Marketing Plan: Development and Marketing of Edamame in Addu, Maldives

This report presents a comprehensive marketing plan for the launch of "Edamame," a new vegan and healthy packaged food product, in Addu, Maldives. The plan begins with an executive summary highlighting the product's benefits, target market (health-conscious individuals with busy lifestyles), and strategic approach. It then delves into a detailed market analysis, including PEST (Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological) analysis and Porter's Five Forces, to understand the external environment and competitive landscape. The report identifies opportunities such as the growing demand for healthy and convenient food options and addresses potential threats like competition and technological limitations. The marketing strategy focuses on market segmentation (demographic and psychographic), targeting (busy individuals seeking vegan options), and positioning (offering a healthy and affordable alternative). The marketing programs cover product development (healthy, vegan food), pricing (affordable), and distribution strategies. The report concludes with implementation and control measures, ensuring the product's successful launch and sustainable market presence. The report also cites multiple references to support its findings.

Running head: MARKETING
Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

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Executive Summary
The business planning in this report is about the development of a new product named
"Edamame” in the markets of Addu, a southern city of Maldives. The product offers people
with a vegan and healthy food option which would be available in readymade packaged form.
The popularity of vegan food is increasing with the health consciousness of busy
contemporary lifestyle. People prefer the food that is meat-free and at the same time provides
with huge health benefits. “Edamame” is designed for the population that is health-conscious
and follow a busy routine in work. The company has decided to launch the product in the
local market of Addu with preferably low price so that the gap of demand and availability of
these types of food options is mitigated. The marketing strategies and planning had been done
after analysing the environmental factors influencing the business.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Analyzing marketing situation.......................................................................................3
PEST analysis.............................................................................................................3
Porter’s Five Force.....................................................................................................4
Opportunities and Threats..........................................................................................5
Issues and Objectives.....................................................................................................6
Marketing Strategy.........................................................................................................6
Marketing Programs.......................................................................................................8
Implementation Control...............................................................................................10
Conclusion....................................................................................................................11
Reference......................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Marketing plans are the instrument to develop a product, mapping its marketing and
control for the company's growth and profit. Introducing a new product in a market is a
challenging task as business risks are associated with it. The success of the product depends
on the market research, preparation and introduction method of the product and management
of these risks strategically (Baker 2016). Market demands change according to target
customers preferences and need. The changing lifestyles of the modern people have produced
the demand for foods that are ready-made and at the same time, healthy. People of Maldives,
like other parts of the world, are concentrating on health awareness. Their inclination towards
healthy food is resulting in increasing demand for the "meat-free and vegan" packaged foods.
Our product "Edamame” is designed to fulfil these market needs in Addu, Maldives. This
report presents the planning for the launch, development and marketing of “Edamame” in the
food market of Addu.
Analyzing marketing situation
PEST analysis
Political factors
The Maldives has the President as its head of constitution and political decisions. The
country has been through lots of problems for the dictatorship for long. The situation is
different now with the establishment of the new government. The political background of this
country is quite stable in present days though the religious extremism effects these political
scenarios sometimes. Another important fact is that the government of Maldives is very
active in the issues related to business. The companies have to go through different
governmental processes for each step in business.

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Economic factors
The GDP growth of Maldives is around 5.5 % for the year 2018. This country is
growing rapidly in comparison to the past few years. Recently, the new political affairs have
been instrumental in giving the economy of this country a push. One positive thing for the
business industry in the Maldives is that the country is almost tax-free. Some of the imports
and plastic related products have to pay high taxes, but other than that taxation is not applied
or limited to some good only. The economy of this country embraces new products and
trends easily. The country’s currency rate has stayed stable for the last 3-4 years.
Socio-cultural factors
The country has a high demand for FMCG products because of its highly western
influence. The fast-growing economy of the country has cast its impact on the lifestyle of the
citizen's. Office going people have a quick and fast lifestyle. This increased the FMCG
demands in the market. The country mainly practices Islam and is quite extreme in religious
issues.
Technological Factors
The country is investing in R&D, but the government is targeting only for the sectors
that are generating GDP. One of these industries is food and beverage as this industry is
immensely growing. Telephonic connections have been improved than earlier. Advanced
technological supports are available in the country, but the price is slightly high than in other
parts of the world.
Porter’s Five Force
The competitive forces in the meat-free and vegan food industry could be analyzed
through this model of five forces.

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Existing rivalry
This industry is relatively new in the Maldives and specifically in Addu. There is a
gap between demand and supply. Therefore, the rivalry in this sector is low.
Threat to Entry
The main threat to the entry of the market is some of the political issues, and lack of
technology is some of the areas of Addu.
Threat of Substitution
The threat of substitution products is a bit high, as there are some vegan options
already available in the market. These products are fulfilling the customer needs but is of the
high cost.
Bargaining power of the suppliers
The company would be launching a product that has quite a new idea; the availability
of raw materials is an important problem. That is the supplier might possess high bargaining
power as their number is less and demand is high.
Bargaining power of the customers
Customers’ bargaining power is low as the availability of the vegan packaged food in
the market is low. Customers do not get many options or price variations of the products.
Opportunities and Threats
There is a huge demand for packaged, safe and healthy food in the Maldives as the
lifestyles of the people are changing. Busy schedules and increasing opportunities of the
country economy is at the heart of this change. The concept of eating vegan foods for better
health is a busy schedule is winning the world. The product idea fits this aspect of the

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customer need. Another thing is the economic growth of the country, which will help in
business profit gaining. The country's taxation system is quite flexible, and government
policies could also provide an opportunity for this product Edamame to get success.
The threats are related to political situations and market competitors. Though vegan
products are not yet very much available in the markets of Addu, there are certain companies
who are trying to enter the market as well. Another thereat is the unavailability of
technological advancements. Even if they are available, the price is quite higher.
Issues and Objectives
Edamame is the product that will deliver the customer with healthy and vegan food
option. This product is designed to meet the customer’s expectation of eating something
healthy that has no extra preparation time. Usually, the food that is defined as healthy takes
quite an effort to prepare and do not have much taste options. Readymade foods are,
therefore, considered as harmful for health. Our product will address this problem of
consumers and provide a vegan healthy food option for all age group, with two different
flavours. The people who take health supplement pills could easily replace those products
with Edamame, and it has no side effects. The selling target of this product is 1500 units
within the first week. The cost set for this product would be reasonable and affordable for the
common people of Addu, Maldives. The launching of the product would be done through a
press release to cut short the marketing cost.
The main issues that our company has to keep in mind are high technology cost, non-
availability of the raw materials, some political instability and substitute health supplements.
Marketing Strategy
Segmentation

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Market segmentation is that part of business planning where the population of a
market is divided into segments to gain a homogeneity for product selling parameters (Wood
2007). The segmentations are done according to geographic, demographic, behavioural and
psychographic aspects. Segmentations are used to understand the target audience better. The
demographic and geographic criteria of Addu is quite impressive. The educational level of
this place is high, and the people are mostly employed in governmental or private companies.
The availability of the food materials for our product would not be a problem as there are a
number of farmers producing vegetables. The segmentation for this product would be done
according to the demographic and psychographic aspects of people. The psychographic
segmentation is based on the personality traits and lifestyle attitudes of the population. The
youth of Maldives are inclined to the food habit that is quick yet healthy. Their busy lifestyles
and healthy food habit requirements would be fulfilled by our product. In the behavioural
segmentation. People interested in vegan food options would be targeted.
Targeting
The target consumer for “Edamame” would be the people who work in various
sectors, lead a highly busy life and wanted to have a vegan and healthy food habit. Mainly the
youngsters, mid-aged and old people would be the target customer for our product. The
people in Addu are showing interest in the meat-free vegan food, but this is mainly confined
in the expensive food markets. Our product will target the local market so that a huge number
of people could come across the benefits of our product. The price of the product would be
set low as to the convenience of the local people (Camilleri 2018). The local food markets
would be approached for the product sale so that the people could easily avail the product.
Positioning

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According to Kotler et al. (2015), the positing of a product is related to the imaging
or identity building of a brand or product. The objective of “Edamame" is to offer people a
vegan and healthy food for their daily consumption. Our target at first would not be on
building high brand image. Therefore, the pricing of the product would be low, and the
consumers would be provided with the maximum value of their money. Again the affordable
price range would help in gaining competitive advantage in the market.
Differential advantage
Differential advantages refer to the aspects of the marketing and production that sets
the product apart from the competitors in the market (DeSarbo, Blanchard and Atalay 2017).
Companies use various means to gain this competitive advantage. Our product not only will
target the health and vegan aspects, rather the overall presentation and packaging would be
environmentally friendly. People are aware of environmental issues and prefer eco-friendly
products over others. The packaging of the products would be done in a glass container, and
the consumers would be provided with free delivery options. The product itself is unique for
its out of the market features; again, these eco-friendly steps would mark it different in the
consumer's mind.
Marketing Programs
Product and branding
The product would be designed for the people who are busy and finding some
readymade food which is healthy and affordable. This would be presented as a fair alternative
for health food supplements. “Edamame” would be government food and safety department
certified. The brand-building base would be its high functionality and low cost. As the
product has been targeting the local audiences, the brand equity would not be the prime target
in the initiative level (Mckinney 2018). Products will address the gap in the market

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opportunity for the consumers who wanted to have a healthy vegan fast food option but could
not afford it for the high price. Brand recognition attempts would be exercised after the wide
reach target in the Addu locality is fulfilled.
Price
The main target of this product is to capture the local market and work on the gap of
availability and price for vegan and healthy food. The price of “Edamame” need to be fixed
in a range that could be reasonable and affordable. In the initial stage, the price should be
kept a bit low so that people would show their interest in buying the product (Nagle and
Müller 2017).
Distribution Strategy
Distribution strategies are set to gain market advantages in terms of cost benefits. The
distribution strategy has to be on a pint in order to reach the maximum number of the target
customer. As opined by Yaprak (2015), production of a product and delivering them to the
end of customers have several steps in between. Each step has its own cost and methods. As
we are targeting the local community of Addu, the product needs to be available to the
people. The brand would face loss if the customers demand the product, but it is not available
to them. Our product would be distributed through an intensive distribution strategy. The
products would be highly available in the supermarkets and stores of locality in Addu.
Product Launch
Launching of our product would be done through strategic and effective
communication with the target consumers. The press conference would be arranged for the
launch. This would save the control cost, and the product’s unique features would be
advertised through this (Lee, Kozlenkova and Palmatier 2015). The company could offer a
"buy one get one" sale for the first few days on the purchasing of products. In the launching

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event, the eco-friendly packaging of the products would be discussed to encourage a plastic-
free environment. This will also give the brand a unique identity. Some communicative
events could be arranged in the supermarkets and stores to give information on the product
"Edamame”.
Implementation Control
Implementation control examines the practical aspects of product development. This
might include time scales, test marketing, developing prototypes, commercialization and
follow up. All these steps are quite important for the successful development and placement
of a new product.
“Edamame” is designed for providing high value to the consumer through its
usefulness. The product development has intricate steps like research, safety check and
manufacturing. This step may take 15 to 20 days initially. The test marketing could be done
in another 15 to 20 days, and the commercialization would take place after that. Roughly 45
days would be required for product development and its commercialization.
To identify, if the product objectives are served or not, some of the evaluation
matrices could be assigned in the development process. The objectives would be judged
through the evaluation of product profitability and customer satisfaction. Profitability
indicates the overall condition of the product, while customer satisfaction evaluation is more
specific in approach. Profitably is a backwards-looking matrix that would be judged by sales
revenue, profit percentage and asset returns. External market conditions could be assessed
through the market shares and customer retention scopes. On the other hand, customer
satisfaction matrix could be judged by some surveys. The surveys could be done with the
customers at the stores who buy our product. The feedback could be collected on thoughts
like what per cent of people would recommend our products to others or how satisfied they

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are at the product results. The review results would help us to make changes in our product if
necessary. Following up and implementation control is, therefore, an integral part of business
planning.
Conclusion
This could be concluded from this report that “Edamame" could be immensely
successful as it is designed to fulfil the current food demands of the people in Addu. The
target market for this product is the new generation of people who do not get enough time to
make their food and prefer healthy readymade food options. Our product would fulfil this
requirement. The basic objective of our product is to reach a wide range of consumers with
the help of this product. The targeting of the local market is necessary as the availability of
these types of meat-free and vegan products are low in reasonable price. The gap between the
demand and availability of these products in the market would gain the company a larger
business scope. The market for Addu is quite positive for our product. The business planning
for new product development needs to be reviewed regularly. The implementation plan must
include these reviewing and feedback gathering aspects so that required changes could be
done in the product development in future. A successful implementation is key to developing
a plan and putting it into practical market scenarios. The business environment analysis of the
specific market shows some threats like technological disadvantage and political
involvements in business, but the market also has a huge opportunity for the success of
“Edamame” in Addu market.

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