Marketing Plan for Folio Books: Strategies and Analysis Report

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This report details a comprehensive marketing plan for Folio Books, a Brisbane-based bookstore, spanning three years. It begins with an executive summary, mission statement, and SMART goals focusing on online store expansion and customer satisfaction. The report conducts a thorough situation review, including a description of the business, its current target market, and a SWOT analysis to assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Competitive positioning is also analyzed. The plan then formulates marketing objectives, identifies potential target market segments, and selects technology-savvy individuals as the primary focus. A detailed 3-year marketing mix, including product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence, is proposed to attract this segment. The report includes a 3-year activity schedule, budget projections, cash-flow projections, and non-financial resource implications. Monitoring and review mechanisms are outlined, leading to conclusions and recommendations for Folio Books' future operations. The plan emphasizes online presence and personalized customer experiences to enhance revenue and maintain a competitive edge.
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Running head: MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
Name of the Student
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Author Note
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
Executive Summary
The report is based on the analysis of an organization named Folio Books that
operates its store in Brisbane. The firm is able to offer a huge variety of books based on
different subjects that are demanded by the customers of Folio Books. The three-year
marketing plan is mainly developed with respect to the ways by which Folio Books can
improve its operations and levels of profitability as well. The plan is also able to suggest two
potential target based segments that can increase the revenues of Folio Books in the industry.
The internal environment of Folio Books is analysed with the help of SWOT framework and
competitive position of the firm has been discussed as well. The marketing mix of the firm
has been evaluated and financial requirement related to proper promotions have been
discussed in the report in detail as well. Recommendations are offered with respect to the
future operations and activities that can be developed by Folio Books.
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................1
1. Introduction................................................................................................................3
2. PHASE ONE – Goal Setting......................................................................................3
2.1 Corporate Mission Statement...............................................................................3
2.2 New Target Market SMART Goals.....................................................................4
SMART goals of Folio Books................................................................................4
3. PHASE TWO – Situation review of current FOLIO BOOKS market.......................6
3.1 Description of the business..................................................................................6
3.2 Current target markets and marketing strategies..................................................6
3.3 SWOT analysis.....................................................................................................7
3.4 Competitive positioning analysis.............................................................................8
4. PHASE THREE – Strategy formulation and target market segmentation.................8
4.1 Marketing Objectives and target market segment(s)...........................................8
4.1.1 Specific Objectives relating to target market segments................................8
4.1.2 Evaluation of 2 potential new Target Market segments and justification of
the selection of one for the purposes of this plan...............................................................9
4.1.3 Comprehensive description of the new Target Market...............................10
4.2 3-Year Marketing Plan Mix for attracting the new Target Market Segment.....10
4.2.1 Product........................................................................................................10
4.2.2 Price.............................................................................................................10
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
4.2.3 Promotion....................................................................................................11
4.2.4 Place............................................................................................................11
4.2.5 People..........................................................................................................11
4.2.6 Process.........................................................................................................11
4.2.7 Physical Evidence.......................................................................................11
4.3 3-Year Marketing Plan Activity Schedule.........................................................12
5. PHASE FOUR - Resource allocation and monitoring.............................................12
5.1 3-year Budget projections..................................................................................12
5.2 3-year cash-flow projections..............................................................................14
5.3 Non-financial Resource Implications.................................................................15
5.4 Monitoring and Reviewing....................................................................................15
6. Conclusions..............................................................................................................16
7. Recommendations....................................................................................................17
Reference List..............................................................................................................18
1. Introduction
Marketing plan is defined as a report that is able to outline the marketing strategy that
has been implemented by a firm for the future operations. The marketing plan includes the
elements that are considered to be the advertising and marketing based goals of the business.
The description of current marketing based position developed by the business is considered
to be an important aspect of the marketing plan of an organization. The most important
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
aspects that are a part of marketing plans developed by organizations include situational
analysis, sales forecast, marketing strategies and expense budgets, promotional elements and
management responsibilities (McDONALD, 2016). The report will be mainly based on the
marketing plan that will be developed for an organization named Folio Books. The plan will
be related to operations that is to be developed by Folio Books in the next three years. The
target market and situation of the firm will also be discussed in the report in detail. Formation
of the strategy and segmentation of target market will also be an important part of the report.
The report will also provide a detailed budget based on proper operations of the firm in three
years of time. Recommendations will be provided in the report with respect to the ways by
which an organization like Folio Books can maintain its operations.
2. PHASE ONE – Goal Setting
2.1 Corporate Mission Statement
Folio Books has provided the book lovers of Brisbane with an opportunity to
experience the extensive range of the wonderful books that are offered to the customers in the
store. The major subjects related to books that are offered to the customers of Folio Books
mainly include History, Art, Architecture, Fiction, Biography, Photography, Cooking,
Psychology, Philosophy and Graphic Design. The world of books and experiences is
considered to be an important factor that is able to support the operations and vision of Folio
Books in the industry. The variety of books that are offered to the customers by Folio Books
is a major factor that is related to the vision statement that has been developed by the
organization. The books lovers in Brisbane are the major customers of Folio Books whose
demands are fulfilled with the help of its products that are available in the stores (Kim, 2016).
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
2.2 New Target Market SMART Goals
Folio Books has now aimed at providing its products to the customers with the help of
its online store. The online store will also be able to provide the similar variety of products or
books that are mainly offered to the customers. The exclusive range of the books is
considered to be a vital aspect that is able to develop a new target market of the firm. The
technology savvy individuals and book lovers belonging to an age group of 15 years to 55
years are considered to be the major customers who are a part of the target market (Ryan,
2016).
SMART goals of Folio Books
SMART goal 1
S – Specific To fulfil the needs of new customer base.
M – Measurable The satisfaction customers will be measured
with the help of analysis of online reviews.
A – Achievable Customer satisfaction is achieved with the help
of personalised experiences.
R – Relevant Customer satisfaction is relevant for future
operations.
T – Timely The time required to fulfil the goal is one year.
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
SMART goal 2
S – Specific The variety of books offered by online store
have to be increased.
M – Measurable The number of available books is a measure of
variety.
A – Achievable Offering variety of books is achievable by the
organization.
R – Relevant The relevance of second goal is based on
increasing the revenues.
T – Timely The time required to fulfil this goal is one year.
3. PHASE TWO – Situation review of current FOLIO BOOKS market
3.1 Description of the business
Folio Books has been operating in Brisbane for 30 years and offered the book lovers
with a major in-store experience. The books that are offered to the customers with the help of
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
the stores are based on various subjects and the have the ability to fulfil various needs of the
customers as well. The organization is now planning to develop online stores that have the
ability to provide personalized experiences to the customers. The exclusive range of the
books is able to fulfil the demands and needs of the customers in an effective manner. The
major speciality that is offered by the website of the online store of Folio Books is mainly
based on the fulfilment of special orders that are provided by the customers (McDonald &
Wilson, 2016).
3.2 Current target markets and marketing strategies
The current target markets that have been considered by Folio Books are mainly
based on the book lovers who are provided with huge variety of books that are based on
different subjects. The various needs and demands of the consumers are fulfilled by the
organization with the help of the books that are provided to them. The target market of Folio
Books is currently satisfied by the experiences that are offered to them in the stores of the
organization(Varshney & Sharma, 2018).
The major marketing strategy that has been developed and implemented by Folio
Books is mainly related to the formation of in-store experiences for the customers. The
proper differentiation of services offered by Folio Books is mainly based on the experiences
that provided to the customers. The books that are offered by Folio Books in the stores are
related to various subjects based on requirements of the customers. The customers need to
choose the books that they wish to read and also gain the exclusive experiences as well
(Camilleri, 2018).
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
3.3 SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis framework is able to play a key part in the ways by which
internal environment of a company like Folio Books can be analysed. The effect of this
internal environment on the future strategies of Folio Books is also quite high.
Strengths – The major strengths that have been gained by Folio Books are based on
huge variety of books that are offered to the consumers. The experience that the company
provides is also able to differentiate the firm from others in the industry (Cateora, Gilly &
Graham, 2015).
Weaknesses – The lack of proper online operations and reach of customers is
considered to be a key aspect that has an influence on the organization and its revenues as
well. The online distribution process of Folio Books is also quite weak and the organization is
not able to reach the customers easily.
Opportunities Folio Books has the opportunity to maintain its growth by
improvement of its online operations. The personalisation of services is also a major growth
opportunity that is offered to the firm (Cooke, 2015).
Threats –The threats that are provided to Folio Books are based on the various online
book stores that provide a wide variety of choices to the customers. The competition provided
by these firms is considered to be a major obstacle that needs to be faced by Folio Books
(Vincent, 2016).
3.4 Competitive positioning analysis
The online bookstore based industry developed in Australia consists of different firms
that aim at offering similar levels of services to the customers. Folio Books faces major
competition related to the variety of products that are provided to the consumers as well. The
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
main competitors of Folio Books in online bookstore industry include Booktopia, Dymocks,
QBD, Boomerang Books, Bookworm.com, Fishpond.com and many more. The organizations
provide tough competition based on the operations that have been developed by Folio Books
in the industry (Mahajan, 2015). The highly competitive environment has an impact on the
revenues and product portfolio that has been formed Folio Books in the industry. The
experiences offered by Folio Books will however be able to play a major role in appropriate
growth of competitive advantage in the industry in comparison to the other firms. Folio
Books will be able to maintain its place in the industry for a longer period of time with the
help of different types of products that are provided to the consumers (Armstrong et al.,
2018).
4. PHASE THREE – Strategy formulation and target market segmentation
4.1 Marketing Objectives and target market segment(s)
4.1.1 Specific Objectives relating to target market segments
The objectives are mainly developed as an important part of the marketing plan that is
related to the future operations of an organization like Folio Books. The three major
objectives that can be developed by Folio Books for maintaining the future operations are as
follows,
Folio Books aims at increasing the awareness levels of products or books
that are offered by the firm to the customers.
The second objective that has been set by Folio Books in order to maintain
its operations is based on the methods by which number of customers of the
organization can be increased.
The third objective that is developed by Folio Books is based on increasing
the sales of the firm in the industry(West, Ford & Ibrahim, 2015).
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
The target market segments that had been previously targeted by Folio Books in order
to maintain the profitability levels and revenues were only the book lovers in Australia.
However, the future development of online operations will lead to selection of larger target
market for the organization in the industry (Singh, 2016). The two major target segments that
can be targeted by Folio Books include the following,
The technology savvy individuals who wish to acquire the required books
from the online stores.
The individuals or the customers who wish to acquire the books that are able
to fulfil their personalised requirements and needs in an effective manner
(McDonald &Wilson, 2016).
4.1.2 Evaluation of 2 potential new Target Market segments and justification of the
selection of one for the purposes of this plan
The target markets that have been developed by Folio for development of high levels
of revenues in the future will be analysed in the following manner,
The individuals who are highly influenced by the usage of technology in
different activities. The customers are not quite interested in visiting the
physical stores of various organizations. They wish to purchase the books
from different online stores that are available (Srinivasan, Bajaj & Bhanot,
2016).
The customers or individuals who aim at acquiring the books with the help of
personalised experiences that are provided to them. The personalisations of
different experiences offered with the help of the website have an influence on
the customers and the loyalty levels as well (Medina, Coelho & Bellido-Pérez,
2017).
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MARKETING PLAN FOR FOLIO BOOKS
4.1.3 Comprehensive description of the new Target Market
The target segment that can be selected in order to offer the products to the consumers
are who wish to receive personalised services from the website. The website needs to offer
the customers with suggestions that can play a major role in increasing their loyalty levels
towards the organization (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2019).
4.2 3-Year Marketing Plan Mix for attracting the new Target Market Segment
4.2.1 Product
The products that are mainly provided by Folio Books to the consumers include books
that are based on different subjects like Fiction, Architecture, Art, Cooking, Bibliography,
History, Psychology, Philosophy, Graphic Design. The books have the ability to fulfil various
needs and requirements of the customers who are a part of the industry (Pappas, 2016).
4.2.2 Price
The prices that are charged for the books that are offered by Folio Books are quite low
and are affordable for the customers as well. The in-store experience developed by the firm is
also offered to customers.
4.2.3 Promotion
The promotional activities that have been performed by Folio Books are supported by
the television advertisements and the different online promotional activities as well. The
Facebook page of Folio Books is mainly used by the firm in order to develop a connection
with the customers in an effective manner (Grzegorczyk, 2017).
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