MBM7002 M Strategic Marketing Planning
MBM7002 M Strategic Marketing Planning
Introduction
A strategic marketing plan is an effective process created through organizational objectives and develops a program to meet those. A strategic marketing plan allows a company to get a competitive advantage over the competition and establish a brand against the market. This section is going to be analyzed regarding the strategic marketing plan for Aldi for the next three years. TOWS analysis of the organization and based on this strategic marketing plan will help the organization to get competitive advantages for the next three years. The budget, objectives, strategic direction, and implementation process for this marketing plan are going to be developed in this study.
Organization Background
Aldi started its service in 1913 and operates its business through a supermarket chain with over 12000 stores. Aldi offers household essentials, groceries, pet goods, baby items, and more to the people of Germany (careers.aldi.us, 2023). The industry has 6,502 stories across 11 countries and approximately 155,000 employees are attached to this service.
The industry Aldi earned a revenue of 142.9 billion US dollars in the financial year 2022. This revenue increased by 11 billion US dollars by the year 2021 (Statista, 2023). The net income of the industry was 116.2 billion dollars in the year 2020.
Marketing Audit
A thorough analysis and assessment of a business’s marketing objectives, efforts, plans, and results is known as a marketing audit. Businesses may use it to evaluate their present marketing initiatives, pinpoint their advantages and disadvantages, and find areas for development.
Macro Analysis: PESTLE analysis
Political Factors
The political stability rate of Germany in the year 2021 was 0.76 (Theglobaleconomy, 2023). Germany has been a member of OECD, NATO, G20, IMF, and UN and Trade alliances give a major benefit to the country. Foreign government policy is helpful for the business expansion of Aldi and this political performance will be helpful for business expansion.
Economic Factors
“Germany is a highly developed social market economy” and the GDP of Germany in presently 4 trillion USD dollars (worldometers.info, 2023). The unemployment rate of Germany is 5.90 per cent and this allows Aldi top get proper labour for business management. Lower tax rate and economic investment helps to improve economic value will be helpful for the Giant supermarket to cut expenses.
Sociocultural Factors
German social culture is developed with Thrifty, Industrious, and organized. The average age of people in Germany is 44.7 (worlddata.info, 2023) and this will be effective to build a diverse culture. The life expectancy rate of females is 83 and males is 78 years and this provides an opportunity for getting experience from experience in a long term base.
Technical Factors
The technological rank of Germany is 12th in the innovations sector (wipo.int, 2023). Germany has a major investment in the technology sector and this technological performance will helps Aldi to gets boost in digital area and marketing audit measurement. Innovative technology and enhancement in digital marketing give the country a technological boost.
Legal factors
“The German Protection against Unfair Dismissal Act, 1951” provides protection over organization harassment (se-legal.de, 2023). German laws promote equality in the working sector and lower in discrimination in the working field. A high minimum monthly salary for employment brings a negative effect for Aldi as this can increase company expenditure.
Environmental Factor
Germany Climate Action Act, 2008 helps to protect over climate (cleanenergywire.org, 2023). The high-level tourism sector and has many tourist places increased product demand and this will help Aldi to increase its revenue. “Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act (1996)” provides protection over environmental functions can be a threat for Aldi for the packaging of its products and responsible for environmental waste material (umweltbundesamt.de, 2023)
Based on the above pestle analysis, this can be said that the company will improve its marketing performance in Germany. Lower political pressure and trade associations of Germany will be helpful for the supermarket Aldi to get a higher competitive advantage. Government steps on boost digital technology and the structure of economic platforms will be beneficial for Aldi to improve through the analysis of marketing audits more perfectly. Technological enhancement and sociocultural of Germany will help Aldi to Improve its Audit marketing through reduced consumption in the marketing area. Moreover, Environmental protection and waste management policy helps to increase awareness among the people of Germany and this can become a threat in Marketing on the packaging of products for Aldi.
Micro Analysis: Porter’s Five Forces
Threat of New Entrants
Aldi is a giant in Germany and holds the business over Europe, Australia, and North America. The company focuses on quality and cuts extreme prices. Besides this, Aldi stores its first business in a large section that helps the industry to get major marketing advantages (Kozioł, 2022). The company has extremely well set up in the supply chain so, there is a low risk for new entrants for this big supermarket.
Threat of Substitutes:
The Retail sector has no substitute products as modern stores offer their products through online platforms. Aldi has an online platform too and this gives an advantage in digital platforms. Aldi offers a differentiation of products and there is little scope for customers to shift to other stores as the company offers aggressive pricing on products. Hence, the company has a little theta in product substitutes.
Bargaining Power of Customers:
The customer of Aldi is very cost-conscious as the company of daily grocery food. The company offers people products and there is a lower scope to provide maximum offer. Management of products is a suitable way and the cost-saving nature of the company can make the customer dissatisfied and that can impact the overall performance of Aldi (Xu, 2023). The customer has a very easy option to choose another retailer over Aldi so, there is a low switching cost.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers:
The supermarket giant has conducted a long-term contract with its suppliers. Aldi is a substantial customer for many smaller companies and its sag trey allows those companies to provide quality products at a cheap price. Besides this, the suppliers have little scope to enter other industries as Thailand needs a huge investment and switching costs are very high. Hence, this can be said that the bargaining power of suppliers in Aldi has little scope that impact the competitive strategies of Thai supermarkets.
Competitive Rivalry:
The retail sector has many competitors in the global market and this is a major threat for the industry. Carrefour, Lidl, Tesco, Coles, and Costco are the major competitors in this giant retail sector (Krazynski, 2020). Besides this, changes in customer taste and preferences is a major area that impacts the service of the company. The company has a major competitor in this field as other companies can easily offer good prices for products so, a major theta in this field exists.
Internal Analysis: BCG Matrix
The BCG matrix of Aldi helps to implement new and advanced strategies and this will provide a better opportunity in the business sector.
Stars
The Stars in the BCG matrix is a key factor that determines the financial service strategies. The advanced and updated supply chain of Aldi helps the industry to get a competitive advantage in the current section. A large number of diversified products and high levels of sales in the Thai sector can increase the sales of Alb and make more profit for the industry (Knudson and Vu, 2021). The brand strategic business of Albi is another major component that helps to increase financial performance.
|
BCG Matrix |
RELATIVE MARKET SHARE |
||
|
HIGH |
LOW |
||
| MARKET GROWTH RATE |
HIGH |
Grocery and House hold items |
Local Foods |
|
LOW |
Personal Care products |
Seasonal products |
|
Figure 3: BCG Matrix
Cash Cows
The Cash cow of the supplier is suitable for measurement, often effective in the business sector. The supplier’s management strategies in Aldi help to increase the cash flow of the company rather than consumption (Li et al. 2023). The operational strategy of Aldi gives a major competitive advantage rather than operating in the competitive market. International food strategic business service and changes in trends in growth rate enough to keep the business in a static situation.
Question Mark
This function defines the products that are more costly to maintain than demand in the market. The customer of Aldi is more trends to local foods and Aldi has a lower market share in this segment (Almeida, 2022). Aldi increased investment in the research of the public’s view and developed strategies that will help to attract customers towards the industry.
Dogs
The Dogs strategies as a BCG matrix are used to identify different business units used by an organization. Plastic bag strategies are used by Aldi as a Dog’s tool in the BCG matrix (Li et al. 2023). Due to the incensed environmental awareness, these strategies have lower effects and increased risk for the industry. The systematic fibre products strategies of Aldi help the industry to get value and this becomes more effective.
TOWS ANALYSIS
|
TOWS Matrix |
Internal Strength(S) |
Internal Weakness(W)
|
| 1. Efficient Business Model
2. Collaboration with local producers 3. Innovation in Product 4. Good customer service (Kuntjoro et al. 2023) 5. Brand Recognition
|
1. Limited product range
2. Lack of brand variety (Krazynski, 2020) 3. Low quality in perception 4. Limited advertising and marketing
|
|
|
External Opportunities(O) 1. Expansion in the e-commerce sector 2. Opportunity for wider product selection 3. Increased focus on sustainability factor (Sarisa, 2021) 4. Increased health trends |
SO Strategies
Aldi produces high-quality, healthful items. This benefits the industry and makes it easier for consumers throughout the world to accept the items. Product innovation and diversification facilitate corporate growth in global markets (Hardaker and Zhang, 2021). Business expansion in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa is facilitated by well-established brands and clever marketing. |
WO Strategies
In this digital world, millions of people use smartphones and easy access to payment methods can become very effective and debt advantages for the supermarket chain industry Aldi. Offering people, a quicker and easier option can reduce debt and building strategies for employees can reduce the employee turnover rate. |
|
External Threats(T) 1. High-level competition in markets 2. Economic downturn and inflation issue (Banerjee, 2022) 3. Changes in customer preferences 4. Disruption is supply chain |
ST Strategies
Only focusing on the food quality to get the competition is becoming a harder challenge for the present time (Jaeger and Höhler, 2021). Regulatory change and supply chain disruption can impact on the overall business value. |
WT Strategies
Raising employee minimum wages and maintaining daily breakfast will increase the expenditure of the industry and this can bring impact on revenue. High employee turnover can impact service to the people and can increase customer dissatisfaction levels and make a major threat for Aldi. |
Table 1: TOWS Analysis
Based on the TOWS analysis of Aldi, this can be said that the company has many international strengths that can help the industry to get competitive advantages. All the marketing sectors can be influenced through the marketing strategy of the industry and this can boost the performance value. Aldi is going to adopt several BMI to get a competitive opportunity and to deal with external threats
Assumptions
Preconceptions about the German discount store chain Aldi can bring changes change in the situation and the person. This plan will help the market to identify the target market more perfectly. The marketing opportunity and expansion rate will become more effective and in a suitable way and that helps to determine the right strategic plan for the marketing expansion of Aldi.
Objectives (Corporate/Marketing/Operational)
Corporate objectives
- To increase organization growth
Corporate objectives are to ensure the field that needs to be improved in the present marketing sector and Aldi takes this to enhance the performance rate.
- Reduce the company expenditure through the development cost-saving strategy
Cost saving strategy through this marketing strategy will help Aldi to overcome its weakness in management issues to the employees.
- Increased reputation through more diversified products and healthy products
Diversification and innovation in the products sector will help Aldi to get better marketing advantages and to grow its share in the marketing sector.
Marketing objectives
- To increase the use of digital platforms as a marketing tool
Digital tools and platforms in this competitive field provide a better opportunity and this helps to reach billions of people.
- Increased the quality of products
Quality of products helps to attract customer and this will increased marketing performance.
- To increase customer value
Increased customer value will help the brand to develop its awareness in the marketing sector and this will helps Aldi to hold market.
Operational objectives
- Improves business management and increased financial growth
The operational objectives that are developed through this marketing plan to increased financial performance of the industry.
- Increased the use of technology in the marketing sector
Development in the strategy to increase the performance of technology will help the supermarket Aldi to get better advantages.
Strategic Direction
Place
Changes in diversity in products and in the distribution, process bring effectiveness in business performance (Niazi et al. 2021). Aldi will make its store layout very simple for 2024 that makes cost effective and in 2025 they expanded their store number. Aldi will progress to open new and mini store in local area or lower communication places in the year 2026.
Price
Aldi has strong customer base due to its quality and cheap price products so, in the year 2024 the company will not make any changes in price. “Psychological pricing strategy” will be implemented by Aldi in the year 2024. Based on the market analysis in the year 2025 Aldi makes changes its pricing strategy and in the year 2026 on its new healthy beverages items its select a nominal price for market entry. Cheaper product prices and quality products increase customer satisfaction and this helps to improve the marketing revenue (HR and Aitha, 2020).
Products
Aldi has a product mix and the organization mostly uses the retailer industry as its products. Aldi will take responsibility to improves its product retention by 2024 and in the year 2025 the Company will focus on the recyclable products. Aldi bring new products and healthy beverages products in the Year 2026.
Promotion
Aldi is used as a marketing promotional strategy for television marketing, direct marketing, and media relation marketing. Aldi will promote its products through gives attractive offer in the year 2024. Aldi will use social media influencer and increased investment in its digital platforms in the year 2025. In the year 2026, Aldi promoted its products through affiliate market and digital chain markets. The food industry needs to use social media influencers for marketing strategy (Sudari et al. 2019).
Tactics
Aldi will bring new products and through social media platforms they highlight those products to the public. In the first year they reduced the prices and offered the best quality products based on customer preference and second and third years they increased the price based on the market’s demand and availability. In 2024 Aldi used popular social media platforms for their new and existing product, and in the next two-year 2025 & 2026 they diverted those people to their official online platforms. In the promotional sector in 2024, Aldi will use social media influencers in medium-range popularity to cost cut in advertisements and examine the effectiveness. In 2025, Aldi choose top level influence for their products promotion and in the year 2026, they will provide affiliate marketing and promotional marketing opportunity as their marketing promotion.
Budget
A marketing budget outlines the intentions of marketing-related information and helps to determine marketing expansion.
| Estimate Budget | |||||||||
| Marketing Capacity Budget | Capital Expense and Financial Budget | Revenue Budget | |||||||
| Budget Area | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Digital ads | 40,00$ | 2520$ | 3400$ | 40,00$ | 2520$ | 2700$ | 40,00$ | 2520$ | 6200$ |
| Traditional ads | 50,00$ | 3000$ | 3000$ | 60,00$ | 3000$ | 3000$ | 65,00$ | 3500$ | 6000$ |
| Marketing personnel | 45,00$ | 4300$ | 6500$ | 64,00$ | 3400$ | 6200$ | 45,00$ | 9300$ | 6200$ |
| Digital assets | 35,00$ | 3300$ | 3760$ | 85,00$ | 6500$ | 9860$ | 54,00$ | 3950$ | 3360$ |
| Marketing management tools | 32,00$ | 3600$ | 3900$ | 61,00$ | 6500$ | 3600$ | 35,00$ | 3300$ | 3000$ |
| Marketing collaterals | 42,00$ | 3500$ | 2100$ | 42,00$ | 3600$ | 9500$ | 56,00$ | 5800$ | 2900$ |
Table 3: Budget Plan
A budget amount for three years marketing advertisement of Aldi is provided in the above scion.
Implementation
Marketing plan implementation is an effective program that will help to enhance the performance rate and help to grow in the market. The marketing plans that are selected for the retailer industry will examine the competitive market (Doole et al. 2019). After the verification process all the marketing plan and budget is developed and based on this the marketing plan will be implemented.
Potential risks in the marketing plan
- Lack of target market analysis can bring an issue in the implementation of a plan and this can be responsible for failure of a project plan.
- Proper relationship with the marketing plan and regular issues with this section can become a major effectiveness in the marketing sector and this can hinder overall marketing (Niazi et al. 2021).
- Inaccurate assessment trends and lack of regulation in the marketing plan implementation can make a major issue and that can impact the overall performance.
Summary
Based on the above discussion this can be said that a marketing planning strategy based on this proper planning is required to enhance the performance rate. A marketing plan for Aldi is developed that will be developed based on its marketing corporate and operational objectives. The performance of this plan and the issue that can impact the implementation of the plan are discussed in the following sector. A budget and tactics methods for the marketing plan are described in this study. This will help to get perfection in business and help to get better marketing advantages.
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