Marketing Plan for Zokoko Chocolate to Enter Singapore Market

This report presents a marketing plan for Zokoko, an Australian chocolate manufacturer, to enter the Singapore market. It begins with an executive summary and an introduction outlining Zokoko's objectives. The report then analyzes the external environment, including political and economic factors, and conducts a competitor analysis using Porter's Five Forces. A SWOT analysis assesses Zokoko's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report details Zokoko's mode of entry, focusing on franchising and foreign direct investment. It outlines STPD (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning, and Differentiation) strategies, followed by product, price, promotion, and distribution strategies. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations, providing a comprehensive overview of Zokoko's approach to entering the Singapore market.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
International Marketing
Assessment Item 3
Marketing Plan
Student’s name:
Name of the university:
Author’s note:

1INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Executive Summary
This report is based on Zokoko chocolate manufacturer that decides to enter Singapore market
for market expansion. Zokoko mainly sells the products of chocolate with premium quality. It is
Australian based company and it has its own cafe in Australia. In Australia, it has large market
share. In Singapore, Zokoko will face competition as chocolate manufacturers are there in
Singapore. Economic boom and political stability will provide positive impact on Zokoko
business. Zokoko will get benefit from Singapore as Singapore provides help in opening of new
business. Zokoko will take the Foreign Direct Investment strategy to establish the factory and it
will take franchisee strategy to spread the cafe in Singapore. Zokoko will target the upper middle
class people to sell the products. It will also take the product differentiation strategy in order to
enter Singapore. In addition, product extension strategy will be taken along with price skimming.
In addition, Zokoko organisation will take use intermediaries in order to distribute the products
to retailer. Zokoko will take the strategy of online and social media promotion with content
marketing to reach large numbers of customers.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. External environment summary..................................................................................................4
2. Competitor analysis of the Chocolate industry in Singapore......................................................6
Porter’s Five Forces Model.........................................................................................................6
3. Zokoko market readiness.............................................................................................................9
SWOT analysis............................................................................................................................9
4. Zokoko’s mode of entry.............................................................................................................11
5. Development and Justification of STPD strategy......................................................................11
6. Product strategy.........................................................................................................................16
7. Price strategy.............................................................................................................................17
8. Promotion strategy.....................................................................................................................18
9. Distribution strategy..................................................................................................................20
10. Conclusion...............................................................................................................................21
Reference List................................................................................................................................23
Appendix........................................................................................................................................30

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1. Introduction
A marketing plan is a blueprint which outlines the business advertising and efforts of
marketing for the year to come. Marketing plan mainly describes business activities which are
involved in obtaining specific marketing objectives within a set of times. In this paper, marketing
plan of Zokoko is explained to enter Singapore market. The organisation Zokoko was established
in 2008 and it manufactures and sells chocolate. Zokoko has it headquarter in New South Wales
and the factory, as well as café, is in the Blue Mountains in EMU Heights. Zokoko wants to
make unique, amazing chocolate which reflects the original taste of chocolate (Zokoko.com
2018). The process of manufacturing the chocolate results in the pure taste of chocolate mass or
liquor. Zokoko wants to enter Singapore and this marketing plan is described the marketing
strategy and entry mode of Zokoko to Singapore.
In this marketing plan, marketing environment and competitors’ analysis is done to draw
the external marketing condition of the organisation Zokoko. STPD strategy is given to showcase
the target market and differentiation strategy. At the end, product, price, promotion and
distribution strategies are given in order to market the product in Singapore. Singapore is one of
the easiest countries to expand the business as Singapore provides excellent telecommunication
and the disposable income of the people is high. Singapore provides strong financial and
transport infrastructure. Singapore offers concessions in tax and it provides easy loan condition
as part of the investment incentives.
Objectives of a marketing plan
 To create a foothold in Singapore Chocolate industry
 To establish a large customer base in Singapore

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 To make a strong brand awareness of Zokoko in Singapore
 To reach 3% profitability by the end of 2021
Zokoko is going to enter Singapore market and Zokoko wants to create foothold in
Chocolate industry in Singapore. In addition, Zokoko wants to establish a large customer base in
Singapore. Zokoko should make strong brand awareness in Singapore for the brand. Zokoko will
be new in the market; however, Zokoko will try to reach at least 3% of the profitability by the
end of 2020.
2. External environment summary
Political stability helps the foreign companies to do the business Singapore and PERC
(Political and Economic Risk Consultancy) stated that Singapore has the lowest political risks in
Asia. Singapore is a democratic country and people themselves elect the leaders of the country.
Singapore is Republic within the Commonwealth and reason behind the political stability is
using the modified version of Westminster Parliamentary system (Tremwan 2016). The
economic condition of Singapore is going higher as current GDP growth of the country is 3.6%.
Current GDP rank of Singapore is 37th and current GDP is US$ 340 billion (Goh and Kavaljian
2017). The inflation rate is Singapore in 0.4% and labour force in Singapore was 3.661 million in
2017 (Euromonitor.com 2018). Labour force in Singapore is educated and the foreign
organisations can use the educated people of Singapore as employees. Singapore is vibrant free
market economy and its per capita income is the highest among ASEAN countries. Issues of
labour shortage, declining productivity and rising labour costs can create issue for Zokoko.
Singapore ranks second in ‘ease of doing businesses in the world according to The World Bank.

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Singapore was the eighth biggest recipient of FDI in the year 2017 as the foreign businesses have
been coming to Singapore to set up the branches and sell the products.
Foreign Direct
Investment
2014 2015 2016
FDI Inward Flow (m
USD)
73,9800 70,580 61,600
FDI Stock (m USD) 1,019,462 1,082,012 1,096,230
FDI Inwards 89.9 91.2 369.2
Table 1: Foreign Direct Investment in Singapore
(Source: Euromonitor.com 2018)
Chocolate confectionery industry in Singapore has touched the record value CAGR of
5% and average chocolate consumption is almost 2kg per year per person in Singapore
(Euromonitor.com 2018). In case of social condition, Singapore believes in traditional family
and it values the younger generation. The people work hard in this country and the preference of
the people also changes with time. Current purchasing power of Singapore people is average
57811.60 USD and it reached all time high during 2016 as 81443.43 USD (Lim 2017). The
purchasing power of the people is high in Singapore and the new business always does well in
Singapore. The literacy rate is high in Singapore and the people's open-mindedness attracts the
business. In addition, in chocolate making business, the chocolate makers use the new equipment
and technologies so that the manufactures can make the products easily. The cost and
manufacture time goes lower with the use of technology. Singapore is brilliant in technology and
equipment infrastructure and internet is prevalent among the people (Tremewan 2016). The legal

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system in Singapore is transparent and the businesses need to follow regulation and legislation.
Regulatory, business and legal settings support Singapore to develop and economic growth. In
Singapore, the organisations need to follow Electronic Transactions Act, Amendments to the
Evidence Act, Intellectual Property Rights and Content Regulations (Wang and Deng 2017). In
addition, Singapore government made the Ministry of Environment and Anti-Pollution Unit and
this department works relentlessly to maintain the environment factor and the air quality.
2. Competitor analysis of the Chocolate industry in Singapore
Porter’s Five Forces Model
Porter’s Five Forces Description Forces
Industry rivalry In Singapore, the established chocolate makers are
numerous and the companies have strong rivalries among
them. There is a low item of separation as each of the
company is giving quality chocolate.
High
Threat of new
entrant
To start a new business in Singapore, it is easy to open in
chocolate industry as the capital need for opening chocolate
manufacturing is not high. In the market, the exchange cost
is low and the customers can switch to new products if they
find it tasty and of better quality (Lim 2017). The barriers to
entry in the market are not strict as the new company can
easily open. IN chocolate industry, product differentiation is
high and switching cost of customer is low.
High
Threat of substitute Threat of substitutes in Singapore market is enormous as the Medium

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customers have to choose among the large numbers of
choices. In the market, the customers can choose from the
chocolate companies like Royce, Le Chocolatier,
Shiokjapan, Candy Empire, Aalst Chocolate, and Laurent
Bernard Chocolatier. Gourmet chocolate represents the
large market share and consumers are willing to spend a
large amount of money for premium quality products. Many
of the international chocolate sellers are in Singapore also;
Hershey and Ferrero Rocher.
Bargaining power of
suppliers
In chocolate industry, the suppliers are important as the
chocolate manufacturers need to have a constant supply of
colourants, sugar, aromas and gelatine (Chiu 2018). In
Singapore, the prices of chocolate companies are reasonable
and the Zokoko will not get enough option to switch the
suppliers. Therefore, the switching cost of the suppliers is
medium.
This
force is
Medium.
Bargaining power of
customers
For Zokoko or the chocolate organisations in Singapore,
there are two markets present in the industry, one is a B2B
market and another market is B2C. The customers have
high bargaining power in Singapore in case of chocolate as
the customers can shift to other international chocolate
giants. Zokoko is dedicated bean to bar process and it is
designed to celebrate the chocolate in every way.
High

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Revenue in the Chocolate Confectionery segment amounts to US$70m in 2018 in
Singapore. The market is expected to grow annually by 6.1% (Statista.com 2018).
13%
12%
25%
4%
23%
12% 11%
Singapore chocolate industry market
share
Hershey
Kraft
Cadbury
Ferrero Rochers
Nestle
Lindt
Meiji
Figure 1: Singapore chocolate industry market share
(Source: Chokshi et al. 2016)
Competitors’ analysis of Zokoko in Singapore
Strengths Weaknesses USP
Hershey Company  It is one of the
largest
chocolate
manufacturers.
 Wide
distribution
Purchase of cocoa is
not in organised
manner and the
expansion is limited.
Innovative chocolates

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and Hershey
made
partnership
with Nestle.
Ferrero Rocher  Product
quality is
luxurious.
 Awareness of
popular brand.
 This brand has
instant
customer
recognition in
Singapore.
Highly priced in
Singapore.
Not advertised in
Singapore.
Ideal product for
gifting.
Available in new two
brands Ferrero
Cappuccino and
Ferrero Rond Noir.
Table 2: Competitors’ analysis of Zokoko in Singapore
(Source: Self-developed)
3. Zokoko market readiness
SWOT analysis
Strengths:
 Zokoko manufactures mainly the dark chocolate. Chocolate liquor is then mixed with
sugar and additional cocoa butter is mixed with refined to reduce the particle size.

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 Zokoko is famous for packaging of the products as Zokoko packages the products with
quality so that it looks good. Zokoko believes that making fine chocolate is a journey and
Zokoko wants the customers to taste the secret (Zokoko.com 2018).
 Zokoko sells through stores and it has its own chocolate cafe.
Weaknesses:
 Zokoko is facing the issue of purchasing of Cocoa as the organisation does not purchase
the cocoa in an organised manner.
 Sometimes, Zokoko does not use the trade practices. Zokoko does not follow the
expansion policy although it is in the FMCG segment.
Opportunity:
 Zokoko makes mainly the products of dark chocolate and milk chocolate. The
opportunity lies in the snacks section where they can expand the business.
 Expansion of the business apart from Australia can be another opportunity for the
business (Thomas 2017).
Threats:
 Competition in the market is high as in Australia; there are many other chocolate makers.
There are Hershey's, Cadbury, Mars and M&M which are indeed strong brands in the
market.
 People are becoming health aware; therefore; the people have a suggestion of less
consumption of sugar (Noori & Najafpour 2016).

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4. Zokoko’s mode of entry
As stated by De Moorji (2015), foreign market entry can differentiate between the
organisations as each of the strategy has its own degree of risks, control, commitment and ROI.
Zokoko can take the strategy of Franchising. Zokoko will be producing chocolate products in
Singapore, in the target market so that the company can avoid the import duties and other taxes
easily. The chocolate products are produced in the cafe of Zokoko in front of the customers.
However, Zokoko will import the packaged chocolates from Australia those will be delivered in
retail and supermarkets. Zokoko already has its cafe in Australia and they can start franchising
cafe in Singapore in order to build strong brand awareness. Franchising system will allow semi-
independent business owners to pay the royalties and fees to the parent company in return for the
use of the trademark to sell the products (Samiee et al. 2016). Zokoko can start its franchising to
some of the independent business owners so that the business owners can use the same format
and system. Zokoko can offer the equipment, secret of the recipe, operational manual and
managerial system for the franchise in order to run the business. The franchisor and franchisee
have the license agreement (Demangeot et al. 2016).
5. Development and Justification of STPD strategy
Segmentation:
As stated by Li et al. (2018), marketing segmentation enables the company to target
various types of consumers who perceive the value of products.
Segmentation approach Consumer characteristics Justification
Geographic Zokoko management can
segregate the market based on
Zokoko will be able to
improve the customer base