Launch Industries: Brand X Vegan Snack Bar Marketing Strategy and Plan

This report details a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan for the launch of Brand X, a new fruit-based vegan snack bar in the UK. The report begins with an executive summary, outlining the product, target market, and key marketing objectives. It then delves into an introduction to Brand X, emphasizing the growing market for vegan products and the opportunity for innovation. A crucial aspect of the plan is the identification of the target consumer, segmented geographically (UK retail and specialty stores), demographically (middle and lower income groups, with a focus on the young age group), and behaviorally (busy lifestyles and vegetarian consumers). An analysis of the external environment using Porter's Five Forces is included, assessing industry rivalry, buyer power, supplier power, the threat of new entrants, and the threat of substitute goods. The report establishes clear communication objectives, including increasing customer numbers, enhancing brand recognition, and achieving revenue targets. The core of the plan is a detailed campaign strategy encompassing social media marketing, television advertisements, email marketing, printed media, and an event launch, with a budget allocation of £100,000 over three months. The plan also includes a monitoring and evaluation framework, outlining key performance indicators and analytical tools to track campaign effectiveness. The report concludes with a summary of key recommendations and strategic considerations for the successful launch of Brand X.

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Marketing Strategy and Plan
[Type the document subtitle]
12/31/2019
student name

Marketing Strategy and Plan 1
Executive summary
The report with include an integrated marketing activities for marketing of brand X. Brand X
will be launching new product that is vegan snack bars. The industry suggests that the direct
competition of the company would be Larabar by General mills. Bargaining power of buyers
could be major threat for the company. Target consumer for Brand X vegan snack bar would
be retail stores and specialty stores of Brand X in UK. For marketing promotions the
company will be majorly focusing young age group. The target customer group would be
middle income group and lower income group, based on demographic factors.
The launch of the communication campaign for Brand X will include use of various
communication tools and channels in order to reach maximum customers. Communication
tools and channels use for Brand X communication campaign include social media, television
advertisement, email marketing, printed media, and event launch. Evaluation and monitoring
of the communication campaign plan of Brand X various steps include goal tracking. Some
of the analytical tool considered for the purpose of monitoring. After the evaluations
customer behaviour will be noted for improvement in strategies.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 2
Contents
Executive summary....................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction to Brand X......................................................................................................3
2. Target consumer.................................................................................................................3
3. External environment..........................................................................................................5
3.1 Porters five force model...................................................................................................5
4. Communication objectives for the campaign.....................................................................7
5. Campaign for product launch.............................................................................................8
6. Evaluation & monitoring..................................................................................................10
7. Conclusion........................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

Marketing Strategy and Plan 3
1. Introduction to Brand X
Brand X will be launching new product that is vegan snack bars. As per the research
conducted the population is largely shifting towards vegan products which reflect an
appropriate time for launch industries to enter into this market with fruit based vegan snack
bar. This reflects the opportunity for the company to grow into such market and launching
innovative flavour for vegan population in UK. The communication is one of the aspects
which are very necessary activity to be conducted for the brand to create awareness regarding
the launch of new product and induce population to try the products for the first time
(Armstrong & Giardina, 2016).
This is one of the most crucial activities for marketing of brand X as the market is highly
competitive. UK culture reflects fast food eating habits which reflect that the competition and
variety of food availability is very large in the market (Adam & Kotler, 2014). Thus Brand X
needs to make additional efforts to attract population for fruit Snack Bar. Moreover the brand
X is looking for cost effective communication plan. The report with include an integrated
marketing activities that will be schedule for next three months with the purpose of brand
awareness within the allocated budget that is £ 100,000 (Kaplan, 2015).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 4
2. Target consumer
While conducting the marketing activities, it is important to select or focus on a target market
and customer segmentation so as to conduct the right marketing strategy that will be
appropriate top target or attract that particular focus group. The consumer behaviour will be
assessed and analysed based on this strategy in the marketing plan (Burdo, 2018). For the
vegan group various consumers’ behaviour will be considered as the customer that will be
purchasing vegan products or seem to be appropriate to focus will be grouped into a
homogeneous group (Balmer & Abratt, 2016). Thus, Target consumer for Brand X vegan
snack bar would be bifurcated on following basis
1. Geographical basis – Considering the geographical basis the target market for this
product is UK market, where the location to be targeted would be retail stores and
specialty stores of Brand X in UK (Calboli, 2015). United Kingdom is served as the
target segmentation area as the culture reflected in the nation is more indulged in fast
food and the unhealthy food habit has been asses. Through this snack bar the
company would also be able to contribute towards healthy food products offered to
the customer that will not be created from animal products (Calboli, 2015).
2. Demographic basis – This reflect the factors like age group and income level.
Considering age group, the target group will be all age groups, the reason being the
product reflects health food habits which could be adopted by all age groups.
However through the marketing promotions the company will be majorly focusing
young age group as they are more indulge in fast food across the nation. Considering
the income group, the target customer group would be middle income group and
lower income group as the cost effective products would; be launched by Brand X
(Evans, 2011).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 5
3. Behavioural basis – according to this segmentation basis, the key factors include
lifestyle of the consumers. For brand X vegan snack bar, the targeted lifestyle would
be busy lifestyle. For this the college going students and office going employees will
be targeted. The reason being the product is to provide ready to eat snack bar along
with essential nutrients. Thus it reflects that having the snack bar by such target group
will reflect the easy availability and approachability of food products (Kumar et al.,
2018).
Most importantly, the vegetarian population of UK will also be targeted, the reason
being this group is strictly not consuming animal products (Doole & Lowe, 2008).
3. External environment
External environment of the company will include the business environmental forces external
to the business that will be impacting the business sin some or the other way and specifically
impact the marketing strategies and communication plan of the company. In external
environment, industry in which the company is working is most important factor that will
reflect the communication plan of Brand X (Harrigan & Choudhury, 2014).
3.1 Porters five force model
This model will reflect the industrial forces in which Brand X exist. The food and beverage
industry of UK will reflect following five forces as per this model
1. Industry rivalry
The competition in the industry impacts the strategy to the largest level, the reason
being the brands need to place the product with unique and identifiable position. Thus
the communication plan of the brand will majorly impact. The industry suggest that
the direct competition of the company would be Larabar by General mills, as the

Marketing Strategy and Plan 6
company is offering fruit snack bars, which is the business idea of Brand X. from this
force, it can be said that the company need to consider effective and aggressive
communication strategy so as to create positioning and brand image in the consumer
perception (Greg, 2014).
2. Bargaining power of buyers
Another force that will impact communications strategy of Brand X is the role of
consumers in the industry. The competition is quite high in the industry and the
switching cost for the consumers is very less, which reflect that the bargaining power
of buyers is very high. This reflects that the company either need to consider
differentiation strategy or cost leadership strategy in order to retain the customer with
Brand X (Burdo, 2018).
3. Bargaining power of suppliers
Suppliers in the industry also plan major role in the business, as the cost of raw
materials will eventually affect the pricing strategy of the company and cost of
production. In this industry, the supplier are in large number, thus this is not a major
threat for Brand X as the company will consider agile supply chain strategy and may
switch supplier in case of cost changes. Thus it can be said that this force may not
majorly impact the communication campaign by Brand X (Craig & Douglas, 2015).
4. Threat of new entrants
This force reflects that the company may be in the threat due to increase in number of
new business in same product offering. This industry does not reflect and barriers to
entry as such (chiefoutsiders, 2018). Thus it can be said that the new company can
enter into this industry with better technology and innovative idea and better taste
preference and can act as major threat to the company. Thus it is important for the
company to work towards customer retention through communication campaign and

Marketing Strategy and Plan 7
increase the taste preference for the brand X in order to reduce this threat
(chiefoutsiders, 2018).
5. Threat of substitute goods
This force has also affected the communication of the company. This force reflect the
substitute goods for vegan snack bar, which could be chocolate bar, and handmade
snacks that may act as the replaceable products that may provide similar satisfaction
to the customers. This force reflect medium threat to the company, as the product
differentiation and the taste of snack bar taste by Brand X will have particular that
may influence the taste and preference of the customer and decrease threat from this
force (Chari & Feng, 2018).
4. Communication objectives for the campaign
Communication plan of Brand X will reflect and will be working towards the following
objectives
1. Increase number of customers
One of the communication objectives through the launching campaign is increase in
number of customer associated with the brand. This may include attracting 10 percent
new customers that will taste the product for the first time. This can be measure
through customer database, which will reflect the new customers associated with the
brand. The objective is for next three months of the campaign launch (Day, 2014).
2. Increase brand recognition
The objective reflects increase in brand recognition by 20 percent in next six months
after launch of the communication campaign. The brand recognition seems to be
important aspect for the company as this will reflect the future success factors due to
increase brand image (Doole & Lowe, 2008). This can be measured through

Marketing Strategy and Plan 8
marketing survey and analysis which will reflect that the percentage in the sample are
that are recognizing the brand and reflect brand awareness among the population, for
which the objective is to increase the brand recognition which would be 20% in next
three months through communication campaign. This can also be measured through
Google analytics and social media vies and reaction to the posts (Duggan, 2018).
3. Revenue earning and 10 percent return on investment
This objective includes increase in sale and revenue for the company by 5 % in next
six months, which will reflect the return on investment by 10 percent. This can be
measured through the financial report and financial analytics by the company (Finne,
2017).
5. Campaign for product launch
The launch of the communication campaign for Brand X will include use of various
communication tools and channels in order to reach maximum customers. This campaign
timescale and the budget allocation is being presented in the table below.
Communication tool Time span Budget allocated (in £)
Social media 1-3rd months 8,000
Television advertisement 2-3 month 30,000
Email marketing 1-3rd month 10,000
Printed media 3rd month 8,000
Event launch 1st month 44,000
Total budget £100,000
 Social media – One of the most important platforms in today’s world is social media
that is use of digital communication. This will reflect that the social media campaign
will be used that may include various ways of message that is post, in form of info

Marketing Strategy and Plan 9
graphic, and video marketing (Armstrong & Giardina, 2016). Thus, the brand X will
include marketing campaign using Facebook, snap chat, twitter, Instagram, pinterest,
and you tube as the platforms in order to reach out to the target customers. This could
be most appropriate tool as the target customer segment is young group which is
mostly spending their time on social media platforms. Moreover celebrity influence
can be used as part of video marketing on you tube and other social media platform
(Gautam & Sharma, 2017).
 Television advertisement – Another tool that has been considered for the
communication campaign for is television advertisement. This is one of the traditional
communication tool, but very effective as this will induce the customer at greater pace
and the reachability through this tool will be very wide across UK for Brand X. This
may include use of popular celebrities from Hollywood, and reflect the health
consciousness and healthy eating habits as a message through communication
campaign (Gong & Yi, 2018).
 Email marketing – Email marketing is considered as part of campaign in order to
engage customers and increase the customer relationship among the brand and
customers. The company is going to launch various fruity flavours through vegan
snack bar, which may include the email marketing for new product and innovation
strategy. This will increase the personal relation with customers (Adam & Kotler,
2014).
 Printed media – The printed media is part of the tool for communication campaign for
the customer segment that may not be interested in social media or reflect busy
lifestyle. This included billboards, hoarding and newspaper as channel to this
campaign (Petersen, 2015).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 10
 Event launch – the launch of the product is the major activity through this campaign
and for this the strategy for brand X includes event organization, which may include
invitation to some top celebrities and increase the brand publicity. Moreover this may
include sample distribution in order to make potential consumers taste the products
(Jaworski, 2018).
6. Evaluation & monitoring
The evaluation and monitoring is one of the crucial stages while launching any strategy or
plan. The reason being the environment is dynamic and it is important to evaluate if the
planed activity has been implemented as per the planned and the objectives are achieved
through the existing plan. One of the tools will be used for this purpose which will reflect the
evaluation and monitoring of communication plan launched in previous section for preceding
three months (Kumar et al., 2018).
Tasks / Activities Feb Mar Apr May
Goal tracking
Google analytics
Email marketing and e-commerce
Digital advertising
Print ad evaluation
Take good notes
Controling
Evaluation and monitoring of the communication campaign plan of Brand X could be done
through various analytical tools. The steps in the evaluation will include goal tracking that
will reflect the timescale that is considered in the planning for each activity, and the initial
step would be to track the same after product launch. Some of the analytical tool considered
for the purpose of monitoring the activities and measure the result of each communication

Marketing Strategy and Plan 11
tool used through the campaign. This included Google analytics to understand how many
potential customer or individuals are searching for the products of Brand X (Menon &
Edison, 2015).
Other than this email marketing and ecommerce include direct relation and communication
with the customer which will reflect the measurement of the communication effect on
customer immediately. Other than this, print ad evaluation will be done so as to assess the
effect of print ad on brand awareness. After the evaluations the notes like the customer
behaviour towards the brand will be noted so as to understand the area of improvement for
the strategies (Mukherji & Arora, 2017).
The last stage will include controlling exercise that is to compare the plan and objective of
the campaign and the actual result from evaluation and monitoring so as to take the corrective
action. This may include change in the communication plan or change in the activities
conducted like training to the employees to increase the efficiency (Mukherji & Arora, 2017).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 12
7. Conclusion
From the communication campaign report of Brand X vegan Snack bar in UK, the key
highlighting points included UK culture reflects fast food eating habits which reflect that the
competition and variety of food availability is very large in the market. Target consumer for
Brand X vegan snack bar considering the geographical basis, would be retail stores and
specialty stores of Brand X in UK. Considering age group, the target group will young age
group through the marketing promotions. Considering the income group, the target customer
group would be middle income group and lower income group; the targeted lifestyle would
be busy lifestyle. For this the college going students and office going employees will be
targeted.
Communication objectives for the campaign Increase number of customers, Increase
brand recognition, and Revenue earning and 10 percent return on investment.
Communication tools and channels use for Brand X communication campaign include Social
media, Television advertisement, Email marketing, Printed media, and Event launch.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 13
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Marketing Strategy and Plan 14
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Marketing Strategy and Plan 15
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