Question

The marketing plan assignment needs to be done in 1 paragraph each part , at least 1-3 pages please. If you have an idea for a business, this is a good time to explore the idea. Its better to have an unsuccessful marketing plan before you might invest in it. The plan should be a new to the world product or service or maybe an improvement over an existing one. Please do not submit a marketing plan of an existing company, product or service.This is the time to be creative and have fun with this project.

The Marketing Plan

Introduction
As a marketer, you’ll need a good marketing plan to provide direction and focus for your brand, product, or company. With a detained plan, any business will be better prepared to launch a new product or build sales for existing products. Non-profit organizations also use marketing plans to guide their fundraising and outreach efforts. Even government agencies put together marketing plans for initiatives such as building public awareness of proper nutrition and stimulating area tourism.

The Purpose and Content of a Marketing Plan
Unlike a business plan, which offers a broad overview of the entire organizations mission, objectives, strategy, and resource allocation, a marketing plan has a more limited scope, it serves to document how the organization’s strategic objectives will be achieved through specific marketing strategies and tactics, with the customer as the starting point.

The Role of Research
To develop successful strategies and action plans, marketers need to up date information about the environment, the competition, and the market segments to be served. Marketing Research helps marketers learn more about their customers’ requirements, expectations, perceptions, and satisfaction levels. This deeper understanding provides a foundation for building competitive advantage through well-informed segmenting, targeting, and positioning decisions.

The Role of Relationships
The marketing plan shows how the company will establish and maintain profitable customer relationships. The relationships affect how marketing personnel work with each other and with other departments to deliver value and satisfy customers. It also affects how the company works with other stakeholders that include suppliers, distributors, strategic alliance partners, government regulators, media and the community at large to achieve the objectives listed in the plan.

From Marketing Plan to Marketing Action
Companies generally create yearly marketing plans, but some plans may cover a longer period. Marketers start planning well in advance of the implementation date to allow time for marketing research, thorough analysis, management review, and the necessary coordination of departments.

For effective implementation and control, the marketing plan should define how progress toward objectives will be measured. Managers typically use budgets, schedules, and performance standards for monitoring and evaluating results. With budgets, they can compare planned expenditures with actual expenditures for a given week, month, or other period. Performance standards track the outcomes of marketing programs to see whether the company is moving forward toward its objectives.

The Major Parts of the Marketing Plan

1. The Executive Summary
   This section summarizes the main goals, recommendations, and points as an overview for senior managers who must read and approve the marketing plan. Generally a table of contents follows this section, for management convenience.

2. Current Marketing Situation
   In this section, marketing managers discuss the overall market, identify the market segments they will target, and provide information about the company’s current situation.

1. Market Description
   By describing the targeted segments in detail, marketers provide context for the marketing strategies and detailed action programs discussed later in the plan.

2. Benefits and Product Features
   Clarify the benefits that the product features will deliver to satisfy the needs of customers in each market segment.

3. Product Review
   The product review should summarize the main features for all of the company’s products. The information may be organized by product line, by type of customer, by market, or by the order of product introduction.

4. Competitive Review
   The purpose of the competitive review is to identify the competitors, describe their market positions, and briefly discuss their strategies.

5. Distribution Review
   In this section, marketers list the important channels, provide an overview of each channel arrangement, and mention any new developments or trend

3. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis

1. Strengths
   Strengths are internal capabilities that can help the company reach its objectives.

2. Weaknesses
   Weaknesses are internal elements that may interfere with the company’s ability to achieve its objectives.

3. Opportunities
   Opportunities are external elements that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage.

4. Threats
   Threats are current or emerging external elements that may possibly challenge the company’s performance.

4. Objectives and Issues
   The company’s objectives should be defined in specific terms so management can measure progress ad if needed, take corrective action to say on track. This section describes any major issues that might affect the company’s marketing strategy and implementation. Be sure to include the first year and second year objectives. Generally we are using unit sales volume for the first and second year.

5. Marketing Strategy What’s the Plan?

1. Positioning
   A positioning built on meaningful differences, supported by appropriate strategy and implementation, can help the company build competitive advantage. How is your product different? How is your product viewed by your target audience?

2. Product Strategy
   Include all the features described in the earlier product review section. Describe the warranty. Describe what you will do to build the brand? Describe the brand, its logo on the product as well as its packaging.

3. Pricing Strategy
   Describe your pricing strategy. What will you charge at retail, etc? Will it be a penetrating pricing strategy, like WalMart? Will it be a skimming policy like Mercedes automobiles?

4. Distribution Strategy
   Describe your channel strategy. How will you get your product from the producer to the consumer? Who you will use for distribution to market your product? What retails will you use? What channels will be used as coverage and what markets you plan on entering. Will you use the internet and or catalogs as well?

5. Marketing Communication Strategy
   Integrating all messages (IMC) in all media uses, will reinforce the brand name and its main points of product differentiation. Will you use all five of the elements including: advertising, sales promotions, public relations and personal selling? Direct marketing in some circles is also one of the communications as well.

6. Marketing Research
   We can identify specific features and benefits that our target market segments value. Feedback form market tests, surveys, and focus groups will help us develop new products and services. You can also measure and analyze customer attitudes toward competitive brands and products.

7. Marketing Organization
   Explain who would be hired to handle various aspects of the marketing organization.

6. Budgets
   Budgets serve two main purposes: to project profitability and to help managers plan for expenditures, scheduling, and operations related to each action   program. Be sure to include a break-even point.

7. Controls
   Controls help management assess results after the plan is implemented, identify any problems or performance variations, and initiate corrective action. There is a need for tight control measures to monitor quality and customer service. This will enable you to correct any problems that may occur. Other early warning signs include monthly sales and monthly expenses.

Answer 1

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Spices product like Coriander, Chilli, Turmeric, & Cumin. These four have one of the most profitable and revenue generated business in India. Though India is a major producer of all these four products and their productivity is in million tons. These spices products are still unbranded and can easily be sourced from vendors and farmers during its pick season time or arrival time. Prices of raw material and production cost is low as compare to the other FMCG products. Profit margin is almost 30-35%.

From RM materials sourcing to finished goods production cost can easily be reduce or save like in sourcing from origin points, transport, storage and in packing.

2. CURRENT MARKETING SITUATION

Spices market is very unsegmented market where any player can introduce itself by providing its best products. The main important thing is make strategy before sourcing of raw material. Though it is completely depend on the product and quality aspect so it is necessary to target the assigned vertical like HORECA where there are almost 7 lac restaurants and out of 7 lac, 5.5 lac restaurants are directly sourcing spices products from the company.

Currently our company is trying to expand its wing in spices sector so in starting it may be curious to reached out to these restaurants . we need to prepare different categories of sample & provided to all these company as sample testing & waiting for the feedback . After that will start working on the benchmark products.

3. MARKET DESCRIPTION

As discussed in above planning, company will first target horeca segment where the opportunity is huge. So in starting phase, company will categories horeca segments in three way: a. Hotel, Restaurant, & catering. Hotel starting from 2 star to 4 star in initial phase, restaurant which are dedicated for spices foods and catering like bus, railway and air. We first provide our sample through channel distribution network, take the feedback, call for their samples and assigned a chef and R&D team for testing of quality of the products.

4. BENEFITS AND PRODUCT FEATURES

All spices products are directly sources from the origin point and of new crop. Processed under extremely positive environment. All products passes through four different quality parameter to ensure maximum strong pungent. Cleaning, grinding, mixing, and sorting will take care so that foreign matter will be zero. sample of products will be tested with all chemical parameter to ensure safety and purity.

5. COMPETITIVE REVIEW

Though it is completely a unsegmented market so many market player are already introduces themselves into the market. They have their own channel, distribution network, client, & customers. They are also using the same kind of strategy to keep themselves revolving into the market. So we have to develop and target first our channel distributors and assigned client and customers.

6. DISTRIBUTION REVIEW

A. Strength:

• Good backing of parent brand
• Quality & flavour variants depends on the region & provides opportunity to suits the local taste.
• Retain original aroma that gives authentic flavour to the foods.
• Availability will be at every segment of HORECA.

B. WEAKNESS:

• Many similar option is available in the market.
• Brand & taste perception in the market
• Poor presence in non veg category
• There is allegation of adulteration & mixing of additives in masala which can also puts our brand in screening.

C. OPPORTUNITIES:

• Immense export opportunity targeting the Indian population abroad
• opportunity to tie up with new trading partner to improve market penetration
• increase product line with associated products.

D. THREATS:

• Increase competition in the branded segments by local regional players
• Health conscious people preferring less spices
• Entry of organic masala brand
• Major competitors like MDH, EVEREST, CATCH

7. OBJECTIVES AND ISSUE

For better understanding of objectives, company focus on first and second year sales and purchase plan. These two plans will help to understand the major issue, challenges and ideas to move forwards.

Sales plan help to target the major vertical in horeca segment and will create a scenario to develop strategy over periods to periods. We can train our existing sales team or hire the expert sales person who can run to develop the challenges. Purchase volume must be fixed for first year. It helps the company to develop channel for RM sourcing, processing, transportation, & storage.

8. MARKETING STRATEGY

1. POSITIONING: Brand awareness and advertisement help to make a strong market presence.

2. PRODUCT STRATEGY: All features and recipe mentioned on the back of packing materials, logo for each product is specific which only describe the product specification.

3. PRICING STRATEGY: Since we are targeted horeca segment so our pricing is similar to the competitors & product we are offering is along with our existing products.

4. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY: Distribution is with the current partner only as they have strong reach with our existing products with the clients. It will help to penetrate the products in easy way.

5. MARKETING COMMUNICATION: It is through advertisement on channels through existing products chefs, Branding of products on existing packing materials, word of mouth, added a note segment on the bottom of our mail about our new products.

9. MARKETING ORGANISATION

Company should hire marketing or brand expert who have knowledge over upcoming products. Procurement specialist for RM spices products, R&D person for product testing and quality.

10. BUDGET

Budget requires for manpower, channel distributor, sample and courier charge, branding, material buildup like packaging material.

11. CONTROL

control can only be possible if company will focus on service after sale. If the service provided strongly to customer then it will not only help to penetrate our products into the segments but can also outreached with maximum new customer.