Assignment Sample on Strategic Marketing Planning
Introduction
Strategic marketing planning basically involves fixing goals and objectives, also focuses on analysing internal and external factors which influence business operation (Tomczak et. al. 2017). Moreover, it also focuses on product planning, provide way of implementation and monitoring procedure and also track growth of the company. There are certain steps in strategic marketing planning which can be used by any industry. Steps are as follows set goals, identify target market, research of market, marketing audit, analyse the research, identify audience, set budget, develop specific strategies, implement strategies. These mentioned steps assist the marketer or owner to set effectual strategic marketing planning and can able to survive in the market with fruitful profits (Sadeghpour et. al. 2017).
Present report answers the questions which are given the case study. It demonstrates certain theories, model, framework and concepts for analysing the current position of Bernadini’s and also draw some recommendation for marketing strategy, further, it also identify some challenges and issues which are associated in recommendation. Along with it, the report chose one adequate theory for the cited company and also identified certain weaknesses and strengths of the selected theory in context of Bernadini’s case study and Nespresso case study.
Question 1 Report
Current position in which Bernadini’s finds itself
As it is mentioned in the case study that Enzo is the fourth generation of the Bernadini family to own and manage Bernadini’s Gelato in Bristol. The organisation owns shop which sells gelato and fruit sorbets. The entire family come to UK form Italy in the year 1901. The outlet is situated on a busy street that is Park Street. The company is passionate about its products along with it also has healthy relationship with its external and internal stakeholders. However, at present the company is facing certain challenges and issues in market such as increase in competition, growing concern among people in context of health along with increase in sugar tax and many more. For overcoming these challenges and issue the company need appropriate marketing strategies. Some theories, framework and concept are given below for the cited company to overcome from problems which are associated in the business environment.
Swot analysis
One of the biggest strength of the company is that it serves varied range of flavor in gelato. The origin of the company is Italy and this particular nation is famous for the gelato, it can be said that gelato is originated for Italy.
Strengths: So for that the Bernadini’s can bale to create mouth-watering taste and serve them to their customer. Along with that other strength of the organisation is it has healthy and effective relationship with its suppliers. Along with that it also has catered customers that mean it has wide customer base. Moreover, the company also has positive image within the society and also awarded by several honours such as several great taste of gelato, and many more.
Weaknesses: Poor communication with public. As it is mentioned in the case study that the company only hold basic social media website. For awareness about the product and working on large level the company need to develop its website which initially pop up at first when a person searcher for the gelato and sorbets. Along with that the organisation does not has adequate marketing strategies. However, for surviving within the competitive market and sustain profitable growth the cited company need effective and correct strategic marketing planning.
Opportunities: After the epidemic of covid-19, the company has to rebuild its strategies and new strategies provide opportunities to the business organisation. At present the company can explore several new aspects in the business environment. It can use new technology or the company can experiment with the taste of gelato.
Threats: The cited company has threat from the new entrance, after the pandemic there are several companies who are dealing into the gelato comes up with the several new and innovative taste. Hence, this could be one of the highest threats for the company.
Ansoff matrix
Ansoff matrix is the most common tool which is used by every organisation almost in every industry. This matrix has been characterised into four different segments such as market penetration, product development, market development and diversification.
Market penetration: This element is only focuses on the increase in sales of existing products of the organisation within the existing market. In basic terms it can be said that in market penetration organisation is aiming for increasing the market share with the help of exist sing products and with market penetration strategy (Dawes, 2018). The cited organisation can use this strategy in many ways. The company decrease prices of products for attracting customers. Other than this, cited company can increase promotion and distribution efforts along with it can also acquire competitors within the same market. To be specific Bernadini also has high competition within the same industry and in UK, Unilever brand and Jerry’s has a premium ice cream market share of 29 percent. Jointly with the Unilever’s Carte D’Or, both brands alleged over 50 percent of the market. It means that Bernadini has high competition within the market and market penetration is the perfect strategy for the company.
Product development: In this tactics the firm develop new product to cater to the existing market. It has several befits such as if the company invest in research and development department then it will provide new product within the market (Martins, 2020). Along with that it also assists the marketer to form new partnership. However, partners eventually help in distributing the products within the market they act as new medium for the company. Herein, as per the case study it would be identified that the cited company is working on small level and product development tactics need extra budget and finance. At present situation after the pandemic introducing budget on vast level is extremely hard task so this tactic is not appropriate for the company.
Market development: With the help of this technique the organisation can enter into the new market with existing products. Herein, the organisation expands into market which means it explore new geographical areas, customer segment and more (Suciati et. al. 2020). This strategy of Ansoff can be useful for the cited organisation. With its existing products and similar taste, the company can enter into the new market. It eventually helpful for the company to cater new customers. For cater new customers cited firm can have modified gelato taste and also offer sugar free gelato to those customers who are health concern. This could be considered as an opportunity for the company and also helps in increase the customer base.
Diversification: In this strategy the firm enters with the new products within the new market. However, this strategy is full of risk, but on the other hand it is also considered that this tactic provides high revenue and profits to the company (Alyamani, 2020). in present case, cited organisation is working on small level and herein, company should only focus on developing its existing products rather than focus on entering into new market with new products. However, it is riskiest strategy and the cited organisation should not take any risk.
Marketing communication mix
This theory involves all the tools and techniques which can be used by the any organisation. It generally used for attracting customers along with communicate about brand and its products to the customers (Kim and Lee, 2020). Bernadini’s can involve advertising, social media, direct marketing, events, exhibition and many more elements of communication mix. The first element which can be used by the cited company is advertising. With the help of advertising Bernadini’s can promote its product at vast level it can broadcast its products. Successful advertising involves touchy, eye-catching, attention seeker or even creative (Ofosu-Boateng and Agyei, 2020). This eventually attract the customer also increase the customer base.
Along with direct marketing is also effective method for the company. Bernadini’s can pop up the consumers by sending emails, gamification and take use of social media sites. However, it is mentioned that the company is engaged in social media sites but still the organisation does not have strong website so for attracting customer and surviving in the long run the cited company must use string communication techniques. With the help of these tools not only customer but it also attracts marketers (Olubodede, 2020). One of the major benefits which are enjoyed by the cited company b using this tool is that it is a targeted approach. If the company can able to done acuter marketing research of its customers, then it eventually comes to know its target audience are.
Other than this, the company can also use sales promotion. This communication mix tool is effective in increasing sales volume and also assists the organisation to boost its overall growth (Teguh et. al. 2020). Bernadini’s can use this tool by offering discount prices of its products along with it can also offer some exciting combos, coupons, freebies, product sample and more. These are the techniques to attract more customers along with it also decrease the threat of new competition. If the company has strong customer base and customers are also loyal towards the company, then it eventually earns profits. Other than mentioned tools, loyalty card is centre of attraction in current situation. Enzo the owner of the company can use this method for increase sales volume. This eventually promotes its business and also helps in eliminating threats and challenges which are associated within the path of growth and development (Ekiyor and Altan, 2020).
Consumer decision making
In general consumer decision making is the process in which marketers can recognised the decision making process of the customers (Mishra et. al. 2021). Customer decision making process has five stages such as recognition of need, information search, and evolution of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase evaluation.
Recognition of need: This is the first stage of the decision making process of customer. To be specific in this Bernadini’s had to recognise what are the actual needs and wants of the customers. If the marketer is able to recognise what customer actually want, then eventually the organisation can create products as per the customer preference. If the Bernadini’s is able to identify the actual need and this could be right time to advertise and attract them towards the company.
Information search: In this stage the company can try to pop up the customers with the help of advertising, provide sales promotion techniques and many other alternatives. However, in this stage the customers are trying to find information about the products and also try to find what all outlets are working in same industry and homogeneous products. So this is the stage where marketers can influence the customers by offering exciting prices and offers (Bangsa and Schlegelmilch, 2020).
Evolution of alternatives: Once the customer gets satisfied what they need they start searching for best alternatives in the markets. In this stage customers compare prices, quality of products and services, packaging, brand loyalty and other several factors. All such factors influence the purchase decision of customer (Ozkara and Bagozzi, 2021). Herein, Bernadini’s can offers high quality products and also try to innovate different and new flavoured gelato and sorbets. However, the customers also read review before purchasing products. So for that reason Bernadini have to create effective website and also offer high quality products.
Purchase decision: In this step customer finalise what they have to do and what product they have to purchase. However, they gather all the information and also create logical conclusion of their information (Zak and Hasprova, 2020). If the cited company has adequate quality and also has correct medium for attracting customers, then they eventually purchase the products and services of the company. The company has been more concentrated on its physical outlet so herein; the organisation can add extra efforts for attracting customers. Such the company can play low sound authentic music, along with it has certain gamers and toys for kids and adults also it can put some books all such techniques are helpful in increasing sales of product.
Post-purchase evaluation: For evaluating post purchase experience, company can employee the use of feedback method. The organisation allows the customers to leave feedback on its official website or it can put notes in its physical outlets or the company also give tabs in which customers can write their reviews and give honest feedback.
Recommendations
Above entire discussion revolves around the diverse strategies of marketing. There are certain marketing strategies which are highlighted for the Bernadini. By implementing such marketing strategies cited company can able to overcome with the challenges and issues which are present in the business environment. To be specific above mentioned Ansoff matrix might be correct select for the cited company. In this, market development and market penetration could be adequate tactics for the company. However, these tactics also had some kind of challenges and risks.
For instance, if the company select market development strategy in which the company decides that it add some additional flavour and people will not like that particular product then it will be loss for the company. It can be said if the company use whatever strategy it may has certain kind of risks and challenges. For eliminating those risks, the company has to identify and recognise needs and wants of the customers.
Question 2 Critical reflection
Ansoff matrix strengths and limitations
Strengths are as follows:
It is beneficial for the businesses that are always seeks for innovation. This matrix helps the organisations to identify and analyse the growth opportunities in the business world. Other than this the most advantageous for the company who are deliberate for offering new products and services into the new market, this technique is known as diversification and this is riskiest technique of the Ansoff matrix. However, it also has high growth potential (Kalogiannidis and Mavratzas, 2020). Moreover, for business, market penetration is also helpful as it provides decrease in prices and increased customer base. It also promotes distribution, growth and awareness among customers and society. However, it is the least risky strategy.
Limitations are as follows:
However, every framework has some limitation similarly Ansoff matrix also has some kind of limitations. It is extremely simple to extend as it requires extra though and every person is not extraordinary. This matrix does not focus on certain areas of marketing such as competitors. In this matrix risk is measured but the rewards have been not measured by the tool. It cannot be used its own to decide company’s strategic direction. This framework can be inaccurate if it is deploying without other techniques. This matrix also not covers the strategies of other competitors. Along with it also leads firms into unknown business opportunity because of the logical issues relating to diversification.
From the above discussion it can be concluded that strategic marketing planning is extremely significant for setting goals and objectives of the company. The cited organisation has to set goals and after that it must implement strategies which are most appropriate for its growth and development. With the help of corrective tactics cited company can increase its market share and able to increase its sales volume even in present situation.
References
Books and Journals
Bangsa, A.B. and Schlegelmilch, B.B., (2020). Linking sustainable product attributes and consumer decision-making: Insights from a systematic review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 245, p.118902.
Dawes, J., (2018). The Ansoff Matrix: A Legendary Tool, But with Two Logical Problems. But with Two Logical Problems (February 27, 2018).
Ekiyor, A. and Altan, F., (2020). Marketing Communication and Promotion in Health Services. In Promotion and Marketing Communications. IntechOpen.
Kalogiannidis, S. and Mavratzas, S., (2020). Impact of marketing mix strategies effective product development issues in MNCs/Retail. International Journal of Business Marketing and Management (IJBMM) Volume, 5, pp.118-125.
Kim, S.H. and Lee, S.A., (2020). The role of marketing communication mix on Korean customers’ coffee shop brand evaluations. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights.
Martins, A.M.A.R.D.L., 2020. Scenarios and Ansoff Matrix (Doctoral dissertation).
Mishra, R., Singh, R.K. and Koles, B., (2021). Consumer decision‐making in Omnichannel retailing: Literature review and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(2), pp.147-174.
Ofosu-Boateng, I. and Agyei, S.D., (2020). EFFECT OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX ON CUSTOMERS’LOYALTY IN THE GHANAIAN BANKING INDUSTRY. European Journal of Management and Marketing Studies, 5(4).
Olubodede, E.O., (2020). The Case of Dynamix Communications’ Marketing Communication Mix for Guarantee Trust Bank in Nigeria. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science: Insights & Transformations [ISSN: 2581-3587 (online)], 5(2).
Ozkara, B.Y. and Bagozzi, R., (2021). The use of event related potentials brain methods in the study of conscious and unconscious consumer decision making processes. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 58, p.102202.
Sadeghpour, F., Far, M.G., Khah, A.R. and Amiri, M.A.A., (2017). Marketing Strategic Planning and Choosing the Right Strategy using AHP Technique (Case Study: Ghavamin Bank Mazandaran). Dutch Journal of Finance and Management, 1(2), p.45.
Suciati, T.R., Kurniawan, D. and Iswahyudin, M.D., (2020). SWOT Analysis and Ansoff Matrix in Creative Food Industry Business Development: A Study on Creative Food Business “Komala”. Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), pp.69-76.
Teguh, M., Widjaja, E.D.N., Hartanto, L.C. and Lukito, J.K., (2020), August. Implementation of Integrated Marketing Communication at Kampoeng Semarang. In 2nd Jogjakarta Communication Conference (JCC 2020) (pp. 222-226). Atlantis Press.
Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., (2017). Strategic marketing: Market-oriented corporate and business unit planning. Springer.
Zak, S. and Hasprova, M., (2020). The role of influencers in the consumer decision-making process. In SHS web of conferences (Vol. 74, p. 03014). EDP Sciences.
Online
Professional academy., (2020). Marketing theories. [Online]. [Available Through: https://www.professionalacademy.com/cim-marketing-courses/marketing-theories]. [Access on: 18th April 2020].
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