Group Assignment Sales
The increased interest and attention of the people on themselves to look and feel young with growing age has gained momentum in recent years. This has given opportunity for various skincare and body care companies to come up with anti-aging skin products.
This business is huge as it has non-stop supply of buyers as the society drives the culture of youthful appearance therefore, the need and demand of such products would continue to grow. According to Statista (2018), the global anti-aging marketplace size worth was around US$ 140.3 billion in 2015 and it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5 percent and reach US$ 216.52 billion (forecast) by year 2021.
According to Transparency Market Research, the global anti-aging industry will be worth nearly US $191.7 billion by year 2019.
The purpose of this report is to present a potential anti-aging product solution in order to meet the current needs of Alberta market, a major province in Western Canada.
Also, to present this product to the Dragon’s Den to obtain the required investment/ funding of C$100,000 in return for an equity interest of 6 percent in the company.
To do this, the report is focused to explain the product solution, explain and analyze the market, value proposition, market strategy, positioning strategy, customer strategy and presentation strategy.
The Product Solution development
The culture of Alberta is changing where the social factors/ pressure are driving to look and feel young and beautiful. In changing social trend, the male gender is also feeling the social pressure of physical appearance same the female gender.
There is high focus on looking and feeling young which has increased the opportunity for skincare companies and cosmetic companies to meet the growing needs of population that continue to age and demands products that can slow the ageing process, give wrinkle free face/ skin or prevent the face and skin to look old and dull.
In addition, Alberta has population that is projected to continue aging to increase the number of seniors citizens (aged 65 years and older) from 530,000 (about 13% of 2017 total population) to 1.1 million (about 18%) by 2040 (Government of Alberta, 2018).
This presents an opportunity for the company to provide for an anti-aging product solution. There are only few anti-aging products like cream and serum in the market but that do not meet the growing need of an organic/ natural way to deal with the skin aging process.
The company: The proposed business name for the company is ‘Forever Young’. The name is selected to develop a brand concept which includes skincare products and food products for anti-aging.
The company is in partnership with two owners and seeks for an investment fund for the growth and development of business ad to strengthen its position in the Alberta marketplace.
The mission of the company is to establish ‘Forever Young’ in Alberta market as an important brand which highlights quality in skincare in a natural way.
The product: The product is an organic anti-aging lotion ‘Natura Young’ which is made with only unique and natural ingredients for a healthy and beautiful wrinkle-free skin. Initially, this product will be available in two variants (20 – 35 years age group and 35 years and above) for male and females separately.
This will be among the first Alberta organic anti-aging lotion which will be made in Alberta. This product will add value to the target market in terms of its easy application on skin/ affected areas, natural ingredients and quality products for all skin types.
In addition to this, affordability for low to medium income segments, use of natural ingredients and safety of products for dry, normal and sensitive will make these products attractive for the target market (Martins et al., 2014).
This is because the current anti-aging products are expensive and target upper middle and upper income segments while Natura Young product will be in budget range for all the income class. The price of the product is recommended in range of C$ 25.99 and C$ 29.99 for 150 ml lotion bottle.
The use of only natural ingredients and safety of the product for use in different skin types will also be attractive to the target market as the consumers have doubt on the transparency of the cosmetic/ beauty products as there is a perception that companies hide their some of their ingredients (antioxidants, Neurotoxins, etc.)
which may not be safe to use on specific skin type (Ahmad et al., 2015). Thus, the use of only natural ingredients will be effectual to clear ambiguity to a great extent in the customer’s mind about the product ingredients and use.
The product will be developed, produced and managed at the company facility in Alberta. The quality of the product will be managed through contract with a quality inspection and audit team based in the capital city.
To ensure quality for the product is met the company will set a product specification and quality standards and make sure that the inspection report and audit reports meet these set standards and if unacceptable level of deviation occurs the manufacturing of the product will be suspended and till the deviation is least.
The company plan to develop a quality circle to ensure quality is not compromised at any level form sourcing to production to packaging and final distribution to retailers (Ahmad et al., 2015). Also, the company will invest in quality training for the employees to focus on quality issues, control and improvement.
The key features and benefits of the product are:
- Use of wild herbs and only natural ingredients
- Reduction of wrinkles and fine lines
- Prevents premature aging
- Reduce black spots
- Improvement in skin texture and hydrates skin
- Increase collagen
- Increase skin oxidation levels
- Protect skin from UV rays and pollution
- Preserves natural beauty
The most immediate competition will be from a French based company, Clarins that deal in beauty and skincare products and offer anti-ageing cream and serums. It has good brand presence both online and offline and good investment in marketing campaign. It manufactures its own products and sells through selected pharmacies and a strong network of high-end departmental stores.
Positioning strategy: The positioning forms an important part of marketing plan during the launch of the product in the marketplace. The marketing efforts of the company concentrate on developing an effective positioning for Natura Young product in the minds of target customers.
As the skincare/ beauty and cosmetic competitors are relying on the ‘organic’ as their key differentiator for positioning (Prothero, 2017) therefore, a different positioning is planned for this product. Thus, to ensure effective positioning the differentiated strategy will be adopted for positioning Natura Young in Alberta market.
The differentiated strategy is effectual to generate sales network with a superior customer orientation to connect on a personal level (Shakhshir, 2014). Referring to the positioning map, the Natura product will be positioned as a high quality and value product available at low price.
The positioning will focus on differentiating the Natura Young product with anti-aging synthetic products in the market. This will highlight the natural ingredients used in the Natura Young product against competing products.
For effective positioning, product information on social media and company website will be provided about the why and from where the ingredients were sources and details about specific farms and regions in Alberta and country of origin to develop a connection with customers.
According to Paharia et al. (2014), customers in making decision for buying natural products look for a back-story about the ingredients and their benefits. It is also stated that a natural product background related story is helpful for the marketers to build brand credibility in the minds of consumer (Baek et al., 2010).
Also, the product will highlight its product features to differentiate from other natural brands like natural ingredients, safety aspects, variants for different age and gender, and highlight certification like Natural Products Association Certification and Fair Trade Certified product.
Role of sales team in positioning: The sales team assist in this positioning by collaborating with marketing team in the creating targeted content that helps in developing a persuading sales positioning strategy.
The sales team can provide insight on who is buying and who’s not and why (Martins et al., 2014). Thus, this can be helpful in developing buyer personas for an effective positioning for the actual target buyer groups.
Target market awareness strategy: The target market can be made aware of the product offering through company website, and online advertisements in social media sites. This will provide a cost effective way to reach target customers and observe and analyse their initial response towards the new product.
Potential sales improvement strategy: To improve potential sales the company can offer money back guarantee (Sashi, 2012) to make remove the fear in consumer in purchasing and trying new product by making safe purchase and increase lead conversion. This will also highlight the company confidence in the quality of Natura Young product which will be effective in boosting potential sales.
The customer strategy for Natura Young will be offering safe and best quality product and availability of product at a pricing that is affordable as compared to other competing products.
To add value to product, the company will consider the customer suggestions/ feedback (Shimpi & Sinha, 2010) and also will develop customer persona to understand which product feature is important to the target market and how this product benefits and fulfil the unmet needs and satisfaction level of consumer.
The buyer will be from age group from 20 years and above and both male and females belonging to low, middle and upper income groups. From this, the specific buyers are identified as young people who require want to prevent skin ageing over curing ageing skin, adults and old that are treating their skin with anti-aging products and adults that do not have aging problem but using anti-aging products as a preventive measure.
The buyer engagement process will include use of social media like Twitter and Facebook and the company website and mobile app to develop interest, encourage interaction about product and brand and respond to queries (Andzulis et al., 2012).
The buyer behaviour for anti-aging products involves selection process based on feature, quality, value, price, etc. The buyer in deciding skin products takes some time in making decision for the final purchase (Shimpi & Sinha, 2010). As the consumers are getting more aware on the quality of products and reaction to their skin thus, make online comparison with similar products due to ease of availability of information from internet.
Thus, the buyer will take a predetermined pattern for buying anti-aging products after comparison and careful selection. The buying process will include need recognition, information search for anti-ageing products, evaluation of selected product with other anti-ageing products and final purchase decision.
The buying motives will be based on the basic need related to the product motives like rational motives (considering the product attributes) (Heitz-Spahn, 2013) and socio-psychological motives (to fulfill the buyer psychological need of using the product under the social pressure for youthful appearance and for social status).
To develop prospects, the customer that responded to the marketing efforts and interacted in social media sites, and company website can be listed. To qualify potential prospects from the list, the three aspects will be focuses on that are customer profile, need for the product (Sashi, 2012) and the buying behaviour/ decision making process.
Presentation Strategy development
The best presentation strategy will be informative presentation to provide details about the new products to the target audience to add value to the product by creating a flow by introducing the product, outlining the features and benefits, stating the value proportion, comparison with other competing products, and asking question and responding to queries to conclude (Cardon, 2014).
Also, the six-step presentation plan can be used to aid sales as it will be helpful in planning to meet/contact the customer (pre-approaching) for understanding of customer needs which will help in developing prospects and in qualifying them.
This plan will also help in undertaking professional approach and to get desired customer attention to present the features, benefits of the product and advantage of Natura young over other competing products.
To gain the buyer’s attention and arouse their interest to buy, the salesperson can ask questions and listen to the target audience. The open and closed question along with probing questions will be used to determine the customer needs (Cardon, 2014).
The closing technique will be by asking the buyer for the sale and by asking the payment method. For superior customer service, the buyer will be asked for feedback in company website or through mail/ phone for any comment, suggestion, query and complaint. This will help in developing long-term relations between company and buyers and develop loyal customers.
It can be concluded that there is a rising demand in Alberta market for anti-ageing product due to social pressure and increase consciousness of people to look youthful and rise in aging population that can contribute in growth of the anti-aging product business of company, Forever Young. The product ‘Natura Young’ is viable for the market to meet there unmet need natural way to prevent/ cure the skin aging process.
Sales and profitability projection for 5 year
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Total sales (in C$) | 80,971 | 133,552 | 189,532 | 228,318 | 278,300 |
| Costs of goods sold | 24000 | 46000 | 82000 | 110000 | 140000 |
| Gross profit | 56,971 | 87,552 | 107,532 | 118,318 | 138,300 |
| Operational expenses | 18000 | 38000 | 64000 | 76000 | 87000 |
| Profit before tax | 38,971 | 49,552 | 43,532 | 42,318 | 51,300 |
| Tax 30% | 11691.3 | 14865.6 | 13059.6 | 12695.4 | 15390 |
| Net income | 27,280 | 34,686 | 30,472 | 29,623 | 35,910 |
Andzulis, J. M., Panagopoulos, N. G., & Rapp, A. (2012). A review of social media and implications for the sales process. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 32(3), 305-316.
Ahmad, S. N. B. B., Omar, A. B., & Rose, R. B. (2015). Influence of Personal Values on Generation Z’s Purchase Intention for Natural Beauty Products. ADVANCES IN GLOBAL BUSINESS RESEARCH Vol. 12, No. 1, ISSN: 1549-9332, 436.
Baek, T. H., Kim, J., & Yu, J. H. (2010). The differential roles of brand credibility and brand prestige in consumer brand choice. Psychology & Marketing, 27(7), 662-678.
Cardon, P. W. (2014). Business Communication: Developing Leaders for a Networked World (3e). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Government of Alberta. 2018. Office of Statistics and Information. Retrieved from: https://www.alberta.ca/population-statistics.aspx
Heitz-Spahn, S. (2013). Cross-channel free-riding consumer behavior in a multichannel environment: An investigation of shopping motives, sociodemographics and product categories. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 20(6), 570-578.
Martins, A., Vieira, H., Gaspar, H., & Santos, S. (2014). Marketed marine natural products in the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries: Tips for success. Marine drugs, 12(2), 1066-1101.
Paharia, N., Avery, J., & Keinan, A. (2014). Positioning brands against large competitors to increase sales. Journal of Marketing Research, 51(6), 647-656.
Prothero, A. (2017). Organics: marketplace icon. Consumption Markets & Culture, 1-8.
Sashi, C. M. (2012). Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social media. Management decision, 50(2), 253-272.
Shakhshir, G. (2014). Positioning strategies development. The Annals Of The University Of Oradea, 977, 416-437.
Shimpi, S. S., & Sinha, D. K. (2010). A factor analysis on product attributes for consumer buying behavior of male cosmetics in Pune city. International Journal in Multidisciplinary and Academic Research, 2(2), 28-48.
Statista. (2018). Value of the global anti-aging market 2015-2021. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/509679/value-of-the-global-anti-aging-market/
Transparency Market Research. (2018). Anti-aging Market Size, Share, Growth, Sales, Trade, Pricing Forecast, Installed Bases, Export Value and Volume. Retrieved from: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/anti-aging-market.htm
