MRKT20052 Marketing Management: Natural Evolution Banana Bar Plan

This presentation provides a comprehensive marketing plan for Natural Evolution's Max Protein Banana Bar. It includes a situational analysis, highlighting customer, competitor, and stakeholder considerations, along with a SWOT analysis. The presentation defines the problem and opportunity statements, details market segmentation strategies based on demographics, geography, psychographics, and behavior, and identifies the target market and positioning statement. Furthermore, it outlines marketing and financial objectives, formulates a marketing mix strategy focusing on product, price, place, and promotion, and proposes a budget allocation for the promotional mix. The marketing strategy aims to build customer loyalty, expand market reach, and enhance the company's image while achieving revenue growth and shareholder value.

MRKT200522

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Executive summary
Marketing has several aspects and it needs to be dealt very carefully so as to gain competitive
advantage. This report analyses the situation of the natural evolution so as to understand the
situation in which company is planning its marketing plan. It also showcases the
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning of max protein banana bar along with the
positioning statement. In the later section of the report marketing and financial objective of
the company has been provided as well as the marketing mix strategies have also been
described. In the last section of the report the marketing strategy that could be used by the
company has been elaborated. Along with this the budget for the promotion mix has been
given.

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Contents
Executive summary...............................................................................................................................1
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Situational analysis................................................................................................................................2
Problem and opportunity statement...................................................................................................3
Segmentation, targeting and positioning................................................................................................3
a) Problem Statement.....................................................................................................................3
b) Potential market segment...........................................................................................................4
c) Target market and positioning...................................................................................................5
3 financial and marketing objectives.....................................................................................................6
Formulation of marketing mix strategy.................................................................................................6
A) Marketing mix for max Protein banana bar............................................................................6
b) Marketing strategy proposed implementation...............................................................................7
Budget allocation for promotional mix..................................................................................................8
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
In the modern day business, marketing has become an essential aspect. In this also it is
crucial that a company does the research on the type of the customers they want to target as
well as the way in which they want to position their product. Every marketing strategy needs
to be understood in terms of its effectiveness as well as its feasibility in the financial terms.
Before launching any product in the market, a thorough market research is needed so as to
find the potential market (Stone & Woodcock, 2014). This not only improves the marketing
scope but also improves the chances of the company to sell its products. In marketing
creating a healthy positioning statement is essential. This report highlights the marketing plan
of the company Natural Evolution while launching the product named max protein banana
bar. It also showcases the financial objectives that Natural Evolution wants to achieve from
the launched product.
Situational analysis
Natural evolution is one of the biggest food companies that manufactures and sells different
kinds of products. The highlights of the situational analysis are given below.
 Customer analysis: Company usually targets the people of the age group 20-50 years.
Population of this target segment is increasing hence the chances to sell more such
products will increase. Youngsters have bent towards organic products.
 Competitor’s analysis: This Company has a lot of competitors in the market. Due to
increasing demand of people the chances that more companies will come also
increases. There are many low cost suppliers emerging in the market giving the
capacity to the rivals to sell products at lower cost.
 Stakeholder analysis: Natural Evolution has given proper attention to the
stakeholders. For understanding their needs stakeholder analysis is important. The
employees are overloaded with work but get an efficient environment to work.
Financiers are not very much convenience with their business. Executives are friendly
and helpful and help in immediately resolving the issues. Government has been
supporting the business of the firm in the past and will support them in the future.
Small scale investors are earning good amount of profit from their business of Natural
Evolution.

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External analysis: It is crucial that company understands the external environment that is
present around the firm (Ryan, 2016). SWOT analysis of the company is illustrated below in
the table.
Strength
 Branded image
 Quality products
 Good financial health
 Skilled employees
Weakness
 Work culture is not efficient.
 Higher cost of manufacturing
 Not very much competitive when
compared with competitor’s product
Opportunities
 Enhanced market size
 Strategic geographical location
 Increasing demand of organic
products
 Supportive government
Threats
 Political instability
 Higher competition
 Unstable population taste
Problem and opportunity statement
The cited firm is facing the problem of increased manufacturing cost. It is a problem that
company cannot reduce this cost as reducing it might affect the quality of the products. On
the other side huge opportunities are waiting for Natural Evolution as the demand for the
product is increasing constantly.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning
a) Problem Statement
It is essential that every company defines its problem statement (Chaffey & Smith, 2013).
The problem with the company’s segmentation is that the product is relatively new and hence
finding the actual target market based on various variables could be a challenge for the
company. The company is also facing problem in increasing the depth of marketing so as to
reach to each and every consumer on the basis of their needs. Natural Evolution will also face
challenges regarding positioning their product in such a way that it may attract the maximum
possible customers in the market.

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b) Potential market segment
In the modern day business environment, segmentation is playing a very crucial role.
Segmentation means dividing the market into small groups of people that shares the common
goal. It acts as tool that could be used by the company to focus on the demands and needs of
customers (Wymbs, 2011). Due to this the approach of business also changes for the
company. Segmentation helps the company to do thorough market research which is essential
for gaining competitive edge over the competitors. There are different variables that are used
by the organisation so as to make segments in the market (Leeflang, Verhoef, Dahlström &
Freundt, 2014). Some of the basis on which Natural Evolution has divided the segments in
the market is:
 Demographics: Natural evolution divides its market segment on the basis of the age,
ethnicity, and gender for penetrating deeper into the market. On the basis of age they
have target the people that are in the age group of 20-50. People of this age group are
highly conscious about their health. Apart from this they also target the person from
both the genders. Company wish to target these people as they have high protein
requirement as it is essential for them. Since banana bars are capable enough to give
the protein requirement with a taste of banana hence it might attract these people.
 Geographic: Using this variable company has targeted people from country to
country. Since their products are helpful for the people from all the parts of the world
hence company has targeted all these customers. Company’s main focus is now
towards the developing nation as there are large numbers of population that are
coming up and require high protein intake. In that also they are targeting people in the
city area especially the ones that are from the metropolitan cities.
 Psychographic: Since the product is made for the health conscious people who are
looking for high quality ingredients and it is gluten free. It is also made up of flour
that is especially grown in Australia hence attracts people that are from the same
nation. The company has targeted people that are highly health conscious or are
facing some of the health issues. Since the numbers of people with this kind of
psychology is also increasing hence the opportunity for the company also increases.
 Behavioural: It is always difficult to segment in terms of behaviour. But this is
essential for understanding the way in which max protein banana bar is going to affect
the behaviour of the person. In terms of degree of loyalty, this product could not stand
in the market. Since there are large numbers of competitor’s product available in the

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market hence the degree of loyalty is on the lower side. There is very less hard core
loyal which company is planning to increase in the coming years. They are targeting
the person searching for maximum cost benefits and wants results very soon. They are
also looking to target the people that care for them too much. It acts as a supplement
for the people that are careless about taking proper diet.
c) Target market and positioning
After segmentation is done it is crucial that company targets the segment in a proper manner.
With the increasing segmentation variables in the marketing, there is a more detailed
marketing plan that could be made by the organisation (Day, 2011). In order to position the
product of the company in an effective manner company needs to target the segments as per
their needs. This will help the company in designing the whole marketing process in an
effective manner.
Under such segmentation there are many people that company can target. Company has
targeted the people that are from different cultural backgrounds and age group. The major
segment on which company has targeted upon is the people from the age group of 20-50. A
person that is health conscious and is ready to take supplementary diets comes under the
primary target section.
Since they are bringing their products for the people of all income groups hence pricing is not
so much bigger issue. There are large numbers of products that are available in the market
hence company will have to give importance to the pricing. Hence the company has
positioned its product as something that is available as a supplement for the people that are
unable to take healthy food ingredients in their diet. Brand positioning statement must be able
to attract the customers that the company have targeted (Vien, 2015). For max protein banana
bars the best positioning statement could be “Our quality is beyond what others think to
give”. Since they want to highlight the quality of the product as their prime competency
hence this positioning statement could help them.
3 financial and marketing objectives
For any firm it is essential that they have a financial and marketing objective lined up for
themselves (Armstrong, Adam, Denize & Kotler, 2014). These objectives will help the
company in managing the marketing and financial problems that they want to achieve from

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the marketing (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014). This is because it streamlines all the processes in
the marketing in an order.
3 marketing objectives
 To create more loyal customers from different segments of the society.
 To expand the base of the company in the newer market segment.
 To improve the image of the company in front of the stakeholders.
3 financial objectives
 To generate higher revenues than the previous financial year.
 To provide more dividend to the shareholder.
 To find out higher numbers of sources to raise finance.
Formulation of marketing mix strategy
In the marketing of the max Protein banana bar, it is crucial that each and every aspect related
to the product has been highlighted. Formulation of the marketing mix has to be on the basis
of the product quality as well as the competitor’s strategy. Marketing mix strategy helps in
detailing the marketing plan (Gordon, 2012).
A) Marketing mix for max Protein banana bar
 Product: This bar is made up of high quality ingredients which help in bringing the
best quality products in the market. It is gluten free and is made from the flour that is
grown especially in Australia. This product is having an extra-ordinary taste and is
very easy to cook. This product is provided in a package having 5 banana bars.
 Price: The price of the product is very genuine and is capable of beating most of its
competitors. They have used moderate pricing capable of attracting customers from
wide segments in the market. Since in the price war there is a less chance of
generating higher profits (Leonidou, Katsikeas & Morgan, 2013). They have launched
the product in different sizes and hence the pricing for each is different. They also sell
with bundle prices that are relatively lower than the individual product price. Apart
from this they also offer discounts that they provide to the customers who are loyal
and take products regularly.
 Place: The cited firm has a good distributor network that helps them in reaching to the
larger set of the target market. This product is available at the every big and small

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retail stores which help them in reaching deep into the market. Apart from this the
product can be availed from the online website and other e-commerce website.
Company has its own smaller stores that are capable of selling their products directly
to the customers.
 Promotion: For any new product, this is the most essential marketing mix (Mintz &
Currim, 2013). There are various types of promotional campaigns used by the
organisation so as to improve the promotion that is done by the organisation. They
can promote their product on both traditional and modern mediums of
communication. The traditional platforms like newspapers, television could be used
for promoting the products. The digital platforms such as social media sites like
Facebook, Instagram could be used for promoting their product. This could prove as
an effective platform for promotion as target market which company has selected for
them is highly active on these platforms. Focus should be more on digital marketing
campaigns as it is less costly and helps to reach to large number of individual
customers (Khan, 2014).
b) Marketing strategy proposed implementation
There are several marketing strategies available with the company and it is crucial for the
Natural evolution to understand the problems that might be face in the marketing. Strategies
of marketing always depend on the type of product that company wants to deliver (Yu-Jia,
2012). Some of the strategies that company could use are:
 Cost leadership: In order to achieve success in the market, it is essential that company
adopts cost leadership as a strategy (Brooks & Simkin, 2012). This will help them in
gaining advantage over the competitors. Since bundle pricing is used by the cited firm
hence they have easily implemented this strategy. As they have a strong bond with the
suppliers hence they can easily implement this strategy.
 Digital marketing strategy: Since the use of technology has increased hence the cited
firm also needs to give more priority towards performing operations through digital
means (Lee & Carter, 2011). With the help of digital marketing a company can reach
to larger customer segment. This is also true in the case of selling the products. As
online platforms are excellent place from where company could increase their sale.
This makes the work easier for both company and its customers.
 Supply chain management strategy: In order to balance the demand and supply, it is
crucial for the natural evolution to have an excellent supply chain mechanism. This

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will not only ensure effective utilisation of resource but will also add value to the
products. Since demands are getting more volatile in nature hence company must be
able to cope up with these variations in demand. With the use of technology like
supply chain management System Company can easily implement this strategy
(Mulhern, 2013).
 Branding strategy: In order to create a name in the market, it is crucial for the
company to take use of the branding strategy (Baker & Saren, 2016). This will help in
the goodwill of the company and will also improve the image of the company in the
minds of the people. For expanding the business, this strategy is highly effective.
Budget allocation for promotional mix
In order to do promotion under the budget, it is always crucial that a company allocates the
budget previously (Pan & Crotts, 2012). In order to improve the promotional standards and
ensure effective return on investment, proper budget allocation is important. For max protein
banana bar, promotional mix is as follows:
Promotional Budget
Item Price(excl
GST) GST Price (incl
GST)
Total
Budgeted
Value
Website 1400 $100.00 $1,750 $1,850
Banners 350.00 $75.00 $375 $375
Social media $400 $65.00 $505 $305
Search engine
optimization 950.00 $70.00 $780 $780
E mail marketing $650 $40.00 $860 $560
Flyers $250 $50.00 $430 $530
Retail advertising $500 $50.00 $540 $640

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TOTAL $4,500 $450 $5,040 $5,040
Conclusion
From the above based report, it can be concluded that marketing has become a crucial aspect
of the modern day business. For Natural evolution to market its unique product max protein
banana bar, it is essential that company makes a highly focused marketing plan. This
company has made many segments based on various variables. Their primary target market is
the people from the age group 20-50 years. The financial objective is to improve the financial
performance of the company while the marketing objective is to reach to maximum possible
target customers. The marketing mix for company aims to outperform the other competitors.
Cost leadership, Digital marketing strategy, Supply chain management strategy, branding
strategy are some of the marketing strategies that could be used by the Natural evolution.
With the amount of resource they have they can easily implement these strategies.

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