Product Life Cycle Management: A Chocolate Company

The assignment content discusses the importance of understanding market trends and consumer preferences in product development. The marketing mix, also known as the four Ps (product, price, place, and promotion), is crucial for an organization's survival. Each component of the four Ps has specific considerations to ensure effective execution. The product should be tailored to meet customer needs and desires, with a focus on differentiating it from competitors. Pricing involves controlling costs to offer competitive prices while considering consumer perceptions of value. Place refers to distribution strategies that enable products to reach target customers effectively. Promotion includes various components like advertising, sales organization, and public relations, all aimed at boosting brand recognition and sales. Finally, people refer to the importance of employee training in delivering superior services. Process and physical evidence also play key roles in service industries.

marketing plan of chocolate
student
[Company name] [Company address]

Table of Contents
SECTION: 1...................................................................................................................................................2
CONCEPT OF MARKETING:-.....................................................................................................................2
MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS:-.........................................................................................................3
CONTRIBUTION OF MARKETING MIX IN EFFECTIVE MARKETING PLANNING:-........................................6
SECTION: 2...................................................................................................................................................7
MARKET SEGMENTATION:-......................................................................................................................7
TARGET MARKET: -..................................................................................................................................8
POSITIONING:-.........................................................................................................................................9
SECTION: 3.................................................................................................................................................10
MARKETING MIX:-.................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES:-............................................................................................................................................15
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SECTION: 1
CONCEPT OF MARKETING:-
In our daily life, we use variety of goods like toothpaste, milk, biscuits and many more things.
The question arises how these goods reach to us? Obviously, every business houses who are
producing goods ensure that these goods are to be sold, so for this purpose, their task is to aware
the customers about their products and they should place their products at a consumer
convenience place. This includes various steps like the planning of product, promotion, pricing,
sale, warehousing, etc. when we collect all these activities together; it is known as marketing. In
this assignment, we will study the marketing plan of introducing new chocolate. There are two
concepts of marketing which are:-
1. Traditional concept
2. Modern concept
Traditional concept: - According to this marketing is a process of selling goods and services
which are produced by business houses. (Welch, 2013)Thus, all the activities which are
connected with the selling of goods are known as marketing. This marketing concept
concentrated mainly on promotion activities, and little concentration is paid towards satisfaction
of the consumer. This concept has following implications:-
 This concept is mainly focused on product, means we should have a product, and
we have to sell it.
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 Efforts of marketing are made towards selling the product. For this, they adopt all
means of selling like personal selling and sales promotion or another.
 The main aim of this concept is to maximize profit by selling a large number of
goods.
Modern concept: - this concept focuses on producing the goods as per the needs and wants of
the consumers. In it, delivery of those goods is made to the consumers which give them more
satisfaction. (Armstrong, 2012) Then, in this marketing activities starts from identifying the
consumer needs, then plan the production of goods as per the tastes of the consumers. Thus,
main implications of this concept are:-
 In this concept, the whole focus of the management is towards their customers.
 The main aim of this concept is to earn a maximum profit by satisfying their customers.
Growing awareness of the social relevance of business, it should be considered that all
business houses perform marketing activities by considering the satisfaction of their
consumers.
MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS:-
The product chosen is chocolate. For introducing a new chocolate in a market, we will develop a
suitable marketing plan which enables us to build our market image. Marketing planning consists
several stages which are followed in a sequence. A marketing plan is developed as per the
requirement of the business. Before developing it, we should research full market. Marketing
plan shows both developments of objective or ways for achieving it. Following steps are
included in a marketing plan:-
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1. ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS:-
The first main important step of the marketing planning is environment analysis. The
environment is dynamic in nature; it changes continuously. So, before taking any further
step, it is necessary for the management to make environment analysis and then perform
further steps. So, for launching our new chocolate brand in the market we firstly make an
environmental analysis.
2. FORMULATING MISSION:-
The mission is the only reason for which an organization came into existence. The
statement of the mission is straightforward that shows why an organization is in business,
that helps us in planning for future. (A. Griffith, 2014) Mission statement should be such
which motivate the entire staff and customers.
3. FORMULATING CORPORATE OBJECTIVE:-
Objectives consist various goals which should be achieved within a predetermined
period. Corporate objectives are most important goals for which an organization performs
their tasks to achieve their objectives within a fixed period which can be one or more
years. All departments of an organization perform their task mutually so that they can all
help the organization in achieving their goals. Statement of mission and the corporate
objectives are developed by top-level management. All rest steps are performed only by
the department of marketing. All steps and decisions taken by the marketing department
should be directed to the achievement of the organization mission and objectives of the
corporate firm.
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4. MARKETING AUDIT:-
Marketing audit enables an organization in analyzing or checking the strategies of
marketing, goals, result and difficulties. (A. Griffith, 2014) A marketing audit is
performed to evaluate all aspects of the business directly which is related to the
department of marketing. It is not done primarily in the marketing planning process, but it
is done during the implementation of the marketing plan. Marketing audit helps us in
understanding the threats and opportunities for our business in the market which helps us
in effective promotion of the new brand.
5. SWOT ANALYSIS:-
All information which we collected by the process of marketing audit used in conducting
the SWOT analysis. It helps us in recognizing the strength, weakness, opportunity and
threats of the organization which we can use effectively while promoting the new
chocolate brand in the market. This helps us in adding the more value in our product.
6. MARKETING ASSUMPTIONS:-
The best plan of marketing is completely based on better understanding of customers, but
it is not possible to know all the things about the requirements of the customer, so many
things are assumed about customers. For example - Assumptions related to the target
buyer.
7. MARKETING OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES:-
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After determining the opportunities and challenges for the business organization, the next
step is to formulate objective of the marketing and strategies for achieving these
marketing objectives. In it, we determine the strategies for launching our new chocolate
brand in the market.
8. FORECAST EXPECTED RESULTS:-
It is necessary for the managers of marketing to forecast the future results. They have to
analysis the future target market. In the absence of proper forecasting, all the strategies
are not provided the desired outcomes.
9. MARKETING BUDGET:-
It is the process of calculating the expected cost of the proposed marketing plan. One
common method of calculating marketing plan costs is based upon a percentage of
revenue.
10. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION:-
At this stage, a team is completely ready to implement their plans into action. It includes
spending money on advertising, opening new retail outlets or launching new products.
( Leonidou, 2013) Marketing process should regularly be evaluated this helps in
accomplishing the marketing goals.
CONTRIBUTION OF MARKETING MIX IN EFFECTIVE MARKETING PLANNING:-
The marketing mix is considered as an important tool which promoting marketing strategy and
helps in implementation of a marketing plan with tactics. It is a part of marketing and helps in
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conveying to customers why the product offered to them is different and better than available
alternatives. (Leonidou, 2013) Marketing mix helps the organization in identifying their target
customers. Most important things that marketing mix enables an organization to understand how
to build and sell value to your target consumers. Implementing such marketing campaign that
shows off high-quality product at fair prices gives an opportunity to the organization to succeed
in future.
SECTION: 2
In today environment every function of peoples is started with the sweets, and they start using
sweets from their childhood. Chocolate is also a sweet product which offers higher satisfaction to
children as well as teenagers. The confectionary industry is top level industries among all food
processing industries. Segmentation. Positioning and Targeting are known as a three step
process. In which firstly we determine which kind of customer exist, secondly, select those to
whom we are trying to serve, thirdly, implement our segmentation by serving our product to that
segment.
MARKET SEGMENTATION:-
Segmentation is the process of finding out what kinds of consumers with distinct needs exist.
For example in the auto market, we often see that some customers demand speed and
performance, while others required safety and roominess. In general, it is always considered that
all things cannot serve to all peoples, and it is focused that the firms which are serving to a target
market are more profitable than others. Segmentation is a difficult process; it is a tough choice
for the organization. There are huge variables that can be used to differentiate consumers of a
product category. Thus it required selection of appropriate variables for segmenting our product.
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Thus, we decided the variables which are most relevant in identifying different types of
chocolate consumers are:-
 Preference for taste with low calories.
 Price sensitivity- willingness to pay for a particular brand
Chocolate can be served to the consumers by market our product in distinct market segments:-
1. END USERS: - They are the operators who have their own vending routes, and they are
willing to expand their product selections. In this category, a large number of food
services are there that engage in the operation of vending which is a part of their overall
food service business.
2. DISTRIBUTORS: - They are the distributors who buy the product directly from the
manufacturer. Organization uses the distributors for supplying their products widely in
different markets so that their sale can be an increase or their goodwill also enhance.
TARGET MARKET: -
The next step is a target on or more available segments. Choices should be correct; it is
influenced by various factors like- how well are existing segments served by other
manufacturers. It is quite difficult to identify proper market segment. Chocolate satisfies a
consumer need by satisfying their own desires. Promotion of the chocolate is done for increasing
its sales. So, promotion is very important for generating profit. Chocolate is specially made for
the children's and females (teenage females, adult or mother) who are mostly like to use
chocolate in their celebrations. On the basis of past research in that field, it said that women
contribute 51% of the population (Kotler, 2015) and consume 6% more chocolates in comparison
to men. While targeting a particular segment, it should be considered that how large is a
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particular segment and how much chances to grow it in future. The following elements are
needed for commercial attractiveness of each segment:-
 Criteria size: - it is necessary that the selected market should be large so that growth
chances of the market in the future is enough. If it is small than a growth of the
organization is also limited.
 Difference: - Between different segments, all the differences should be measurable.
 Money: - Profits in the organization should exceed than the costs of an additional
marketing plan and other changes.
 Accessible: - It is the most important thing that selected segment should be accessible for
the marketing team, and the segment should be able to receive all notifications and
messages from the marketing team.
 Focus on different benefits: - All the different segments must require different benefits.
POSITIONING:-
Positioning is the process of implementing our targeting. For example - Apple company decided
to position itself by producing user-friendly computers. Thus, Apple is able to build its position
in the market by promoting itself through using unintimidating icons. We can position our brand
in the market by following the following things:-
 Operationally excellent firms:- Maintain our organization operationally fit helps in
gaining competitive advantage in the market. Thus, an organization should provide good
quality services to their customers at lower cost than their well-established competitors. If
we want to position our chocolate brand in a market, it should be at reasonable cost and
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contain high quality. All emphasis here is on providing services of high quality at low
cost.
 Customer intimate firms:-In it, the main focus should be toward customers for serving
their needs. Today efficiency in functions ignored completely, so efficiency should be
there in performing all the tasks. Reliability should also be there which helps the
organization in winning customer confidence. If we want a better image of our product in
the market, we should focus on the efficiency of our product.
 Technologically excellent firms: - For serving the customers in the most desired way, it is
necessary to use advanced technology for producing the different goods. Organization
should focus on maintaining the level of leadership innovation. (Aghdam, 2015) For
example - Intel is always focusing large on innovation and brings new and advanced
system for their customers. So, while marketing the product their technology should be
ensured it should be as per the taste of the consumer.
Thus, STP helps us in creating our brand image and position organization on the basis of
their product in the market.
SECTION: 3
MARKETING MIX:-
The marketing mix is considered as a tool which is used by the businesses and marketers in
determining a product or brand's offering. It is about the about putting the right thing, to the right
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people, at the right time or at a right place. In it, the difficult part is to focus on all the aspects of
the business plan. In 1990, marketing mix is based on the four Cs theories, but now it is based on
the 7 Cs theories which are following:-
It is a simple diagram which shows all the elements of the marketing mix. The detailed
description of all these elements are following:-
1. PRODUCT:-
The product is an item which is built for the motive of satisfying the needs of a certain
group of peoples. A product can be intangible or tangible, or it can be in the form of
goods and services. It is necessary for an organization to produce the right product as
demanded by the customer market. So, during the processing of the product organization
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should focus on the life cycle of the product to ensure its quality. Organization should
conduct research of the market to know about the trends of the market. This aware the
organization about the taste and preferences of their consumers. Every product has a
certain life cycle in which includes different phase’s like- Growth phase, Maturity or
Decline phase. It is very important for the organization to introduce a new product while
the existing product is on the decline stage. (Huang, 2014) Marketers should contribute
their efforts in producing right kind of product mix. It can be expanded by the marketers
by increasing the depth of their product line. It is necessary for the marketers to think
what features can make their product different from existing competitors. When we are
producing the chocolates for their customers, then it should be as per the taste of the
consumers which offer large satisfaction to all of them. While developing the right
product the marketer should following the different things:-
 What type of product customers wants?
 How can the customer utilize it in the best manner?
 What qualities should be there in the product as per their customers?
2. PRICE:-
Price refers to the amount of a particular product which customers ready to pay for
enjoying it. It is considered as a main important element of the marketing mix. It is also a
most important component of the marketing plan because it determines the profit of the
firm which determines the survival of the organization. (Hassan,2012) Price is such a
component o which the whole demand and sales of the product depend on. For the
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marketers, it should be necessary to control the extra cost of the product so that they can
sell it for less price. (Huang, 2014) Pricing helps an organization in shaping the
perceptions of their products in the eyes of the consumers. While formulating the price
we should consider the following things:-
 How much cost is involved in producing the product?
 What are the perceptions of the consumers regarding value?
3. PLACE:-
Distribution is considered as an important part of the product mix. It is necessary for an
organization that they should distribute their product at such places from where the
product is easily accessible for the target customers. While selling our chocolate to new
market than the management should focus on developing a suitable distribution network.
This will enhance the sale of the company and create a brand image in the market. This
can be only possible when the organization has deep knowledge of their potential target
market. Understand it enabling the organization in positioning itself in a very efficient
manner and identifying the potential distribution channels which directly involved with
the target marketing. There are various distribution strategies, some of them are
following:-
 Selective distribution
 Exclusive distribution
 Franchising
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All these strategies help the organization in building a proper distribution network.
Here are following things which you should focus while developing distribution
strategies:-
 Where your customers wants services?
 How organization access to their distribution channels.
 How the firm can make their strategies different from their competitors.
4. PROMOTION:-
Promotion enables the form in boosting their brand recognition and sales. It includes
various components like:-
 Advertising
 Sales organization
 Public relations
While developing promotion strategy we should focus on:-
 When is the most favorable time for promoting a product?
 Is it good to use social media for promoting our product?
 Will the organization is able to reach their potential buyers?
 What promotion strategy are used by the competitors of the organization?
5. PEOPLE:-
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Both the target market and people closely related to the business organization.
Organization should conduct research for measuring the number of people in their
potential target market that demand different types of products and services. (Aghdam,
2015) Employees of the company play an important role in the growth of the
organization, so it is the responsibilities of the organization to train their peoples for
delivering superior services to their potential customers. This will help the organization
in strengthening their internal competitive advantage that affects a position of the
organization in the marketplace.
6. PROCESS:-
The whole system of the organization affects execution of the services in a business
concern. So, a firm should ensure that it should have the proper process to minimize cost.
When an organization is producing the chocolate than it should ensure that proper
process should be followed for ensuring its quality. Not only its production process but
all other processes should be performed with high concentration.
7. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE:-
It is necessary for having physical evidence for service industries which is proof that the
service is delivered. In addition, physical evidence also conveys that how an organization
and its product are perceived I the marketplace. (Bowen, 2014) It is considered as a
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physical evidence of establishment and presence of a business unit. For example: - when
you think about the fast food than McDonald comes in your mind.
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