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Unilever, 2022. Our brands. [Online]. Available at: <https://www.unilever.com/brands/all-brands/> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Unilever, 2022. Seventh Generation. [Online]. Available at: <https://www.unilever.com/brands/home-care/seventh-generation/> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Unilever, 2022. Strategy and goals. [Online]. Available at: <https://www.unilever.com/planet-and-society/health-and-wellbeing/strategy-and-goals/> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Voqin, 2022. unilever leadership meeting chatbot. [Online]. Available at: <https://www.voqin.com/sparks/chatboting-in-under-15-days/> [Accessed on 19 February 2022]
Zeljko, D., Jakovic, B. and Strugar, I., 2018. NEW METHODS OF ONLINE ADVERTISING: SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS. Annals of DAAAM & Proceedings, 29.
Assignment 3: Marketing plan
Strategic marketing plan with the organisational mission, strategy and objectives
Whenever a corporation pursues an ideal consumer in a more intelligent fashion, the likelihood of lowering advertising expenses and boosting the odds of getting customers into sales growth. Unilever’s corporate mission statement is to provide vitality to life in the first place (Young, 2017). The corporation’s mission statement emphasises how it serves clients in numerous fields of life.
Figure 2: Unilever’s financial achievements from 2007 to 2020
Additionally, climate change science informs their environmental policy. They are considering the restructure of internal processes while also promoting structural transformation outside of their industry. Unilever aims to assist billions of people to stay healthy, as well as to enhance the livelihood of several of countless individuals in the distribution chain and to reduce the company’s ecological footprint by half (Unilever, 2022). Furthermore, Unilever’s corporate strategy, which is a blend of intensive growth strategies, has shown to be efficient in reaching every one of these goals. Unilever’s global operations will continue to be successful as a result of this strategy.
SMART marketing objectives
| Objective | Specific | Measurable | Achievable | Relevance | Target |
| To increase traffic on company’s website | This objective specifies the importance of website building to acquire maximum number of consumers | This objective could be measured by acquiring insight of the consumer demands and preferences | This objective would allow the company to improve organisational performance | The relevance of this objective can be noted with the improvement of sales | 6 months |
| To improve the reach of organic and vegan products within first two search results | This objective specifies the growing demand of vegan and organic food | This objective could be measured by spreading awareness | This objective would allow the organisation to achieve a great extent of vegan and organic products | The relevance of this objective can be noted with gaining a greater consumer number because the vegan market is growing by $ 31.4 billion by 2026 (Allied Market Research, 2022). | 3 months |
| To redesign company website along with empoweringpresence of social media channels | This objective specifies the importance of social media and website in marketing | This objective could be measured my adopting latest technological advancement and skilled marketing teams | This objective would help in achieving an attractive website along with better social media coverage | The relevance of this objective can be noted in being effective with creativity and innovation | 4 months |
Table 1: SMART Objective
Marketing research to support the new product line launch
In respect to Unilever, manufacturing of its own “vegan ice-cream” can be developed. In 2018, the market of the global dairy-Free ice cream industry was worth USD 455.9 million, and this is expected to increase at a rate of 14.8 %. (GrandView Research, 2022) The increased health consciousness, rising occurrences of gluten sensitivity as well as other milk-related medical problems, and socialising patterns are supposed to propel new markets. A crucial driver driving consumption in the non-dairy confectionery market is indeed the dramatic growth in industrialisation, which is characterised by an increase in plant-based dairy production. Almond milk is the fastest growing factor of production in the vegan dairy market, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.8 % (Grand View Research, 2022). Furthermore, with these aforementioned statistics, new product development could improve technology improvements in the business and provide the marketplace a favourable perspective.
Situational analysis
SWOT Analysis
| Strengths
● The current market capital of Unilever is around 125.90 billion dollars ● The company offers several after sales services as well as premium packages ● The products have flexible pricing and a strong supply chain along with high customer satisfaction |
Weakness
● Unilever is working in a highly competitive market and failing to raise the stakes as compared to other companies ● Unilever does not have a strong IT structure to reduce security risks |
| Opportunities
● Unilever focuses on providing eco-friendly products which is a good opportunity to attract ethical consumers (Ullah, 2021) ● Customers are inclining towards western lifestyle, which will facilitate the proliferation of the company
|
Threats
● Many competitors like P&G, Nestle and others are present in the market (Martin, 2018) ● Unilever provides many products which can be easily substituted and imitated ● Increasing popularity of several small retailer brands is a threat for the company |
Table 2: SWOT analysis
PESTLE analysis
| Factors | Implications | Impact |
| Political | ● The company needs to abide by the laws of different countries
● As the company provides health care and food products too, it needs to abide by the rules of food and drug administrations |
High |
| Economic | ● FMCG growth rate was estimated around 4.5 % in 2021
● Global inflation rate was running above 3.18% at the end of 2020, which can affect the revenue of company (O’Niell, 2022) |
High |
| Social | ● As Unilever is present in around 190 countries in the world, the cultural values of different countries are focused while launching the products
● The language can be a big factor affecting the growth of the company |
Medium |
| Technological | ● Constant advancement in the operating systems is needed
● Implication of artificial intelligence is necessary for efficient marketing and supply chain management ( Cheng, 2021) |
Medium |
| Legal | ● Patents of the products needs to be protected
● Well qualified and efficient legal department is needed to handle legal issues |
Low |
| Environmental | ● The company is working to achieve operational sustainability (Reza, 2020)
● Minimisation of carbon emission |
Medium |
Table 3: PESTLE analysis
5C analysis of Unilever
| Components | Analysis |
| Company | ● Research and funding is increasing
● Human resource management is very efficient ● The company follows a strong culture |
| Customer | ● The company provides a broader range of products so the target customer is massive in numbers
● Consistent and loyal customers of Unilever is big in numbers (Jain and Sharma, 2018) |
| Competitors | ● Several competitors like P&G, Nestle and Johnson & Johnson are dominating the market to some extent (Martin, 2018)
● As the company is operating in highly competitive market the risk of substitution of the products is high |
| Collaborators | ● The profit margin of the company will be highly affected if the supply chain of the company have strong bargaining power
● The company has launched joint ventures with other companies |
| Climate | ● Unilever is focused on improving the sustainability of the product to reduce its harmful impact on environment (Hans, 2018)
● The use of plastic and other such materials are reduced in packaging to avoid environmental pollution |
Table 4: 5C analysis
Competitor analysis
Unilever is providing a wide range of services and products like healthcare, personal care, food, beverages, home appliances and others. This diversity in services has increased the numbers of competitors in the industry. Unilever has many renowned brands like Colgate- Palmolive, P&G , Johnsons & Johnsons, Nestle, PepsiCo, Church & Dwight and many other such brands as its competitor (Cheng, 2021). These competitors can be a big threat to Unilever.
Development of the marketing strategies
| Marketing mix | Strategies |
| Product | Unilever needs to provide several different flavours for their vegan ice cream including chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, butter cookies and many more along with offering consumers an option to customise their organic ice cream as per they want (Davidavičienė et al. 2019). |
| Place | There is no doubt that the organisational store is existing in numerous different regions, but in the case of developing products, they require more coverage. Therefore, Unilever should look out for those potential ice parlours that consider suppliers from ice cream manufacturers. |
| Price | In case of pricing, Unilever should utilise penetration pricing to attract most of the consumers. In this order, reflecting the low price, customers will reach out to the brand that will help them to increase their sales rapidly at the initial period of time (Nair and Kshatriya, 2019). |
| Promotion | Promotional marketing of the products is the most important part of a marketing strategy. In this relation, both digital and traditional promotional channels are recommended, in order to reach effectively to their potential consumer. |
Table 5: Marketing mix
Marketing budget
| Components | Cost in $ |
| Inbound Content marketing | $ 1500 |
| Email marketing | $ 500 |
| Display and Social media advertising | $ 2000 |
| Website marketing | $ 900 |
| Traditional marketing | $ 750 |
| Total | $ 5650 |
Table 6: Marketing budget table
Tactical actions
Media budget
| Components | Cost in $ |
| Market research | $ 600 |
| Hiring media operating team | $ 1750 |
| Content team | $ 1250 |
| Total | $ 3600 |
Table 7: Media budget
Recommendations and rationale
There is a high requirement of understanding multimedia activities to establish better and improved marketing strategies. In this respect, the above-mentioned table of marketing mix has recommended utilising both online and offline channels so that the availability of getting consumers can get increased.
Digital, offline and social media channels are the main elements of this entire marketing strategy plan, without effective strategy and knowledge of media channels, it can portray a negative implication over the organisation. Therefore, in respect to digital communication, Unilever can utilise social medis, email marketing and website marketing as well. Among social media, there are several different aspects such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, Snapchat thare are immensely popular among the consumer (Staniewski and Awruk, 2022). On the other hand, in terms of office channels, Unilever can look upto different mediums such as Newspaper, Television and Radio.
Conclusion
The entire assessment is based on the marketing process and planning, which is being supported by the company Unilever. Through this assessment an extended marketing mix has been structured undertaking Dove and Seventh generation, through which the growth of the company is being depicted. In this respect, social media influencers and YouTubers are recommended for the better exposure of the products. Additionally, a SMART objective is being framed along with a SWOT, PESTLE and 5C. Furthermore, a development of a new product is being highlighted through manufacturing of own vegan ice cream, which is being effectively strategised through 4ps. Finally, the assessment concluded with a marketing and media budget with numerous appropriate challenges for communication.
References
Allied Market Research, 2022. Vegan Food Market Outlook- 2026. [Online] Available at: <https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/vegan-food-market> [Accessed on 20 February 2022]
Cheng, Y., 2021, February. Analysis on the Opportunities and Challenges of Unilever’s Differentiated Competition by Using SWOT and PEST. In 6th International Conference on Economics, Management, Law and Education (EMLE 2020) (pp. 280-284). Atlantis Press.
Davidavičienė, V., Raudeliūnienė, J., Tvaronavičienė, M. and Kaušinis, J., 2019. The importance of security aspects in consumer preferences in electronic environment. Journal of Security & Sustainability Issues, 8(3).
Grand View Research, 2022. Dairy-Free Ice Cream Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report, By Source, By Flavor (Chocolate, Vanilla), By Distribution Channel (Supermarket/Hypermarket, Online), And Segment Forecasts, 2019 – 2025. [Online] Available at: <https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/dairy-free-ice-cream-market> [Accessed on 20 February 2022]
Hans, V.B., 2018. Business environment–conceptual framework and polices. International Educational Scientific Research Journal, 4(3), pp.67-74.
Jain, A. and Sharma, R., 2018. Flagship and Flanker Brands: Consumer Preference Study of Hindustan Unilever Limited and Procter & Gamble. IUP Journal of Brand Management, 15(3), pp.7-22.
Martin, O., 2018. Marketing Influences through Strategic Campaigns and Sustainability.
Nair, S. and Kshatriya, K.P., 2019. To Understand the Pre-Launch Activities of Gold Fogg Energy Drink and Its Strategies for Market Penetration in Ahmedabad. International Journal of Marketing & Business Communication, 8(2&3), p.8.
O’Niell, A.,. 2022. Global inflation rate from 2016 to 2026. [Online]. Available at <https://www.statista.com/statistics/256598/global-inflation-rate-compared-to-previous-year/> Acessed 20 February 2022
Reza, M.H., 2020. Marketing Strategy and Sustainable Plan of Unilever.
Sabanoglu, T., 2022. Revenue of Unilever Group worldwide from 2007 to 2020. [Online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/269190/global-revenue-of-the-unilever-group-since-2007/ > [Accessed on 20 February 2022]
Staniewski, M. and Awruk, K., 2022. The influence of Instagram on mental well-being and purchasing decisions in a pandemic. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, p.121287.
Ullah, N., 2021. A Comparative Analysis between Unilever and Johnson & Johnsons.
Unilever, 2022. Climate action Strategy and goals. [Online] Available at: <https://www.unilever.com/planet-and-society/climate-action/strategy-and-goals/> [Accessed on 20 February 2022]
Young, J., 2017. Unilever’s Vision Statement & Mission Statement (An Analysis). [Online] Available at: <http://panmore.com/unilever-vision-statement-mission-statement-analysis#:~:text=Unilever’s%20corporate%20mission%20is%20%E2%80%9Cto,various%20aspects%20of%20their%20lives.> [Accessed 20 February 2022]
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Know more about UniqueSubmission’s other writing services:
I found this website called that might fit what you’re looking for Sex 11
https://aev99.day/