Marketing Essentials: UK Pet Food Industry Marketing Strategies

This report delves into the marketing essentials within the pet food industry, particularly focusing on the UK market and the company Royal Canin. The report begins with an introduction to marketing and its significance in driving sales, highlighting the prevalence of pet ownership in the UK. It then explores the key roles and responsibilities of marketing departments, including brand management, campaign management, content creation, social media management, and media liaison. The report also examines how marketing functions relate to the wider organizational context, emphasizing the importance of coordination with departments like finance and human resources. A basic marketing plan for Royal Canin is outlined, including the objective of increasing market share and the use of SWOT and PESTLE analyses to assess the internal and external environments. The report concludes with an overview of marketing mix elements and their monitoring and controlling techniques. The report provides insights into the strategies employed in the pet food industry and the importance of marketing in achieving business objectives.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of marketing...........................................................................3
P2 Roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context..............5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P3 Basic marketing plan.............................................................................................................7
P4 Covered in PPT......................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a field without which any organisations will not be able to have grip on the
increase in sales. Marketing is a process that helps in taking the product to the customer to make
them realise that the products are capable of certain needs that is to be fulfilled. In United
Kingdom, an amount of 11 million households owns at least a pet, that is almost 40% of the
whole population holds a total number of 57 million pets. This project will be dealing about the
pet food industry and its business related details in United Kingdom. The report will be focusing
on the marketing strategies used by the companies in the pet food industry. The significance of
the marketing functions and its responsibilities are also contained within a part this project
report. This project will also highlight the marketing mixes that are used by the companies in the
pet food industry and the illustration of marketing plan.
TASK 1
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of marketing
The marketing department of any organization plays a very significant role within the
business operations which helps in the achievement of the organizational objectives. Marketing
is process that helps in the promotion of the business and the organisation's mission. It is the
most presentable function of a company as it involves the coordination and production of all the
substances in order for the representation of the company. The major duty of the marketing
department is to serve the company by reaching out to the prospects, clients, costumers,
investors and the other communities that are affected by the company's business. They also have
to make a positive image for the organization in front of the society as to promote the mission of
the brand (Desai, 2013).
As Royal Canin is a company that produces prepared food for the pets and majorly
performs their operations and sales in UK, the duties of their marketing department are the
following:
1. Brand Management: This part of the responsibility of the marketing department of
Royal Canin to define the brand in the market, what is their position in the industry, what
the company has to portray for themselves, what are their mission and how does your
company work (Jones and Rowley, 2011). The company has to perform their introduction

in the market, so that they could make their recognition in front of their customers and
partners.
2. Conduction of campaigns and managing marketing initiatives: Proactive market is the
identification of the products and services, so that to focus on the overall course of the
business and sales cycle. After the process of identifying the product and services, the
marketing department is expected to get involved in the production of materials and
communication that has the ability to bring the words out.
3. Production of marketing and promotional materials: The marketing department of
Royal Canin is also responsible for the creations of those substances that could describe
and promote the mainly focused products of the company, so as to keep them up to date
as for the evolvement of those products.
4. Creation of content and performing Search Engine Optimization for the website: In
this generation of internet marketing, all the companies are present on the online
platforms for the communication and approach to be made with the customers and the
clients related to the company. Royal Canin has a website to perform the activities they
have planned in their internet marketing strategies in order for the communication and
promotion purposes (Pike, 2015). The company's website is most probably the first place
where the customers and clients visit for the information they need about the company.
The marketing team of the company must be responsible for the contents to be updated
on the website and also brings the company to notice when the public searches related to
their tasks.
5. Social media management and monitoring: Social media is emerging as the modern and
perfect platform for marketing as it gives easy access to the users of the market and the
customers who have been a part of the industry (Nguyen and Simkin, 2012). The
marketing department is responsible for the social media marketing strategies and plans
that are to be made applicable with the management and supervision of the
communication and promotional contents added up in the social media contents.
6. Media liaison: The marketing department of the company, Royal Canin, serves as the
mediator and the spokesperson on behalf of the company when they have to deal with
media and to communicate with them in press conferences and in case of other matters of
communication with media.

7. Production of Internal Communication: The employers need to have the understanding
of the company and its operations in order to perform their function in an effective
manner in order to meet the values, goals and priorities of the organization.
8. Conduction of customer and market research: Research is a source of gathering
information from the customers and market influencers, as as for the company to realize
their preferences regarding the products and services in the industry. Research also helps
a company to identify the target markets and opportunities according to the situations and
market conditions (Mihart, 2012).
P2 Roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context
There list of functions that are performed by the marketing department of Royal Canin,
and there are certain important functions that are in coordination with other functional
departments of the organisation. The functions of marketing department like conducting
campaigns and promotional activities are just impossible without the contribution and
coordination of finance departments. In the same way, there are duties of other departments in
which they need to depend on the marketing department so as to perform some functions of their
section in the organisation. There are many more responsibilities of the marketing department
that are to be performed in coordination with other departments with major functions in the
organization, and some of they are:
 Conduction of campaigns: For example, if the marketing department of Royal Canin
decides to conduct a campaign in order to raise awareness for the pets and their nutrition
to stay healthy. For the conduction of these campaigns and awareness, the marketing
department requires a fund to be allotted and the allotment is done by the finance
department. The company's marketing department and the finance department have to
coordinate in order for the discussion regarding the budgeting and plans to conduct the
events and campaigns to raise awareness in the society towards the pets and their
nutrition (Kennedy and Parsons., 2014). The company usually have their major
discussions with all their functional departments together or the representatives of every
departments in the organization.
There are another list of functions that are performed by the marketing and Human
Resource Department together, or say in coordination and cooperation of each other, giving
together their contribution in order to achieve the goals of the organization. The thoughts of

marketing and human resource department of being separate are not actual in a way. Royal Canin
may need to bring in the customers who would make profit for the company so as to achieve the
target of sales they have kept preset, but for acquiring such classy talents who could make that
possible for the company is also a complication for the organisation's long term success. The
people who helps to gain the customers with proper attention and the people who help in getting
the people who could create the strategies for making it happen are almost interconnected every
time. Employer Branding: The term 'brand' brings up the thoughts of reports after the market
research and the logo of the company and they position of their products in the market
they are trying to improve. The products that are produced by Royal Canin are not the
only part of the company that helps them to sustain in the market, but the functions of
promotion, specifically when the company requires new top talents to join them. People
always wishes to work with great companies with reputation in the market and which has
a definite mission to be made possible in he society. Its the marketing department that
builds the reputation and position within the market and the customers and that's helps in
gaining fresh and top talents for the company while the human resource department is in
process of recruitment and selection process (Lancaster and Massingham, 2010). Updating Changes: As the markets change, so do the expectations of the employees. The
bands need to keep evolving with new stuff as the market grows more competitive. Royal
Canin, as an employer must keep updating their brand as to satisfy the employee
expectations. Basic trends that are running in the markets such as the hikes in salary of
companies in a field, so as not to face any loss of human resources for the benefits that
their competitors have been providing to their employees. The marketing department of
the company has to keep themselves updated in the communicational platforms by
updating the changes adapted by the human resources department of the organization.
 Keeping People Happy: Marketing is a subject to trust that the company shall only
promise what they will be able to deliver (Blythe, 2012). If the product fail to satisfy the
needs of the customer or may not reach up to their expectation, the trust that is to be
waned on your brand collapses. So, the brand image the company built in order to attract
better talents for the recruitment process must not just finish as the selection process

comes to an end but the brand image must be maintained and the employees must be kept
happy and satisfied with an appropriate working environment.
TASK 2
P3 Basic marketing plan
As for making a marketing plan for Royal Canin, the marketing department of the
company has to decide certain important aspects such as the objective of the plan, internal and
external environmental analysis and the detailed list of marketing mix with its techniques of
monitoring and controlling.
So, lets start with the objective of this marketing plan of Royal Canin. Royal Canin has
planned this marketing plan in order to grow their market share. They have decided to grow their
shares in the market by 5%. But before they start they process of making strategies for the
marketing plan, they have to deeply analyse the internal and external environment of the
organization. SWOT analysis will help in the assessment and analysis of the internal
environment of the organization as it will deeply assess the strengths, weaknesses , threats and
opportunities for the company to excel in the market and industry. PESTLE analysis is to
processed for the assessment and analysis of the external environment of the business enterprise.
It will help in getting the knowledge of the political, economical, social, technological, legal and
environmental conditions of the organisation and the society in which it exists (Pike, 2015).
After the SWOT analysis, when Royal Canin realizes their strengths that they have a
good marketing team capable of implying creativity in their functions and also that the
coordination and cooperation of various functional departments within the firm. The weaknesses
of the company were identified as the unskilful sales officials leading to decreasing rate of sales.
Opportunities in the market, for Royal Canin, is that the brand could come up with new varieties
as their research on the same has been successfully completed. Threats that are ot be faced by
Royal Canin are that the customers of pet food, the owners of the pets, have started depending
on home made food for the pets like cats and dogs, preferring less of purchasable prepared pet
food for their pets (Berkowitz, 2016).
The PESTLE analysis revealed that the company has a very good scope for development
as the political conditions are favourable for growing businesses, economic environment is
providing them a motivation to grow the small businesses and social environment giving them a

clear call of bringing up something for the pets' nutrition as 40% if UK's households have
ownership of pet animals. When the legal environment was analysed, there were evidence of the
legislature suggesting the households to provide good care to the pet animals and if the pet
owners fail to provide sufficient nutrition to the pets, it will be considered as a crime.
Environmental analysis had nothing special for the company, Royal Canin. The analysis of the
society also revealed that in the number of pet dogs owned by households in UK, 39 % of them
were Golden Retrievers, which was the majority among them.
Then, the marketing department of Royal Canin decided to move on to the elements of
the marketing mix. The P's of the marketing mix were then focused on, so as to decide the
product and its factors that would help in the boost of sales leading to grow their share in market.
The price at which the product has to be sold that has to be affordable, proper promotional
activities are to be conducted as to make the public aware of the brand and the product they are
introducing specially for the breed of Golden Retrievers, and the place where they are going to
meet the needs of the target customers are also decided within the P's of marketing mix. The
target audience is clear with the name of the product , “Royal Canin Junior Golden Retriever”,
which are for the pet owners who owns Golden Retrievers ageing from 2 to 15 months
(Malhotra, Birks and Wills, 2013).
P4 Covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
The project have been dealt with the functions of marketing within an organization. The
report have also focused on the factors affecting the marketing department and other departments
where they have to coordinate and cooperate with each others in order to perform certain
activities in effective manner (Dibb and Simkin, 2013). Royal Canin's marketing plans and
strategies, as for the introduction of new product in the market is also in a major part of this
project report. The report has also included the comparison of Royal Canin's product with a
product by one of their rivals in the market, Petite Gold and the comparison shows the visible
facts that what is going to be preferred more amongst them as a matter of quality and pricing.

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