BUSMKT1 Assignment: Marketing Plan for Lipton Black Tea in Australia

This report presents a comprehensive marketing plan for Lipton Black Tea in the Australian market. It begins with an introduction outlining the objectives, followed by a background of the company and product, including market share data and unique selling points. The core of the plan involves a detailed situation analysis, utilizing PESTEL and SWOT frameworks to assess the external and internal environments. The report identifies marketing objectives, defines the target market through demographic, psychographic, and behavioral segmentation, and analyzes consumer behavior. It then proposes a marketing strategy, including product, place, price, and promotion strategies. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) model and product life cycle analysis are applied to further understand the brand's position and potential. Finally, a perceptual map illustrates the brand's positioning, and the report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations to improve market share.

Running head: BUSINESS MARKETING
BUSINESS MARKETING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
2.0 Background of Company & Product:...................................................................................2
3.0 Situation Analysis:...............................................................................................................2
3.1 PESTEL Analysis of Australia:.......................................................................................2
3.2 SWOT Analysis:..............................................................................................................4
3.3 Marketing Objectives:......................................................................................................5
3.4 Target Market:..................................................................................................................6
3.5 Consumer behaviour:.......................................................................................................7
3.6 Marketing strategy:..........................................................................................................7
3.7 Boston Consulting Group Model:....................................................................................9
3.8 Product Life Cycle- Lipton Black Tea...........................................................................10
4.0 Positioning map or Perceptual mapping of Lipton Black Tea...........................................11
5.0 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................11

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1.0 Introduction
This marketing plan is prepared with the aim of improving market share of Lipton
Black Tea in Australian market. PESTEL and SWOT analyses have been performed as part
of marketing plan, which helped the researcher to understand the current standing of this
brand in the market place. Along with these two models, the researcher further talked about
4Ps, BCG matrix, and product life cycle. At the end, the researcher has provided a summary
of the marketing plan of Lipton Black Tea.
2.0 Background of Company & Product:
The British brand tea was under the flagship brand, Unilever. The company, Pepsi
Lipton International, which is collaboratively owned by PepsiCo and Unilever, sells the
ready-to-drink tea of Lipton (Unilever.com 2019). Main brands of Lipton include Lipton Iced
Tea and Lipton Yellow Label. The market share of Lipton in the United States is 26.5
percent. In 2010, Lipton had 26 percent of market share in Australia (Smh.com.au 2019). In
the year 2015, the market share of Lipton decreased to 21 percent because of the competition
from Twining.
3.0 Situation Analysis:
3.1 PESTEL Analysis of Australia:
Political Factors:
Australia has a transparent political system, which reflects trust and responsibility
amongst the citizen. Australia is associated with various institutes such as G20, World Trade
Organization, Commonwealth of Nations and OECD. Australia has a stable political business
environment by providing confidence and assurance for the investors.

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Therefore, the segment of Lipton Black Tea can utilize the opportunity of supportive
government and business opportunities for improving the presence in Australia.
Economic Factors
Australia is considered as the land of companies and investors’ region. The country
holds 13th position for having the largest economy in the world. In the year 2017, the
economy of the country grew by 2 percent. The household income of Australia grew in the
year 2018, by 33,716.241 USD from the year 2016 with value 30,851.242 USD. The country
is heavily dependent on import activities from basic to complex products. Mostly Black Tea
is produced in Australia and a minimal quantity of green tea in Victoria.
Therefore, the factors like increasing economy, household income and employment
rate will be positive for the company for targeting the consumption of household and working
organizations. Lipton can accept the opportunity of addressing the needs of Australian tea
drinkers by exporting tea from other countries.
Socio-cultural factors
The population of Australia till 2018 is 25 million. The average age of men is 80
years and women are 84 years. Due to the high inflow of immigrants from around the world
for educational programs and employment opportunities, Australia is regarded as a diverse
country (Emmerich et al. 2019). In a survey of Australian customer groups, the data depicted
that approximately 42 percent of consumers prefer black tea, around 30 percent prefers
English breakfast and preferability of green tea is around 23 percent.
Therefore, the diverse population and culture of Australia will have a high rate of
acceptability for different variants of cold and hot beverage from Lipton Black Tea. Strong
coffee culture and growing preferability for green tea can be a challenge. However, in the tea

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segment, Australians are majorly inclined towards Black Tea, which will support the product
segment.
Technological Factors
The investment for new technology in Australia is anticipated as 65 billion AUD in
2019. Government contributes 50 percent to the national research and development, and
another 40 percent is contributed by industries.
Therefore, investment in new technology can be used as an opportunity for Lipton to
construct newer tea manufacturing facilities in Australia for addressing the consumption
demand directly or through cafes. Technological investment support in Australia will present
the opportunities to transport Black tea in ventilation control trucks.
Environmental Factors
Australia is experiencing various environmental issues like climate change. The
country is one of the largest consumer and exporter of coal, the associated process of
combustion releases CO2. The country has also faced the concern of soil pollution.
Therefore, these concerns can directly affect the black tea manufacturing process of
Lipton and can degrade the quality of aroma and blackness of the tea.
Legal Factors
Australia has a parliamentary democracy. The establishment of the federal system in
Australian government was initiated in the year 1909 where the power was divided between
government and six states including, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland,
Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria.
The practice of divided power can be beneficial for the national and international
presence of the brand and the segment of Lipton Black Tea.

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3.2 SWOT Analysis:
Strengths:
 Lipton Black Tea addresses the
popularity of consumers for Black
Tea by variants such as Decaf black
tea, Natural Energy, Loose Black
Tea and Extra Bold.
Weaknesses:
 The minimum gap in point of
differentiation of Lipton Black Tea
in comparison to Twinings.
 Poor quality black tea bags results in
rupturing of black tea.
Opportunities:
 Strong coffee culture in Australia
can be the reason for diversification
of products in Lipton.
 It is expanding its presence with the
support of governmental and state
law.
 Australia’s investment in technology
portrays an opportunity for Lipton
for complete automation of the
supply chain.
Threats:
 Strong coffee culture
 Presence of numerous local cafes in
Australia
 Low population growth and average
life expectancy in comparison to
other target countries like India,
USA and continent Europe.
 A progressive shift of customer
preference from Black Tea to Green
Tea.
3.3 Marketing Objectives:
The objective for the tea company, Lipton is to increase the sales amount of the Lipton Black
Tea segment by the year 2020.
Specific: To increase market share through its increasing variety of Black Tea options.

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Measurable: To improve the market share by 5 to 9 percent
Attainable: The effective and structured collaboration of sales and marketing team and
trusted distributors could increase the brand loyalty aspect of the consumers in Australia
through the depiction of health benefits from Lipton Black Tea (Austin 2019).
Realistic: Increasing the sales of Lipton Black Tea variants by expanding in the market of
Australia by targeting significant supermarkets like Woolworths, Aldi and Cole supermarkets
as well as targeting the businesses for the corporate clients (Moore 2017).
Time-Bound: The 5 to 9 percent improvement in the market in Australia can be achieved in
one to two years, expectedly by November 2020.
3.4 Target Market:
The target market for Lipton Black Tea can be strategized based on the segments:
 Demographic segment:
 Age: The age group that will be 14- 70 years
 Occupation: For office goers as office afternoon or evening ritual and in the
house as well as for the college students (Camilleri 2018)
 Psychographic segment:
 Lifestyle: Habit of drinking tea with afternoon or evening snacks or first thing
in the morning and community or friends gatherings. The Natural Energy
Black Tea of Lipton can address the young generation with the lifestyle of
physical activities.
 Interest: Increasing demand for variants in tea for the tea lovers depends on
the weather changes. Black tea of Lipton can be consumed both hot and cold.
(Kotler et al. 2015).

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 Concern: High rates of caffeine in coffee in comparison to tea (Thoeni,
Marshall and Campbell 2016)
 Behavioural:
 Usage: Frequency of drinking tea
 Buyer stage: Tea drinkers mostly plays the role of the consumer and buyer
 Intent: Feeling refreshed and energized
3.5 Consumer behaviour:
Consumer behaviour of the selected target market for Lipton Black Tea reflects high
involvement based on the usage rate, purpose, interest and lifestyle of the product. The habit
of the consumers may represent the act of daily consumption, hence a low involvement
decision (Murphy and Dweck 2016). The risk perception of consuming caffeine will easily be
addressed by the less caffeine content in Lipton tea (6.88 mg) in comparison to tea standards
(11 mg) (Reny 2015). Moreover, Lipton also offers Decaf Black Tea, which can influence
buying behaviour and frequency. The decision making process in selecting the tea can be low
to moderate depending on the preferences. The brand has also introduced a decaffeinated
version of black tea, which can be the most influential factor for attracting changing
preferences of customer groups.
3.6 Marketing strategy:
Product: The segment of Black Tea of Lipton can be expanded by introducing a high-end
black tea option, Dian Hong tea of China for adding health benefit for the black tea offerings.
Place: The company has a high rate of cash inflow, which can enable the company to open
exclusive retail shops in malls and through own website for ensuring wide awareness of
product ranges and authenticity (Haider et al. 2019).

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Price: Lipton can introduce premium pricing for introducing the combo pack of tea and
cookies for tea lovers and premium price for Dian Hong tea.
Promotion: Involving distributor and retailer more in the process of promoting the new
product segment of Lipton Black Tea and by creating a tea lover social media community
group can contribute majorly to the company (Stephen 2016).

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3.7 Boston Consulting Group Model:
High
Low
High
Lipton Black Tea certainly has a high market share, but market growth is decreasing
due to the increasing demand for healthier option amongst customers. The decaffeinated
version of black tea needs to be advertised by creating a social network on Instagram and
Facebook for targeting the young customer group. Another strategy for improving the
business can be the introduction of different variants of a product, such as introducing Dian
Hong Tea in the Black tea segment of Lipton will also add a healthier version of caffeinated
tea. Dian Hong Black Tea will be the smarter option of combining caffeine with aroma, for
improving metabolism and heart diseases.
Relative market share
MARKET GROWTH Lipton Iced Tea
Lipton cardamom tea
Lipton Clear Tea
Lipton Tea and Honey
Lipton Yellow Label Tea- Black Tea

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3.8 Product Life Cycle- Lipton Black Tea
Maturity
Sales Growth [Black Tea]
Decline
Introduction
TIME
Lipton Black Tea is in the maturity stage with high market share and awareness of the
customer groups but decreasing growth. The steady declining growth of the brand is the
result of the increasing competition from local black tea and international brands such as
Twinings, T2 and Tetley. The black tea variant of Lipton has grown at a faster rate due to the
high popularity of black tea in Australia. Around 42 percent of the consumers in a survey
reflected the preference of black tea, followed by the English breakfast, which constitutes 30
percent and 23 percent of green tea. However, in spite of the popularity, the awareness of
consumers regarding health benefits, they are slowly shifting to green tea and fruit infused tea
variants (Lipton.com.au 2019).

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4.0 Positioning map or Perceptual mapping of Lipton Black Tea
High Quality
Low Price
High Price
Low Quality
The price of Lipton Black Tea is higher as compared to the other brands. Lipton has
introduced a wide range of tea variants. The company have excelled by introducing fruit-
infused and flower-infused tea options in its product range, which has presented a
competitive advantage over other brands. However, the increasing competition from
Twinings should be considered, as both the brands have already introduced a decaffeinated
version of black tea. The segment of Lipton Black tea can excel by creating strong
differentiating value for the customers in the black tea segment of Lipton.

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5.0 Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded by the paper that Lipton is already considered to be
one of the market leaders in tea businesses. The proposed strategy of diversifying the product
range by introducing cookies and a biscuit through existent and own online-offline channels
is expected to be successful with the current brand recall of the company. The objectives are
expected to be achieved in the stipulated time frame due to its strong, sustainable dealer
connection and effective distribution network.

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Austin, T., 2019. Smart objectives. Property Journal, pp.26-27.
Camilleri, M.A., 2018. Market segmentation, targeting and positioning. In Travel Marketing,
tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 69-83). Springer, Cham.
Chernev, A., 2018. Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
Emmerich, A.O., Savitt, W., Niles, S.V. and Ongun, S.I., 2019. The Corporate Governance
Review: United States. Law Business Research, London,.
Haider, A.A., Zafar, A., Khalid, A., Majid, A., Abdullah, M.A. and Sarwar, M.B., 2019.
Marketing Management.
Kotler, P., Burton, S., Deans, K., Brown, L. and Armstrong, G., 2015. Marketing. Pearson
Higher Education AU.
Lipton.com.au 2019. Lipton® Tea. Lipton® Tea. [online] Available at:
http://www.lipton.com.au
Moore, J., 2017. Setting SMART objectives. Headteacher Update, 2017(6), pp.14-14.
Murphy, M.C. and Dweck, C.S., 2016. Mindsets shape consumer behavior. Journal of
Consumer Psychology, 26(1), pp.127-136.
Reny, P.J., 2015. A characterization of rationalizable consumer
behavior. Econometrica, 83(1), pp.175-192.
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https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/lipton-well-in-the-black-but-cannot-put-that-
down-to-going-green-20100805-11kqh.html

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Smh.com.au 2019. The Sydney Morning Herald. Lipton well in the black but cannot put that
down to going green. [online] Available at:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/lipton-well-in-the-black-but-cannot-put-that-
down-to-going-green-20100805-11kqh.html
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