Elephant Company: Spanish Market Online Marketing Expansion Report

This report outlines a comprehensive marketing plan for Elephant Company's online business expansion in the Spanish market. It begins with an executive summary and company background, followed by a mission and vision statement, and clearly defined objectives. The report conducts an in-depth external environmental analysis using the PESTLE framework and a thorough internal analysis, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report then details segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies, followed by a route map for implementing online marketing strategies, including product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. The report also includes a budget, measurement, and control methods, culminating in a conclusion and references. The goal is to help Elephant Company increase market share and attract new customers through an online presence.

MARKETING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1
COMPANY BACKGROUND........................................................................................................1
MISSION AND VISION.................................................................................................................1
OBJECTIVE....................................................................................................................................1
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS............................................................................1
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.............................................................................3
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING.............................................................4
ROUTE MAP FOR IMPLEMENTING ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGIES........................5
MEASUREMENT AND CONTROLING....................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report presents the proposal for online business expansion of Elephant
company in Spanish market, with the vision of becoming high quality wine company. It
highlights the importance of marketing for any business. It covers the complete market
analysis both internal and external for decision-making with different marketing
strategies and schedule to followed to implement different strategies to achieve
success. It also involves detailed budget for the plan and use of different methods of
measurement and control that will be beneficial for the company.
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Elephant company has a high quality wine products, founded in 1999, working on
sales and distribution of wine with designation of Origin Ribera del Duero. It has won
some prizes for best quality product. The company has started the online sales portal to
increase its market share and move from its stores to online or virtual channel.
MISSION AND VISION
The mission of the company is to create unique wine experience and become the
first preference for the younger customers.
The vision is to become the benchmark of high quality wine products in Spanish
market.
OBJECTIVE
Elephant company has two objectives, short term and long term. Short term is to
create virtual presence of the company and long term is to expand its sales through
online platform in order to wider its market reach and attract new and younger
customers.
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
PESTLE analysis is a tool used in analyzing the external business environment
which can have a direct impact on the functioning of the business. This tool is mostly
used at the time establishing new business or expanding the existing business. In
marketing, before implementing any plan, it is essential to conduct situational analysis
to identify changes in the environment and take timely action and competitive
advantage.
1

Political Factors: It refers to the government and government policies which may
influence the whole industry. Political factors include, fiscal policies, trade policies, tax
policies etc. which government may imply in the fiscal year. It may impact the business
environment. Spain is a member of European Union. Spain is having high fiscal deficit
meaning that government is spending more than it earns, leading to increasing
sovereign debt. Also, political instability in the country has negatively impacted its global
image (Bush Thomas, 2019). Catalonia campaigns for independence for long time has
put Spain into the biggest political crisis. Spain has some territorial dispute with UK over
Gibraltar. Impact of Brexit which is unclear, but may have a negative impact in terms of
slow trade with the UK. E-commerce tax issues are very complex. So, before expanding
its online business in Spain it is required to study the political scenario of the country
relevant to the business and its impact on it.
Economic Factors: These are the factors which affect the economy and its
performance and this may directly impact the business. Economic factors includes, rise
in inflation rate which may affect the price of the company's products, change in
demand and supply, purchasing power of consumers, foreign exchange rate,
unemployment rate etc. Spain is thirteenth largest economy in the world with GDP of
$1426.19 billion in 2018. Its economy is doing well for the last five years. Apart from
this, Spain has faced severe challenges between 2007-2014 which includes 3.8 million
job lost, fall in wage rates by 10% because of which economy has not recovered fully as
unemployment rate is 14.2% and also high rate of poverty. So, the Elephant company
should look out for factors that my affect its online business in both positive and
negative way.
Social Factors: These factors scrutinize social environment and the changing trend
which includes, change in customer's needs and wants, lifestyle, perception, beliefs etc.
The people of Spain are called Spaniards as they are very friendly and open to chat or
start conversation with anyone than any other European countries (Sammut‐Bonnici
and Galea, 2015). The life in Spain is chill and relaxed which benefits from its excellent
climate and affordable cost of living. So, all these factors can be beneficial for the
business for its expansion.
2

Technological factors: It refers to the technological advancement and changing needs
of it which may impact the industry. It includes, changes in digital technology, research
and development, automation etc. It can be favorable and unfavorable to the market.
Spain is an Advanced nation in terms of technology use as it was the first European
Union nation to issue national identity cards in electronic format. It is also known for
wide use of social media. It is well-known for its contribution in air and road traffic
control, renewable energies and mobile communication. So, it is very relevant for the
company to use these technological factors into consideration which will add value in
the business and increase profitability.
Legal Factors: Every business is required to understand what is legal and illegal within
the territory it operates. It includes, consumer laws, health and safety laws, employment
legislation as well as trade regulations etc. It is essential for the business to be aware of
the changes in the any legal law and how it will impact its business operation. Spanish
judiciary is independent, however it's image came to question because of Catalonia
crisis (Chernysheva, and et.al, 2017). Spanish regulations is applied to e-commerce
business which includes online sales, terms of contract, data protection, intellectual
property rights etc. It has a law stating that full time employees must work 40 hours a
week on an average and not more than 9 hours in a day unless there is an agreement
to it. So, the company should obey all the laws and rule and regulations to avoid
government intervention and should clear terms with its employees.
Environmental Factors: It refers to the factors that influence the surrounding
environment. With the increasing importance of Corporate Social Responsibility, this
factor becomes relevant for every business. It includes, climate, waste disposal, carbon
footprint, sustainability etc. Spain is the greatest holiday destination in the world.
However, the environmental challenges it is facing is deforestation, air and water
pollution, over tourism has caused noise pollution, abuse of natural resources etc.
Therefore, Elephant company should come up with the strategy that will have minimum
impact on the environment and other CSR activities for improving its brand image.
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Internal analysis is a framework used to identify company's strength,
weaknesses, opportunity and threats which is very useful while formulating strategies.
3

This process considers firms resources, objectives, policies and plans and how well
they are achieved.
Strength: It refers to the positive attribute of the company which distinguishes from it
from its competitors (Sarsby, 2016). Strong research and development team is an
addition to company's competitive edge, long tail niche business model, strong
distribution channel and high quality products are the biggest strength of the company.
Weaknesses: It refers to the factors that can distract the company from achieving its
objectives and on which improvement is required. No brand awareness, high capital
requirement, limited online experience and lack of presence in key growing market.
These are the weaknesses that the company should work on.
Opportunities: These are the external factors that are favorable for the business which
may contribute to its success (Grünig and Kühn, 2015). Growing wine market, strong
and positive perception of Spanish wine, well-established distributors, growing online
wine sales, increasing trend of wine tourism which may boost brand loyalty and may
help in raising profit margins. So, these are opportunities for the company to grab to
accomplish its goals.
Threats: These are the external factors that over which business has no control and in
order to deal with that, contingency plans are required to be put in. Fragmented and
fierce competition in the wine market, exchange rate fluctuations and changes in legal
regulations, strict personal data and protection law. These are the factors that which can
pose as a threat to the business, for which it requires to have a back up plan to meet
the uncertainty.
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING
This strategic approach helps in creating marketing plans as it helps marketers to
segment and target the right customers and then prioritize and deliver relevant
messages to engage with customers.
Segmentation: It refers to the division of the market into smaller segments consisting of
people with similar thinking towards a product or service. It refers to breakdown of
market into smaller groups based on the age, income, ethnicity, education, gender,
profession, personality, attitude, lifestyle, hobbies etc (Li, 2017). It explains 'who' and
'why' consumer should buy it. Elephant company should target audience of middle and
4

higher income class who can afford this. Mostly people use wine in the event of
happiness, joy, on special occasions. Wine is a symbol of celebration.
Targeting: Once segmentation is done, targeting is the next step. It then devises
various marketing strategies according to the taste of the target segments (Armstrong,
Kotler, Harker and Brennan, 2018). The company should target male and female adults
in the early stage, so that they can get used to the company's product and keeps on
consuming it for long time which will create customer loyalty.
Positioning: It is the last stage where company tries to create a positive image of the
product into the minds of the consumers. Unlike other wine, Elephant company should
try to differentiate its products from the others through the benefits it carries, quality and
price.
ROUTE MAP FOR IMPLEMENTING ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGIES
Route Strategies Duration Budget (in €)
5

Step1:
Finding a Niche
Product: It refers to
the product that is
produced as per the
consumer's
requirement and
needs which will
satisfy the
consumers (Abdul-
Hamid, Hinson,
Mahmoud and Yaw,
2017). Elephant
company should sell
its high quality wine
as per the
customer's
expectation. It
should to sell its
product using
product
differentiation
strategy to take
competitive
advantage. It should
promote its product
by showing its
uniqueness. The
USPs will be
recommended to sell
only wines per bottle
to expose customers
to high quality brand
1 month 400
6

and labelling.
Price: The product
should be looked as
a value for money. It
doesn't mean cheap.
Customers are
usually happy to pay
more if the product
works really well
(Saidani and
Sudiarditha, 2019). It
is recommended
that company should
apply differentiated
pricing strategy to
attract more
customer.
Place: It refers to
the place where the
company's target
customer is. It
should be easy for
the consumers to
find the company's
product. Proper
distribution channel
should be
established to avoid
product
unavailability
7

situation.
Promotion: It refers
to the utilization of
different
communication tools
to promote the
product. It should be
used to put across
company's message
to the target
audience. It includes
using advertising on
newspaper,
television, sales
promotion, social
media marketing,
pamphlets etc. In
addition to it, wine
fair, member of wine
club, featuring in the
blog of wine and
food enthusiasts
(MARKETING
THEORIES – THE
MARKETING MIX –
FROM 4 PS TO 7
PS. 2019). Also, the
packaging and
labelling of the
product should be
appealing to the
8

customers so that
customer can
differentiate it with
the competitors
products.
People: It includes
all the people are
responsible for the
running of the
business. It includes
employees, sales
staff, IT personnel
etc. It is very
important to have
right people because
they are the asset of
the business. So,
elephant company
take care of its
employees so that
they work with high
potential, interest
and motivation to
improve the overall
performance and
profitability of the
company.
Process: It refers to
the processes
followed in carrying
9

out the marketing,
sales and deliver of
the product to the
end consumer.
Elephant company
should ensure that
this process is
systematically
structured for
smooth flow of
business operations.
Physical evidence:
It refers to the
evidence of the
business which can
be in any form
tangible or
intangible. Company
related documents,
its logo, brand
image, product and
services etc. are all
some sort of
physical evidence.
Step 2:
Evaluate market
viability
It refers to the
indicators which
shows whether this
business is going to
work or not, is it the
market requirement,
2 weeks 200
10

will customers
accept this product,
what are the key
features will help in
surviving and
retaining in the
market.
Step 3:
Conduct market
research
It refers to the deep
market analysis with
respect to relevant
product, its market
share, consumer
insights, what can
be the disadvantage
for the company.
Evaluation of other
similar products
available in the
market and its
market position.
1 month 400
Step 4:
Conduct
competitive
analysis and target
market
It means conducting
the complete market
analysis that can
affect the business
directly or indirectly.
It includes Pestle,
Swot-Analysis and
branding and
positioning such as
segmentation,
3 weeks 300
11

targeting and
positioning. All these
have already been
conducted.
Step 5:
Learn online
business laws
It refers to identifying
and complying with
the online laws
prevalent in the
country.
1 week 100
Step 6:
Source your
product
After knowing the
right product, target
customer, it's time to
get the product
physical which
requires different
distribution
channels.
2 weeks 250
Step 7:
Build your store
and become
productive
At last, starting the
business, having an
e-commerce store to
sell the product and
creating the intuitive
experience and
making customers
shop again.
2 months 800
TOTAL 2450
MEASUREMENT AND CONTROLING
It is an essential step in the marketing plan. After implementing the plan, it is
required to measure the performance and productivity of the business to know whether
12

the proposed plan is meeting up with the expectation or not. There are many methods
but majorly 4 methods are used which are stated below.
Annual Plan Control: It is prepared for different activities. Each plan requires, setting
objectives, allocating resources, defined time limit and other rules and procedures. On a
periodic basis actual results are compared with the set standards to know whether
annual plans are achieved or not. Depending on the degree of difference between the
two, corrective and suitable action plans are undertaken. There are five measures used
in annual plan control. First is, analysis of different sales, it refers to evaluating different
sales such as territory sales, product wise sales, total sales etc. and targets are set for
different types of sales and then compared with the standards to know how far company
has been able to achieve its sales goals (Jaideep, 2019). Second is, analysis of market
share, it is used to know how the company is performing in comparison to its
competitors. Thus, performance is assessed based on expected market share. Third is,
analysis to market expense to sales, this is used to ensure that company is not
spending more to achieve its sales target. Fourth is, financial analysis, it examines firms
capacity of earnings, factors influencing rate of return on net worth etc. Fifth is, analysis
of stakeholders and customers attitude, this includes the qualitative aspect which are
more critical because it gives warning regarding future happening. It also tracks the
customer's attitude towards company's offers. Also, stakeholders attitude as they can
impact the business and overall company's operation.
Profitability control: In this certain profitability related standards are set and a
comparison is drawn out with the actuals to know about the company's profitability
status. Profitability is measured across various products, territories, groups, channels
etc. which helps in proper decision-making in relation to expansion, reduction or
elimination. There is a systematic process for analysing profitability. It starts with
identifying the functional expense such as advertising, rent, salaries, packaging and
delivery etc. then expenses are allocated to different marketing entities like products,
channels, customer groups, territories etc. After this, complete profit and loss statement
is prepared to know the performance and profitability of the business. On the basis of
this statement, required actions are undertaken such as expanding product, reducing
product, eliminating product, increasing sales, reducing expenses or cost.
13

Efficiency control: This control measures the efficiency and shows the ways to
improve the efficiency level of different marketing entities such as sales, distribution,
sales promotion, advertising etc. It can also help in reducing wastage and expenses. It
includes five types of efficiency control. First is sales force efficiency control, which
measures the efficiency of salesmen on the basis of average number of calls per
salesman in a day, revenue generated and cost incurred per call etc. Second is
Advertising efficiency control, it is most expensive part of marketing and it s very
important to measure it (Marketing Strategy, Planning And Control. 2019). It includes
advertising per thousand target customers, number of inquiry generated, customers
opinion on advertisement etc. Third is sale s promotion efficiency control, it measures
the impact of sales promotion on company's sales, profit, consumer satisfaction etc.
Forth is Distribution efficiency control, on an average it cost 20 to 30% of selling price. It
measures the efficiency of company's distribution system to achieve goals. Fifth is
marketing research efficiency, it helps in knowing how far marketing research and costs
are instrumental in achieving marketing goals.
Strategic control: It implies review of marketing efficiency in relation to company's long
term objective and response to market environment. Under this, entire marketing plan is
reviewed including its strength and weaknesses, opportunity and threats.
All the above methods are useful in managing different part of marketing plan so
each part should be examined carefully to avoid any problem and take appropriate
actions.
CONCLUSION
It can be summarized from above that in order to expand the business it is very
essential to develop a marketing plan and setting benchmarks to grow and increase the
sales. Elephant company have to follow the complete marketing plan to achieve its
objectives along with complete market analysis. It is also required to measure and
monitor the performance of the business from different angles and criteria in order to
improve efficiency and productivity of the company. Application of different marketing
strategies will also help in improving the brand image and will increase consumer
awareness.
14

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abdul-Hamid, I.K., Hinson, R.E., Mahmoud, M.A. and Yaw, E., 2017, June.
Sustainability Marketing: The 7ps Perspectives. In 5 th International Conference
on Contemporary Marketing Issues ICCMI June 21-23, 2017 Thessaloniki,
Greece (p. 595).
Armstrong, G. M., Kotler, P., Harker, M. J. and Brennan, R., 2018. Marketing: an
introduction. Pearson UK.
Bush Thomas, 2019. PESTLE Analysis of Spain: Standing in Unclear Waters.[Online].
Available Through : <https://pestleanalysis.com/pestle-analysis-of-spain/>.
Chernysheva, Y. G., and et.al, 2017. Business analysis as an important component of
ensuring enterprise’s economic security.
Grünig, R. and Kühn, R., 2015. Strategy Planning Process. In The Strategy Planning
Process (pp. 41-52). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Jaideep, S., 2019. Marketing Control: Top 4 Methods of Marketing Control. [Online].
Available Through : <http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/marketing/marketing-
control-top-4-methods-of-marketing-control/48751>.
Li, J. J., 2017. Rational Thinking of the Marketing Strategy Based on Customer Equity.
In Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Industrial Engineering
and Engineering Management 2016 (pp. 69-73). Atlantis Press, Paris.
Marketing Strategy, Planning And Control. 2019. [Online]. Available Through :
<http://www.fao.org/3/w3240e/W3240E03.htm>.
MARKETING THEORIES – THE MARKETING MIX – FROM 4 PS TO 7 PS. 2019.
[Online]. Available Through : <https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-
advice/marketing-theories---the-marketing-mix---from-4-p-s-to-7-p-s>.
Online
Saidani, B. and Sudiarditha, I.K.R., 2019. Marketing Mix-7Ps: The Effect on Customer
Satisfaction. Jurnal Pendidikan Ekonomi Dan Bisnis (JPEB), 7(1), pp.72-86.
Sammut‐Bonnici, T. and Galea, D., 2015. PEST analysis. Wiley Encyclopedia of
management. pp.1-1.
Sarsby, A., 2016. SWOT analysis. Lulu. Com.
15

16