Cadbury Drinking Chocolate Australian Marketing - Case Study Example

Cadbury marketing audit Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction The purpose of this report is to conduct market auditing of the Cadbury drinking chocolate. The report helps to identify the target market of the product and to assess how the target market will be segmented. It also analyses the marketing mix of the product that is the product price, place and the promotion. Finally, this report analyses how the competitive advantage will be achieved through the effective application of the marketing mix. A.1 Australian market audit The target market for the Cadbury drinking chocolate will be young people of the age between of ten years and the age of thirty years. This is because at this age they tend to like such kinds of staff. This target group will provide 90% of the market share for the drinking chocolate. The other market share of 10 percent will be provided by the consumers of above 30 years of age. The reason for choosing this age is because Australia’s high population consists of the young people hence they will provide a large share of the market. Target market will be divided into different segments on the basis of their geographical location, demographic segmentation, psychographic basis and the behavior of the customers (Cohen 2005). Geographical segmentation will be segmented into rural areas, urban area and cities like the Sydney in Southern Australia. The target market will also be segmented by demographic factors like gender that is female and male segments, religious segments which are Muslims, Christians, and Hindus (Baker 2000). The target market will also be segmented according to different age structures between the age of 10 to 20 years of age to in the same segment and the age between 20 years and thirty years to be in the same segment. Finally, the target market will be segmented according to high income earners class, middle class income earners, and low class income earners. The effect of the income is to set different prices like the high income earners class will be charged higher than the middle class and the lower class income earners. The needs of this target market include getting the benefits of buying the products. The customers will aim to maximize their income hence they will expect to get the best out of the products they will buy. They will also need to have the product at their disposal. This can be achieved by effective distribution channels. The target market will need to satisfy their needs by getting a high quality product hence the product needs to be of great benefit. Finally, the customer demands include the desire to get a variety of products of the Cadbury drinking chocolate like mint flavors. A. 2 The marketing mix 1. 1 The product The product I have chosen for this market auditing research is the Cadbury drinking chocolate. The product will be of high quality so as to meet the quality requirements of the customers (Blythe 2001). The Cadbury drinking chocolate will be of mint flavors and different sweets like which are Mars maltesers, mars reveals Cadbury dream egg and basset refreshers. These different sweets will meet the different tastes and preferences of the customers. Cadbury drinking chocolate is a convenient product. I chose this product because convenient products are more purchased than any other category of products (Auken 2002). The attributes of this product which will make the product most important to the customers include the high product quality, different brands of the product which are mint flavors, mars maltesers, basset refreshers and Cadbury cream egg. The core product of Cadbury drinking chocolate is the satisfaction derived from using the quality product. Actual product is the customer translation of the benefits into actual buying of the Cadbury drinking chocolate instead of other competitive products and finally the augmented product is the tangible benefits of after sale service to the customer after buying the Cadbury drinking chocolate. This product has an effective brand because it takes into all the customers needs like the quality and variety of brands like the mars reveals sweets and Cadbury cream egg available for customers. Cadbury drinking chocolate is also mostly preferred by the people of age between 10 years and 30 years which is the highest population in Australia representing highest market customers and therefore the research will represent the whole market. Cadbury drinking chocolate is packed in tins and others in in the form of tablets. They will use different shades to pack the chocolates like purple and pantone shade. This packaging system attracts customers and also protects the chocolates hence they will look attractive than those of the competitors (Auken 2002). This product is in the growth stage of the product life cycle because the product has been in the market and is many customers are aware of it. 1.2 Promotion The impersonal forms of communication used by the Company to promote its products are through Television networks like the TV4ME and through posters which are placed at strategic places of the Cities of Australia like the Sydney to create awareness of the products of the Company including Cadbury drinking chocolate. The personal selling form of communication of the product used is the face to face communication. The sales men and women contact the buyers in their premises with samples of the Cadbury drinking chocolate products. These forms of communication can reach a wide variety of customers (Golder 2000). They also display samples of the products being promoted. This communication provides an opportunity to the customers to ask the salesman or woman questions about the ingredients used to make the product and this will lead to better understanding of the product. These forms of communication are effective in reaching the customers because many people can afford Televisions and personal selling can reach anyone and they are cost effective in terms of paying the communication fee. The firm will produce a catalogue which will be available at the retail outlets for easier access by the customers to read more details about the product and this is the direct communication to be used to promote the products because there are those customers who would like to read more about the product (Dann 2007). The information messages included in the communication include the new information about the product like development of new brands like bassets refreshers. Furthermore pricing of the product is communicated to attract attention of the customers, the places where the product can be found and the availability of different brands is also provided. At the introduction stage promotion is done to create awareness of the product but at the growth stage promotion is done with the aim of reaping profits. At the maturity stage promotion of new products is done because the existing product’s sales will be declining. 1.3 Place The distribution strategy chosen by the firm is selective distribution strategy (Dann 2007). The outlets will be situated in the Sydney City, Dubbo town, Albury, Camphell town, Broken hill town, Grafton and Blue Mountains city. This strategy is important because it reduces the time for the order because there are fewer middlemen hence the order process can then reach the manufacturer fast. This strategy is most reliable especially those who use the product on the bases of just in time. There is no much long waiting time hence the order is processed very fast. Selected distribution strategy enhances communication between the firm and the buyer. Finally this strategy convenience the distribution process because it can accommodate any special customer needs. The customer needs include getting the right quantity of products, at the right time, at the right place and in the right quantity (Dann & Dann 2011). The selective distribution strategy helps to satisfy customer needs by availing the product at the customers’ disposal in time.This distribution strategy will ensure that products are of the right quality because they arrive at the customer’s disposal when they are still fresh from the firm and have passed less middlemen who may cause damage to the product. This channel is convenient to meet any special needs of the customer because there are fewer middlemen thus the needs can be easily communicated between the buyer and the supplier. Finally, the selective distribution strategy eliminates unnecessary expenses of involving many middlemen like storage fee thus reducing the price of distributing the product which could otherwise be a burden to the customer 1.4 Pricing strategy The pricing strategy of the firm will be a customer oriented pricing strategy. This price will enable the firm to attract and retain customers. This customer oriented strategy gives the customer first priority than the benefits to the firm (Dev & Schultz 2005). It will help the firm to compete effectively for the market share because other Companies may charge a slightly higher price for the product hence the customers will go for this Company’s product. The Cadbury drinking chocolate will be sold in different sizes that are 250g, 500g and 1kilogram. The pricing strategy will also be varying depending on the circumstances. For example if the products are sold for the purpose of promotions, the prices will be slightly lower than the market price. This pricing aims at promoting the product and attract customers (Dev & Schultz 2005). Furthermore, the pricing will be varying according to the place and the product itself. In places like Sydney city where the customers are high income earners will be charged higher price than low income earners in rural areas and small towns like Port Pirie. A.3 Competitive advantage The firm has differentiated its products from other firms by effectively applying the components of the marketing mix. The product will be of high quality so that the customers will be satisfied with what they expect from the product. Appropriate technology will lead to innovation and creativity which develops new ideas which will add the product value hence the customers perceive it better (Ertimur & Venkatesh 2010). High quality product helps the firm to achieve competitive advantage because other firms may not be offering good quality products thus it will improve its market share than the competitors. Pricing on the other hand can lead to competitive advantage. The products of the Cadbury drinking chocolate will charged slightly lower than those of the competitors. The price should only earn the firm normal profits which will sustain it in the market. This will attract more customers than the competitors thus enjoying the competitive advantage. Promotions will also enable the firm to have the competitive advantage. In order to get competitive advantage the firm will use personal and impersonal methods of promotion which are face to face promotion, using posters and Television network through TV4ME channel. Theses modes of communication are preferred because they show the features of the product like the packaging and different brands like the mars reveals. The mint flavor differentiates this product from those of the competitors. This flavor will meet the different customer tastes and preferences. If the Company does not provide different preferences of the product then some customers’ needs may not be met and if this firm is able to provide a variety of the flavors to be able to meet the customer requirements. In this aspect this firm will offer a variety of designs than the competitors thus gain competitive advantage. A.4 Assessment of the firm’s success The firm has met the customer needs because it has managed to differentiate the Cadbury drinking chocolate from other products of the competitors. First and foremost the firm has been able to manufacture good quality products which have outdone the existing products of the competitors. In this regard it has met the high quality requirement by the customers. Furthermore the market promotion strategy adopted by the firm has created great awareness of the product among the customers. Improved and appropriate promotions led to an improvement in sales which implies that the promotions equipped the customers with adequate details of the product. Increased sales are a good indicator that the firm has been successful in promoting the product by gaining competitive advantage through promotions because it applies to modern technology in promoting the product which is not used by the competitors. Through the target market segmentation the firm has been able to meet the different requirements of the different markets. For example the firm has manufactured different brands of the product to fit the male and female issues, rural and urban requirements and lower income earners and high income earners. Features like decorative packaging and mint flavors attract meet the different customer tastes and preferences (Joseph 2011). Therefore, the firm has been able to attract many customers through good packaging which ensures protection of the Cadbury drinking chocolate to last for longer days. Conclusion According to this research, there are significant implications of doing market research if the firm wants to compete effectively for the market share. For instance, if the firm wants to gain competitive advantage it should be able to critically assess the 4Ps which are the product, price, promotion and place. A good assessment of the 4Ps will improve the performance of the product. In addition it has been noted that market segmentation is essential for the firm to meet the needs of the customers. Market segments help the firm to manufacture products which meet customer satisfaction. References Auken, V 2002, The Brand Management Checklist, London, Kogan Page. Baker, M 2000, Marketing Management and Strategy, New York, Macmillan Business. Blythe, J 2001, Essentials of Marketing, London, Prentice Hall. Cohen, A 2005, The Marketing Plan, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dann, S 2007, Competitive Marketing Strategy, Pearson, Sydney. Dann, S & Dann, S 2011, e Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, Bassingstoke. Dev, S & Schultz, D 2005, Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing, Vol.14, No.2, p. 36- 42. Ertimur, B & Venkatesh, A 2010, Opportunism in co-production: Implications for Value Co-creation, Australasian Marketing Journal, Vol.18, p. 256–263. Golder, P 2000, Insights from senior executives about innovation in international Markets, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 17, No. 5, pp 326-340 Joseph, K 2011, Integrated Marketing Communication: A Catalyst for the growth of ebusiness management, The Social Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 64-73. Read More