Marketing Plan Report for Kleenmaid Australian Company - Case Study Example

MARKETING PLAN REPORT FOR KLEENMAID ST GEORGE COMPANY STUDENT’S NAME: INSTITUTION: INSTRUCTOR’S NAME: DATE: 1.0 Executive summary Kleenmaid is an Australian company that has been in existence since way back in 1987 on the sunshine coast of Australia. The company has been able to maintain its image, especially in the market through the services that it offers to their customers. It has been able to attain a competitive advantage through the provision of quality products that out way those of its competitors such as fisher & paykel and LG. Kleenmaid deals with manufacturing, importing and distribution of white goods appliances. The company has succeeded in identifying of market gap and filling it and therefore it has enabled the flourish of the company. The purpose of this report is to establish a marketing strategy that will base its facts on the internal and external environment of the company and its competitors and therefore its ability to identify a point where differentiation can fit. Kleenmaid should therefore strive to attain low cost leadership and thus it will be regarded as the only brand in Australia. Table of Contents 1.0 Executive summary 2 2.0 Introduction 4 3.0 Customer Analysis 4 3.1 Major market segments 4 4.0 Analyzing the competitor 5 5.0 Analyzing the environment 6 5.1 External environments 6 5.2 Internal environment analysis 7 6.0 Developing a marketing strategy 8 6.1 Product differentiation 8 6.2 Adding value to the customers 9 6.3 Enhancing quality perceived 9 7.0 Strategies for gaining cost advantages 10 8.0 Conclusion 10 9.0 Recommendations 11 Reference 13 2.0 Introduction Kleenmaid is a company that deals with manufacturing, importing and distribution of household goods such as ovens, washing machines, dishwashers and cook tops. The main purpose of this report is to identify a marketing strategy that will enable the company to remain distinctive in its performance. It will involve analyzing the marketing strategy and provide recommendations on how to improve the implementation strategies. Since the company has a plan to expand its supply of kitchen and laundry appliances, it, therefore, plans to remain the largest retailer in Australia by opening more branches across targeted regions of Australia (Housing industry Australia, 2003). The company’s financial position enables its marketing strategy implementation. 3.0 Customer Analysis 3.1 Major market segments The purpose of marketing involves identification of target segment where customers are located, and this will influence the ability of the company to analyze the customer’s needs and hence design a strategy that will lead to customer satisfaction. When it comes to market segment, it implies that the company will divide the identified market into groups and these groups should consist of those predicted customers who will be willing to buy the products from the company .these groups are based on the different needs and behaviors because it will help in designing a product according to those factors. According to Jonas (2004), the demographic analysis includes factors such as numbers of children, age population, and number of persons living in their own homes or in rental houses, level of education and the type of employment. Segmenting geographically implies gathering information about location of customers such as cities, rural areas or municipalities; this will enable the company to set the appropriate location for their perceived plans of establishing retails. For the Kleenmaid, it uses the market segments regarding those who want to buy new homes, those who want to purchase kitchen appliances and those who want to renovate their appliances. Geographic segmentation is used because of the need to franchise its products by setting up retails in the rural and other regions of Australia. Kleenmaid has motivation factors that drive it hard work in the marketing industry. It aims at providing high quality products and offering after sales services that are admirable and attract customers. The company has the unmet need of manufacturing their own Australian brands that do not depend on imports of raw materials. 4.0 Analyzing the competitor According to Kotler (1997) competitor analysis involves identifying the existing and the potential competitors so as to identify an opportunity to out-way their competitive strategies. The main competitors of the company are LG, Electrolux and fisher & pykel. Underestimating the capabilities of competitors will pose a threat in the company because they might be focusing on attaining a competitive strategy. Information about the competitors will help the company to adopt alternative developments in terms of technological advancement and thus being in a position to remain competitive. The marketing plan, therefore, analyses the features of the company’s competitors such as; Electrolux happens to own the popular Australian brands, it sells its products on discount, it has a wide range of products, it has good manufacturing facilities and has managed to sell its products in many retail outlets. LG Company happens to have new market entry, it has innovated its products example innovation of refrigerator that has internet, the prices of their products compete with those of Kleenmaid, and it has quite huge amounts of resources and it has a mission of digital technology leadership. This information about the competitors is very important to the Kleenmaid because it will help them to plan a strategy that will result to developing products that do not resemble those of competitors, information on the future plans of competitors is also important because it will give a clue on the direction to follow. From the above information, the company will, therefore, focus on advancing their products and continue to create awareness by highlighting on the distinctive features and the unique attributes the products have (Kotler, 1997.pg 65). The Australian industry that specializes in white goods has been identified to experience a downfall in export trend and thus high dependence on imports. This has forced the company to design a marketing strategy that will enable the generation of more sales through meeting the customer’s needs. 5.0 Analyzing the environment 5.1 External environments Environmental analysis is conducted to determine the threats, trends and opportunities that will help in achieving a successful implementation of marketing strategy. There are two main environments in any business, and they are the external and internal environment. External environment comprises of competition, political, economic, socio-cultural, technological and legal factors. These factors determine the operations of the company and, therefore, its analysis will help the company to establish a marketing strategy that will not interfere with the policies stipulated by the external environment (Environmental issue trends, 2003). According to Statistics on consumer price index (2005), it shows how there is a decline in economic performance of Australia where there is a decline in employment rates, which have an impact on the economic status of the citizens which will also contribute to the low demand of these household appliances. These are some of the threats on which analyzing the external environment will identify and, therefore, find an appropriate strategy which will involve attaining a competitive strategy through low cost leadership. The company will, therefore, invest in techniques of marketing that will persuade customers to purchase their products. It will involve developing scenarios that will enable the company to predict the purchasing trends of the Australian people. 5.2 Internal environment analysis The internal environment analysis of Kleenmaid Company involves the strengths, weaknesses, and point of product distinction, company strategies and the cost analysis. The mission statement for Kleenmaid is “the best you can own," it is, therefore, the main aspect that has contributed to the image of the company since it has been able to provide quality products and services to its customers. The company has opportunistic visions that have enabled it to be risk takers in the electrical appliance industry. The marketing strategy, therefore, aims at inviting and attracting more customers through enabling them to shop with the confidence that their products are warranted and this will win the customers trust and loyalty. The strengths of the company will help in implementing the marketing plan because it will be based on the capabilities that the company is able. Therefore, the strengths such as product innovation, use of internet marketing and product branding will enable the company to have the courage to win more customers since they will specialize on implementing the plan with regard to the strengths of the company. When it comes to the weaknesses, the company will use the opportunities form the external environment to reduce their weaknesses (Consumer price index, 2005). This will be achieved through appropriate environmental scanning and coming up with strategies to eliminate those weaknesses. 6.0 Developing a marketing strategy 6.1 Product differentiation Aaker (2005) describes that the product differentiation refers to developing other use of the same product by creating another line of products where customers can have a variety of a single product performance. Since the company faces stiff competition from Electrolux in terms of pricing and brand features, Kleenmaid will, therefore, be able to attain competitive strategy by developing a strategy for product differentiation. When compared to other competitors, the company has quite a huge range of features of its household electrical appliances. Customers appreciate a product with many features and these features could be used in one way, or another, take a look at a refrigerator that has an internet connection, this feature should inspire Kleenmaid in innovating ways of differentiating their products and thus attract more customers. 6.2 Adding value to the customers Kleenmaid seeks to derive the demand of their products by adding value to their customer service provision, and this will make customers come looking for their products. The main purpose of deriving demand is to penetrate into the new markets and win more customers. Adding value to the customer services will involve educating them on the importance of these electrical appliances, giving them an insight on the advantages and also previewing on how to use the appliances. Customers could also appreciate if the services will involve educating them on the first aid services when there are minor accidents. The company also needs to identify distinctive features it has that are not in the competitors so as to use those features as a strategy for convincing customers. 6.3 Enhancing quality perceived Kleenmaid aims at enhancing the quality of products as perceived; this is done through ensuring that the competitive advantage is maintained. This can be achieved through ensuring that the company is the major supplier of household electrical appliances in Australia. Enhancing perceived quality may involve strategies such as developing other household appliances such as television and home theatres. The strategies to enhance the quality of products will, therefore, contribute to customer attraction which will influence the entire customers who want to purchase these appliances for the homes (Thomson, 2003.pg 80). The quality that is perceived in this case constitute production and distribution of products that are of high quality when compared with another competitor’s product, the product quality is recognized by its ability to provide long term service to the customer in terms of a slow rate of depreciation and also it should be able to serve the customer need. 7.0 Strategies for gaining cost advantages Kleenmaid aims at products position with regard to the attributes of the product; these attributes are quality of the product, originality in this case the product is made from Australia, service provision for the customers who have bought the product and the distinctive features of the product. These attributes have been proven to attract customers because according to the information collected on customers’ needs, it was discovered that beside the demand of the products they also consider these attributes which motivate them to purchase the product. The company strives to attain cost advantage by designing a position strategy that will be convenient and can be identified by customers; this will involve advertising the product so as to create awareness. Kleenmaid will position their products according to the social class of people and hence increasing the price since the expenditure of the producing the product should not exceed the revenue. The company should also realize that despite creating awareness and attracting customers through product attributes, these customers may prefer the competitor’s products. Therefore, personal advertising is important because it will involve persuading the customers to adopt the use of the company products so as to get an opportunity of experiencing the services and hence learn more on information about the company (Kotler, 1997.pg 68). 8.0 Conclusion The main objective of the company is to maintain awareness of their brand and thus establish a brand loyalty for their products. These objectives should have a strategy which constitutes expanding the channels of distribution so that the product accessibility will encourage customers to purchase more. When a product is accessible by covering geographical distribution, customers will be willing to buy because they will not feel the pinch of having to travel for a long distance to access the product. The advertising strategy will aim at developing a campaign to advertise so as to create awareness and thus inform more customers on the existence of the product. Brand positioning is also another marketing strategy designed by the company, and this will contribute to product awareness and will meet the anticipations planned by marketing department. Another advertising strategy is that of informing the customers on the benefits of the products and also the advantages that accompany the use of the product. This will be done through comparing the company’s products from those of the competitors by explaining to the customers about the unique attributes and distinctive features that the products of other companies do not have. The company plans to adopt advertising strategies such as printing, decorations that display the household appliances in the home. They should also apply media advertising by the use of television to advertise how the appliances look in a home. 9.0 Recommendations It is recommended for the company to always conduct a sales appraisal after every year. This strategy will help the management to have more information on the customer’s preferences, and thus developing an appropriate strategy to maintain the existing and attract more customers. Sales appraisal will involve special offers to a particular product so as to encourage more people to buy it. Monitoring and evaluation should be done on the sales management so as to enable the sales people to work as a team and help the company achieve its marketing plan strategy. The company should also re-examine the how they have positioned their markets and also how they implement the marketing mix aspects. This will help the company to achieve its marketing plan strategies and thus the end result will be achieving the objectives of the company. Strategies on marketing should aim at improving the visibility of the Kleenmaid market by striving on attaining a competitive strategy through product differentiation, value addition and targeting new customers by conducting a customer analysis. The company should also concentrate on developing new brands for their products and wining the customers’ loyalty and trust. Therefore, the best market strategy recommended should be the use of concentrated market so as to penetrate into target market segments and create awareness. The chain of distribution should also be expanded by developing other means of cutting down the costs of distribution. This will be attained by establishing retails in most regions where the target customers are located, and this will reduce the costs of distributing the products from the main store. Reference Aaker, et. al. (2005). Strategic Market Management. Milton: John wiley & sons. Jones, et. al. (2004). Strategic management and intergrated approach. Milton: John Wiley& sons. Kotler, P. (1997). Marketing management,analysis,planning and implementation and control. USA: Prentice hall. Thomson, et. al. (2003). Strategic management concepts and cases. Texas: Business publications inc. Australian bureau of statistics, 2005.consumer price index, URL Australian bureau of statistics, 2003. Environmental issues and trends, URL Kleenmaid homepage 2005.URL// http:// www.kleenmaid.com.au Housing industry Australia, 2003. URL Kleenmaid electrical appliances directory,2005.URL, http://www.kleenmaid.com.au General electric,2005.URL.http://www.ge.com.au/business/industrial Read More