Marketing Management – Doc

Marketing
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Marketing management is about activities beginning with analysis, planning,
implementation and control of programmers by targetting a market with a view to achieve
organizational goals. In this report, Coles has been selected which has its headquarters at
Howthorn East, Victoria, Australia. Further, this assignment covers, positioning of brand, leaders
of selected product, consumer adoption process for new item and its aspects related to marketing
of the new product.
MAIN BODY
Brand positioning of product
Brand positioning can be defined as the perception of customers about a particular brand
which distinguish it from its competitors (Baker, 2016). It helps in creating an individual place at
marketplace as compared to the rivals. In the present report, Coles Comfy Bots product is chosen
which is nappies for babies.
The features provided in this product has influenced the sales and profit positively.
Buyers have appreciated the new version as the thickness has been reduced. Furthermore, it can
retain liquid for a long time, the dryness factor has increased also given enhanced elasticity.
It has received good reviews and customers give priority to this product over any other
brand. Coles has a established name which has left a positive impact on customer's mind.
However, some complaints have been received about chemical smell and the reduction of
thickness.
Market leaders, identified niche and future position of the selected item
Coles is a successful company which has number of competitors selling nappies for
babies with the same features and similar price range. Some of the rivals of Coles for this
particular product is Aldi, Canster Blue, Unicharm and many more.
The niche identified for this particular product is that, Coles is focusing on babies which
includes infants till the age of turning 3 years. Furthermore, the price of this item has been kept
affordable so that people belonging to different income level can buy and use this product.
Coles is popular company and its products are known to large number of customers. The
response to this product is positive and people are buying it in huge quantity leading to higher
sales and profit. From the current market analysis, it can be said that this product is going to be
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well established with the time. Coles is investing in research and development due to which it
can introduce new changes for better. The old version of this product was also famous among the
parents as they liked the quality provided in that. Coles has tried to maintain the same quality in
this by including gel, lowering down the chemical substance, making it eco and skin friendly.
Consumer adoption process, consumer awareness and adoption of new product
Product adoption process
The product adoption process consists of 5 steps including product awareness, product
interest, product evaluation, product trial and product adoption (Kerin and Hartley, 2015). These
steps are described below-
Product awareness – According to this step, consumer decides to make regular use of the
product. In the given case, new product is Coles Comfy Bots and this new product is perceived
by new potential customers. The main focus of this is to promote awareness about the new
product.
Product interest – As per this stage or step, consumer seeks information regarding the
new product i.e. Coles Comfy Bots. After doing this, information is gathered and consumer
enters the evaluation stage and buying this new product is considered. This mainly focuses on
developing interest about new Coles Comfy Bots.
Product Evaluation – In this trial stage, the consumer tries the product on a small scale
for improving his estimation to the value. In context of Coles Comfy Bots, it is evaluated that
weather this product is appropriate for consumers or not. According to this, the product is
evaluated against other brands.
Product Trial – As per this step, consumer is trying the new product on small scale for
improving value. In context of Coles Comfy Bots, the evaluation of its value is done. These new
diapers are used by consumers and they evaluate that weather it is comfortable or not. In this,
new product is given to customer and feedbacks are taken to know whether it is liked by
customers or not.
Product adoption – This is the last stage where consumer is deciding to make regular use
of the product. In context of Coles Comfy Bots, it is taken care that if this product is perceived
by customers then it is introduced in new markets. This is final step of product adoption method
and it includes analysing satisfaction level of customers towards the new product.
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How will the consumer learn about their new product i.e. Coles Comfy Bots
There are different ways by which consumers learn about new products. In the given case
of Coles Comfy Bots, it is seen that they can make consumers learn about this product using
social media contests (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015). The marketers of company can use
contests, giveaways and sweepstakes for promoting this product and making consumers to buy it
more. Social media contests are fun and this is the easiest way of introducing products to people.
Also another way that can be used by company for promoting Coles Comfy Bots is Email
marketing. This includes providing emails to consumers about discounts and offers on this new
diaper. Emails helps in sharing details and information about new diaper to consumers in an
effective manner. Facebook is one of the most common way of introducing new product and
making it popular among consumers. This diaper advertisement and interviews of loyal
consumers can be shown in Facebook. This takes less investment and it is a quick process to
reach customers. Hosting an event is another way of getting consumers aware more about your
product. This company can organise event for providing more information about Coles Comfy
Bots.
Coles has huge customer base and a strong position in the market and among the
competitors. It makes strategies and policies for retaining this position. For this Coles Comfy
Bots nappies, it has an established market. Due to this, it is proposing to target to both heavy as
well as early users. The price has been kept in such a way that large number of buyers can buy it.
However, it may make changes in target number of customers at a future date. The company is
trying to adopt this strategy and other plans as soon as possible. Thus, it has estimated about 4
months to adopt this. It is carrying the activities aggressively to reach different market
demographics.
Pricing strategy
Pricing strategy refers to a method with the help of which, a company can decide the
price for their product and service which is suitable to maintain competition at the marketplace.
It is based on number of factors which should be considered and undertaken at the time of fixing
the price (Pike, 2015). In this, company include its profit margin and other expenses so that it can
earn sufficient amount of revenue.
There are different kinds of pricing strategies which have been described below:
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Cost plus pricing- This method allows the company to estimate the total costs incurred in
this and add a mark-up which is to be charged from the customers.
Competitive pricing- The price of the products are decided on the basis of prevailing
competition in the market. Organization set a price by considering the level of competition.
Value-based pricing- In this method, importance is given to the perceptions hold by
customers. The price should be such that which the buyer is willing to pay on the basis of worth
of product.
Price skimming- The price in this is usually high at the beginning which is reduced with
the time and according to changes taking place in the market (Tuten, and Solomon, 2017). It is
risky as it is hard to attract customers to buy newly launched product at high price.
Penetration pricing- In this method, low price is set for the products to make a position in
the competitive market. Once the organization understand the market and make a goodwill, it
raise the prices later.
By analysing the above strategies for pricing, it can be said that Coles can use penetrating
pricing strategy for launching Comfy Bots (West, Ford and Ibrahim, 2015). It is good for
capturing the market by covering huge number of customers to whom it is targeting. With the
help of this strategy, it can attract new potential consumers for making the purchase on repetitive
basis. Furthermore, after this product reach a satisfactory level, it can increase the price.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that marketing is an activity of an
organisation which involves number of functions. The scope is wide due to which it becomes
imperative to manage the work efficiently and effectively. Thus, by good marketing management
Coles can target huge number of customers by adopting appropriate pricing strategy. Along with
this, product adoption process should be implemented for successful launching of the product.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals:
Baker, M. J., 2016. What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book (pp. 25-42). Routledge.
Kerin, R. and Hartley, S., 2015. Marketing: the core. McGraw-Hill.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P., 2015. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
Pike, S., 2015. Destination marketing: essentials. Routledge.
Tuten, T. L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.
West, D. C., Ford, J. and Ibrahim, E., 2015. Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage.
Oxford University Press, USA.
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