Digital Marketing and Consumer Behavior Analysis

This assignment delves into the world of digital marketing, examining the latest research on consumer behavior, online advertising, and e-commerce trends. With a focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, it explores how businesses are leveraging social media, mobile marketing, and sustainability marketing to engage with consumers. The analysis includes a review of recent studies, case studies, and industry reports to provide insights into best practices and emerging trends in digital marketing.

Marketing Communications,
Marketing Planning and
Consumer Behaviour

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
Background to consumer behaviour for your organisation’s market.....................................1
Impact of psychological and environmental variables on customers.....................................2
Role of advertising and promotion in marketing....................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Marketing and integrated promotional plan for a product or service.....................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Role of below the line (BTL) and above the line (ATL) techniques in marketing and
communications plan and use of below the line techniques for selected products or service7
Above the Line.......................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing communication is a strategy used by companies to build interaction with
consumers to utilise it as a measure to market the products and services of enterprise. Marketing
Planning is a comprehensive process which involves creation of blueprint which lays out
structure of company's marketing and advertising strategies for near future (Belch and et. al.,
2014). Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups or organisations make
decisions associated with purchase, consumption and disposal of goods and services so as to
satisfy their needs. The present report is based upon Cadbury which is planning to launch sugar
free chocolates named Cadbury Plus in Dubai. This report gains an insight into consumer
behaviour towards organisation' market along with effects of psychological and environmental
variables upon their psyche. Besides this, role of advertising and promotion in marketing
strategies has been explored. Furthermore, a marketing and integrated promotional plan has been
developed for successful launch of product. Lastly, consideration has been given to above the
line and below the lines marketing techniques.
Task 1
Background to consumer behaviour for your organisation’s market
Cadbury was introduced in markets of United Kingdom back in the year 1905. Since
then, company has introduced a number of products under various brand names. It is a British
confectionery corporation which is at present owned by Mondelez International. Company is
launching a new product named Cadbury Plus in Dubai, UAE to tap advantage of the already
established brand name and image of enterprise in marketplace. Dubai is an excellent place for
introducing a new product, service or a product line as it has now become a major business
centre with opportunistic and dynamic market (Constantinides, 2014). Dubai is located at a place
which is taken advantage of by many companies to gain strategic edge in industry due to its
luxurious lifestyle and high quality living standards.
Over years, confectionery industry, specifically the chocolate segment, has been one of
the largest sectors in UAE and experienced rapid growth and development between the period
2012 to 2016. This growth basically owed to the popularity and large scale marketing of new
packaging, labelling and distribution formats like family packs, fun-size and ready to consume
small packs. One of the companies to primarily come up with this concept of variable size and
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packs for chocolates and related products was Cadbury. Company has always received positive
feedback from customers due to their initiative of coming up with new product range and unique
packaging styles in UAE market, in particular,completed file Dubai. Such product lines and
combo packs have always gained recognition and widespread acceptability from public due to
the aspect of economic pricing being attached to it. Dubai has always been a lucrative market for
Cadbury owing to the increasing intake of countlines along with chocolates packed in boxes and
packets.
According to a report published by TechSci recently, the UAE chocolate confectionery
market is forecasted to have a CAGR of approximately 6.09% in accordance with revenue
figures during 2014-19 (UAE Chocolate Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2019, 2018).
Chocolate industry across Dubai is coming up as one of the most growing and rapidly spreading
marketing possessing a lot of potential to continue same performance in future context. The
availability of chocolates is largely exploding due to the increasing number of retail and
distribution stores along with the help of well-established intermediaries in Dubai. Also, the
product that is being introduced by Cadbury named Cadbury Plus has no content of sugar. Due to
busy time schedules and involvement of people in consumption of high fat and sugar content
food, Dubai is largely witnessing a substantial growth in the number of diabetic and obese
affected individuals. Thus, people in the city are becoming highly health conscious and
concerned about the content of fats and sugar in food articles, sweets or other edible products.
This creates various opportunities for company to successfully introduce the product in
marketplace while tapping advantage of consumer psyche of people living there.
Impact of psychological and environmental variables on customers
Consumer behaviour is affected by a number of variables of which psychological and
environmental factors hold the most significance (Gao and Bai, 2014). These have a substantial
impact upon the psyche of customers while making purchase, consumption or disposal of any
product or service. Cadbury in launching Cadbury Plus in Dubai market while giving a huge
consideration to psychological and environmental variables explained below:-
Psychological: The chocolates that are being introduced by company are sugar free and
have been made with the use of low fat and organic ingredients. This has been largely done
keeping in mind the number of persons who are affected by diabetes and obese in Dubai every
year. Company has strategically planned to launch this product so as to tap the advantage of
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large number of consumers turning towards healthy products with a view to maintain good
health. This reflects that enterprise has focusses upon psychological variables like feelings,
emotions, thoughts and behaviour of consumers in relation to the latest trends and situations
observed in the city.
Environmental: Cadbury Plus being launched by company in Dubai marketplace is being
done in a way that it poses no harm or threat to environment or natural resources. The wrappers
of chocolates that are generally presumed and observed to be non-recyclable which has a
detrimental impact upon environmental conditions has been considered by Cadbury. Thus,
enterprise has selected Dubai as its target market to introduce the product where a new mobile
application named Reyoutilizer has been launched with an aim to make recycling process easier
for residents of Dubai (Reyoutilizer App Simplifies Dubai Recycling, 2016). It can be
downloaded by iPhone and Android users for free. This application allows small enterprises and
households to book for the collection of recyclable items like wrappers of Cadbury chocolates in
which company has specially made use of such ingredients that can support recycling process.
Thus, company has taken advantage of environmental variables so that they can gain widespread
acceptability in Dubai marketplace.
Role of advertising and promotion in marketing
Advertising and promotions are the tools that are strategically used by company to
effectively introduce the new products and services in marketplace. Both of these are effective
marketing techniques that assists an enterprise in successfully introducing a new product or
service in front of customers such that the new commodity can receive a positive response from
people (Godey and et. al., 2016). In the present scenario, Cadbury is launching sugar free
chocolates in Dubai by aid of various advertising and promotion techniques. Enterprise has
carefully planned to announce about the product by way of making people understand its utility
and its manufacturing in consideration with health conscious psyche of people residing there.
This assists in creation of substantially marketing about the product so as to build demand for it
and enhancing sales and revenue generation for Cadbury Plus in Dubai marketplace.
Communication processes and regulation
In advertising and promotion, communication is the process of introducing the new
product in front of consumers by way of building effective communication with them (Holliman
and Rowley, 2014). This can be done by using various types of communication channels that can
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assist Cadbury in successfully executing the launch of Cadbury Plus in Dubai so that company's
sales and revenue figures can get a boost. Various channels and mediums used by Cadbury to
effectively introduce the new sugar free chocolates are digital marketing tools and conventional
techniques like advertising by way of flyers, banners, hoardings. Some other ways that can assist
in increasing awareness about new product of Cadbury is by publishing about it upon company's
website and various social media pages maintained by management team like Instagram,
Facebook etc. This ensures that information about these chocolates can reach people timely
which can result in increment of entity's revenue figures.
Role of advertising and branding in promotional strategies
Branding and advertising are the two essential aspects of any company's marketing and
promotional strategy (McDonagh and Prothero, 2014). By way of these, enterprises focus upon
creating a positive image and name about the product so that customers can be easily attracted
towards Cadbury Plus. For this, media like television and radio is used by company so that large
number of customers can gain knowledge about the new product being launched in Dubai and
make a purchase for it.
Current trends in advertising and promotion, including impact of ICT and internet
The current trends that are prevalent in marketplace nowadays and is being utilised by a
large number of companies is chatbots. This communication technology makes use of virtual
reality and do live chatting with customers so as to gain knowledge of their views and opinions
along with taking feedbacks from them on a regular basis (Kumar and et. al., 2016). Also, SMS
and email marketing techniques can be used by company to effectively communicate about
Cadbury Plus to people residing in Dubai.
Benefits of relationship marketing to organisations
Cadbury is also required to largely keep in consideration the benefits of relationship
marketing which is an effective tool by which small, medium and large scale companies build
healthy relationship with customers. By way of this technique, companies can take advantage of
the existing knowledge of customers about the new product launched by organisation so as to
enhance the sales and revenue figures of enterprise.
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TASK 2
Marketing and integrated promotional plan for a product or service
Cadbury is a well renowned brand across the globe which has high recognition amongst
all the age groups for the wide range of products and ranges that the company has always tried to
deliver. Company's major strategy over years has been associated with introduction of a new
product or product lines in a time span of 6 months. This has helped the enterprise in building a
desirable image amongst the people residing in various parts of the world (Pike and Page, 2014).
Continuing with its consistency of coming up with new chocolates or sweets, company is now
planning to launch sugar free chocolates in Dubai by the name of Cadbury Plus. For this, the
marketing manager of entity has made a marketing and integrated promotional plan. This has
been designed to make planning in relation with how to successfully launch the new product in
Dubai markets such that maximum people can be made aware of use of low fat and organic
content while manufacturing these chocolates. Thus, the various components of plan that is made
by marketing department of Cadbury are as follows:-
Identified main target group: Before introducing sugar free chocolates in Dubai
marketplace, company carried out research and study upon markets of various cities and
consumer behaviour of people residing there. After an in-depth study, it was ascertained that a
large number of people in Dubai are struck with diabetes and obesity problems (Solomon and et.
al., 2014). This makes such people highly conscious about the food and sweets they intake and
the sugar and fats content in it. From this, the marketing manager of Cadbury decided to target
people struck with diabetes and obesity at present along with such people who are largely
concerned about their health and food they consume.
Goal and strategy: While launching Cadbury Plus in Dubai marketplace, the main goal
of company behind this has been to deploy effective advertising and promotional strategies so
that this product can be successfully introduced in new market. Besides this, the strategy has
been to tap advantage of health consciousness of people to gain a large share in marketplace
with a view to give a boost their already established image and position in Dubai.
Barriers, constraints that might affect plan implementation: The major barrier that
need to be considered by marketing team of Cadbury is the threat of new entrants in Dubai
chocolate confectionery industry. Further, another major constraint that can pose threat to
successful implementation of the plan to introduce Cadbury Plus can be an existing company
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coming up with sugar free chocolates and selling it at a price lower than the price ascertained by
Cadbury for selling packs of Cadbury Plus.
Ways to overcome barriers: The possible way of overcome these barriers and
constraints can be introducing these chocolates at an economical price which is easily affordable
by people and younger generations (Xiang and et. al., 2015).
Consideration of ethical and legal issues in marketing: The major concern of
marketing manager should be in relation to compliance with all ethical and legal issues of
marketing. Marketing manager needs to ensure that there are no false claims or misleading
advertisements on part of enterprise. This is necessary to be kept in mind as any such misleading
information delivered by company globally if picked upon by any customer and addressed on
any public channels like social media can have severe legal impacts on Cadbury. If any such
situation is encountered by legal bodies, it can even lead to imposition of huge compensation
upon company.
Recommendations for pricing, distribution and communication policies: It is
recommended that company should make use of chatbots to build communication with
customers directly by aid of virtual reality technology. In relation to pricing strategies, it is
suggested that company should launch Cadbury Plus in various sizes so that customers can buy
according to their needs and requirements.
Ways to measure campaign effectiveness: In relation to use of social media and digital
technology tools and techniques, the most useful ways to measure campaign effectiveness by
gathering information about the number of persons who expressed interest in company's new
products, tracking the insights of posts upon social media like Instagram, Facebook, gathering
information about how many people offered to unsubscribe mails from company (Solomon and
et. al., 2014).
Key requirements of such a plan: In relation to launch of Cadbury Plus in Dubai, the
key requirements for successful implementation of this plan is adequate communication and
marketing channels by way of which company can feasibly make people aware about the
product. Social media and digital marketing tools and techniques also assist in making sure that
customers possess proper knowledge about the special features of these chocolates so that they
can be influenced to make a purchase.
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TASK 3
Role of below the line (BTL) and above the line (ATL) techniques in marketing and
communications plan and use of below the line techniques for selected products or service
For any organisation to stay ahead of its competitors in marketplace, it is essential that
the management of company duly focuses upon effectively marketing about the products and
services. For this, it is imperative that companies make use of various techniques that can assist
in successfully introducing the new products or services in market with an aim that maximum
people can be made aware about the commodity, its special features and utilities (Ström, Vendel
and Bredican, 2014). In the present scenario, Cadbury is launching Cadbury Plus in Dubai which
are sugar free chocolates made with use of low fats and organic ingredients. To successfully
execute the new product at a new marketplace, any company can consider to use any or both the
two marketing techniques sustaining in markets. Such techniques are, namely, Below The Line
(BTL) and Above The Line (ATL) which are briefly described below:-
Above the Line
Above the Line advertising also known as ATL marketing / advertising or promotion is a
technique that comprises of various advertising and promotional activities which are non-
targeted (Schivinski and Dabrowski, 2016). This technique has a broad scope as the reach of
customers by use of this technique is very wide. ATL marketing is generally utilised with an aim
to effectively create a positive image of the brand and increase awareness about the new product.
Here, the communication tools and techniques used are not directed towards a specific target
group or market and instead focuses upon a large base of customers spread across different parts
of globe. This marketing tool gives less importance to conversion ratios. Some of ATL media
and tools that are used widespread by companies are Television, Radio, magazines and
newspapers.
Below the Line
Below the Line advertising also referred to as BTL marketing / advertising or promotion
is a technique which comprises of such tools and media that are specific and targeted towards a
specific consumer group or market (Shareef, Dwivedi and Rana, 2015). Further, these include
direct advertisement activities which largely concentrates upon increasing the conversion ratio of
people instead of building brand image amongst individuals.
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Cadbury has also decided to make use of BTL techniques of marketing as they have
ascertained customer groups that they want to specifically target while introducing the sugar free
chocolates in Dubai. Also, the channels that company is planning to use to communicate and
advertise about Cadbury Plus in Dubai markets are Outdoor Advertising (banners, bill boards,
hoardings and posters), direct mail marketing (emails and text messages), brand activation
(marketing activities in malls and other commercial complexes) and in-store marketing activities
(activities within retail stores) (Ryan, 2016). By aid of these, company is striving to successfully
launch the new product in Dubai.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that marketing communication, marketing
planning and analysis of consumer behaviour are essential for any company which is planning to
introduce a new product or service in international markets. Also, it has been analysed that it is
imperative for entities to analyse the latest trends and activities prevalent in the new marketplace
so that the new product to be launched can meet the needs and demands of customers. Besides
this, it has been evaluated that a marketing and integrated promotional plan is required to be
made by the organisation to lay out the structural process and ways in which the commodity can
be successfully introduced at marketplace. Furthermore, it has been assessed that various types
of communication as well as marketing strategies and techniques are adopted by company
depending upon organisational and market needs.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Belch, G. E. and et. al., 2014. Advertising: An integrated marketing communication perspective.
McGraw-Hill Education.
Constantinides, E., 2014. Foundations of social media marketing. Procedia-Social and
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Gao, L. and Bai, X., 2014. Online consumer behaviour and its relationship to website
atmospheric induced flow: Insights into online travel agencies in China. Journal of
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Godey, B. and et. al., 2016. Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand
equity and consumer behavior. Journal of business research. 69(12). pp.5833-5841.
Holliman, G. and Rowley, J., 2014. Business to business digital content marketing: marketers’
perceptions of best practice. Journal of research in interactive marketing. 8(4). pp.269-
293.
Kumar, A. and et. al., 2016. From social to sale: The effects of firm-generated content in social
media on customer behavior. Journal of Marketing. 80(1). pp.7-25.
McDonagh, P. and Prothero, A., 2014. Sustainability marketing research: Past, present and
future. Journal of Marketing Management. 30(11-12). pp.1186-1219.
Pike, S. and Page, S. J., 2014. Destination Marketing Organizations and destination marketing: A
narrative analysis of the literature. Tourism management. 41. pp.202-227.
Ryan, D., 2016. Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital
generation. Kogan Page Publishers.
Schivinski, B. and Dabrowski, D., 2016. The effect of social media communication on consumer
perceptions of brands. Journal of Marketing Communications. 22(2). pp.189-214.
Shareef, M. A., Dwivedi, Y. K. and Rana, N. P., 2015. Consumer behaviour in the context of
SMS-based marketing. The Marketing Review. 15(2). pp.135-160.
Solomon, M. R. and et. al., 2014. Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10).
London: Pearson.
Ström, R., Vendel, M. and Bredican, J., 2014. Mobile marketing: A literature review on its value
for consumers and retailers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 21(6).
pp.1001-1012.
Xiang, Z. and et. al., 2015. Adapting to the internet: trends in travelers’ use of the web for trip
planning. Journal of Travel Research. 54(4). pp.511-527.
Online
UAE Chocolate Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2019. 2018. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uae-chocolate-market-forecast-and-
opportunities-2019-300027985.html>.
Reyoutilizer App Simplifies Dubai Recycling. 2016. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.greenprophet.com/2013/08/reyoutilizer-app-simplifies-dubai-recycling/>.
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