Unit 19 Marketing Planning Strategy Assignment

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Marketing Planning Strategy
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

Marketing planning strategy is a very broad term that apples to a whole range of activities starting with the communication of the product or services to the customers or prospects in the target markets and making them aware of the benefits or the needs and expectations it is designed to meet(Moore et al, 2008). The marketing planning deals with all the strategies used by the marketer in eliciting the desirable responses in the customers and making the sales and revenues possible for the company. Tommy Hilfiger is a well known brand selling bags, clothing and luxury lifestyle products in world markets and the study aims to discuss the various aspects in the marketing planning of the brand along with discussing the barriers to the process of marketing planning.

The company had long history of using celebrities like Sheryl Crow and Carla Bruni in its brand endorsements and had been focusing on the design of the products to suit local need as in case of Europe. Also the paper discusses about how the company has effected changes in its marketing strategies in order to meet the plans and targets along with keeping a check on the activities of the competitors in the global markets. In the process of marketing planning, the process of analyzing the internal and external factors has a profound effect as studied in case of Tommy. Also the last part of the study aims to explain the implication of ethics in marketing and consumer behavior in order to ensure ethical practices in planning for marketing mix.

LO1 Compile marketing audits

1.1 Changing perspectives in marketing planning

The overall strategy and the goals of the organization plays an important role in the planning and the design of the marketing activities and also marketing helps in the generation of the strong customer base for the company by making the customers aware of what they make, sell and provide to the markets (Tedlow et al, 2014). Marketing environment is seldom stable and due to this nature of the marketing environment, the company must be capable of planning to accommodate with the changes and the challenges posed by the environment as in case of Tommy Hilfiger. As the Tommy Hilfiger faced tough competition from the brands in the European and other fashion upscale markets thus the changes in the marketing plan helped the company to accommodate the competitor. The company success was through wholesaling of the brand products to the departmental stores and making use of celebrity endorsements while also supporting social causes like Breast Health International. Thus the changing in the marketing plan as in case of Tommy Hilfiger in European markets helped the company gain loyal customer base in the country. While earlier the company was focusing on only jeans it later shifted to design of sweaters, leather jackets, slim look jeans, etc for upscale European customers (Wilkie et al, 2015).

1.2 Organization’s capability for planning its future marketing activities

The capabilities of any organization like Tommy Hilfiger is marked in terms of the physical, financial and the human resources aspects and its overall ability to grab the opportunities posed by the marketing environment along with making the most efficient usage of resources along with being effective in gaining market image (Gordon, 2011). The capability of Tommy Hilfiger could be described as its ability to design special products as through design staff in Amsterdam designing new products and luxury items for the European markets to grab the upscale fashion customers in France and Italy. Thus the human resource capabilities of Tommy Hilfiger are described in terms of its new product design as per target customers along with effective use of human resources in implementation while the financial capabilities refer to its availability of funds for deploying new markets in world as Europe. This helped the Tommy Hilfiger for making use of innovative technology and design of European customer needs and thus gaining market shares there thus helping future marketing activities in Europe after US (Tedlow et al, 2014).

1.3 Techniques for organization auditing and external factors affecting marketing

The auditing in any organization including Tommy Hilfiger includes a deeper understanding of the internal and external factors that have a bearing on the organization functions and capabilities (Moore et al, 2008). The external environment of the organization s studied using many tools including PESTEL analysis which corresponds to the study of the political factors in the country; economy of the nation including taxation, monetary policies, availability of funds, interest rates, etc; social aspects as including the society and culture; technological factors as including level of the innovations in industry and nation; environmental factors as including the geography, pollution, climate, etc; legal factors as including the laws and regulations along with government initiatives, etc (Tedlow et al, 2014). The internal environment is studied through analysis of company mission, strategies, vision, mission along with use of tool like SWOT analysis which includes the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company while also looking for the opportunity and threat that underlie its environment and may impact Tommy Hilfiger’s future.

1.4 Organization auditing and external factors affecting marketing

SWOT ANALYSIS:

Strengths-

• The brand is recognized throughout the world (Moore et al, 2008)
• Good distribution network as operating in more than 90 countries with around 1000 stores around the world
• Celebrity endorsements helping in generation of good brand image
• Popularity of the established American designs of Tommy Hilfiger

Weaknesses:

• The cost for the maintenance f the brand is high (Gordon, 2011)
• Competition for the well established brands like Nike, Lee, etc

Opportunities:

• Design of innovative products in luxury and other segments
• Large untapped potential in emerging nations (Wilkie et al, 2015)
• New product lines and sub-brands under Tommy Hilfiger

Threats:

• The frequent changes in the fashion trends (Tedlow et al, 2014)
• Rising competition from international brands
• Changes in customer preferences as per the geographies and nations

PESTEL ANALYSIS:

• Political factors- This includes the political stability and the regulations in the country including power of the politicians in influencing business activities and the form of government as democracy, etc.
• Economic factors- Includes the economy as developed in case of Europe including taxation policy, interest rates prevailing to avail funds for business operations as for Tommy Hilfiger investors, etc (Tedlow et al, 2014)
• Social factors- The society and the culture in the country impacts the business organization as it must supply products and services as per the characteristics of the target markets as Tommy Hilfiger did in case of European fashion upscale society especially at France and Italy by designing new products.
• Technological factors- It includes the level of technological advancements in the country and industry (Moore et al, 2008).
• Environmental factors- The country’s climate, geography and the overall marketing environment is important consideration as for Tommy Hilfiger must design warm sweaters and jackets in case of cool regions like US which may not be same for hot regions as in Arab nations.
• Legal factors- This includes the laws and the legal framework impacting the organization as including purchases, investments in the country, etc. Flexible labor regulations will help Tommy Hilfiger in gaining easy labor and it must abide by all the laws in the country it operates(Gordon, 2011).

LO 2 Main barriers to marketing planning

2.1 Main barriers

Any organization including Tommy Hilfiger needs a strong planning of its marketing initiatives in order to gain success and loyal customer base. In determining the success of the products of the organization like Tommy Hilfiger the marketing planning lays important role as deciding fro celebrity endorsement strategy in advertising and promotions (Wilkie et al, 2015). Though the marketing planning is a very essential part of any organization but there are certain barriers to this marketing planning that impacts the organizations like Tommy Hilfiger as:

• Lack of the capability of the stakeholders including the top management to take the challenges and incorporate changes in order to reap the benefits of the opportunities. Also the organization culture may be such as to resist any changes thus playing a barrier to effective marketing planning as was not case with Tommy Hilfiger.
• Lack of the skills and expertise required for the planning may also act as a barrier in effective design of marketing plan (Tedlow et al, 2014)
• Lack of cooperation between the management and the other stakeholders
• A dominant firm like Tommy Hilfiger may become overconfident with solving the issues in the organization environment thus impacting effectiveness of the marketing planning

2.2 How organizations can overcome these barriers

The organizations like Tommy Hilfiger may overcome these barriers as through:

• Through auditing of the environmental factors (Moore et al, 2008)
• Involving in situation or SWOT analysis practice in organization
• Design of organization structure around the marketing function
• Development of the skills and attitudes to accommodate changing marketing environment in marketing planning (Wilkie et al, 2015)
• Avoiding over confidence in planning and decision making as Tommy Hilfiger is a leader in the industry
• Effective design and implementation of the strategies through co-operation among the stakeholders (Tedlow et al, 2014)

LO 3 Formulate a marketing plan

3.1 Marketing plan

The plan for the new product range of Tommy Hilfiger in Dubai would be as follows:

• Goal- As Tommy Hilfiger is representing the cool American personality with the youthful spirit thus it plans to launch a new product ‘Tommy Girl X’ in Dubai to represent independent modern women with spirit and youthfulness. This range will comprise various products including perfume, cologne and handbags.
• Situational analysis- Tommy Hilfiger had a good image and name in the top designers around the world and has a long history of providing lifestyle goods to meet the changing market needs. Dubai is world shopping destination and has good prospects for Tommy.

Marketing strategy –

• Product- Range will include various women oriented products like perfumes, bags, etc
• Price- Will be high as products will be designed for high end users.
• Place- As Dubai is world famous shopping destination thus Tommy Hilfiger will work on placing the new product and promoting Tommy Girl X range as through store in Dubai Mall.
• Promotions- Including displays in Carrefour, Ibn Batuta Mall, etc. Also it will work on sales promotion to attract more customers to its stores as putting 20% on weekends.
• Competitors- Wrangler, Lee, Levi, Adidas, Nike and many other fashion upscale brands
• Customers- The customer to this range of Tommy Hilfiger would be mostly women in the higher sections of the society in Dubai who love being independent and youthful and will mostly include women in 20-40 years age groups.
• Performance measurement- As Tommy Hilfiger has many branded competitors at Dubai thus it will measure self performance through revenues along with the market shares at Dubai

3.2 Marketing planning for strategic planning process

The strategic planning is related with the basic decision on the company mission, vision and the overall objectives of the organization (Gordon, 2011). The marketing plan is derived from the overall objectives of the organization as in Tommy Hilfiger and helps in measurement of the success of the company in terms of the attainment of the marketing and overall objectives. Marketing planning helps in analyzing the potential customers and the demand in the target markets along with analysis of the taste and preferences of the customers as done by Tommy Hilfiger in case of its entry in Europe thus leading to design of new range of sweaters, leather products, slim look jeans, etc. Marketing planning helped Tommy Hilfiger in realization of target market shares in Europe and other parts through placing focus on customers and their expectations which changes often in fashion industry. Also marketing planning helps Tommy Hilfiger in analysis of the competitors as including Nike, Lee, Levi, etc in Europe and other markets across the world and effective strategic planning as through BCG matrix and Porter five forces analysis in order to beat the competition while also gaining competitive advantage for Tommy Hilfiger as through innovativeness in design (Tedlow et al, 2014).

3.3 Techniques for new product development

The new product development as in case of Tommy Hilfiger is a necessary function in order to continuously meet the needs of style and fashion conscious customers in world markets (Kotler et al, 2012). The various techniques involved here are:

• Experimentation- This involves the generation of the various product ideas as done at Tommy which is followed by Concept testing and development in later stages. The experimentation helps in design and development of new products based on the needs and wishes of the target markets as Dubai thus helping Tommy in ensuring keeping up with the fashion trends in the target markets(Moore et al, 2008).
• Test marketing- This involves the marketing of the new products build on different ideas on small areas of the target customer groups in order to analyze the response of the customer in the target markets as Dubai and this helps in understanding the overall success rates of the product if they are launched with full marketing efforts on the bigger or country wide or global levels (Gordon, 2011).  This technique also help the company as Tommy Hilfiger in making changes in potential new products based on feedback from the customers selected for test marketing analysis.

3.4 Recommendations for pricing, distribution and communication

For the launch of new range of products of Tommy Hilfiger at Dubai, the recommendations would be as follows:

• Pricing- As the Tommy Hilfiger places emphasis on quality of products thus the prices will be high and also the range will be targeted on the high end clients, which are numerous at Dubai including high per-capita income.
• Distribution- As Dubai is world famous shopping destination thus Tommy Hilfiger will work on placing the new product and promoting Tommy Girl X range as through store in Dubai Mall. Also it will have shelves at Carrefour and other prime malls of Dubai.
• Communications or promotions- The promotions will include fashion magazines along with outdoor publicity while also including displays in Carrefour, Ibn Batuta Mall, etc. Also it will work on sales promotion to attract more customers to its stores as putting 20% on weekends. The digital media including television advertisements will also be considered important for Tommy Hilfiger.

3.5 Factors affecting effective implementation of marketing plan

There are certain factors that have impact on the proper and fruitful implementation of the good market plans as:

• Skills and expertise of the management to develop changes in the marketing plans as per changes in the outside environment which keeps changing
• Lack of the synergy and the cooperation may affect the implementation of the marketing plan (Moore et al, 2008)
• Insufficient budgets for implementation of plans (Marilyn, 2007)
• Communication gaps among the parties involved in implementation of marketing plan
• If some parts or whole of the plan violates the law then it cannot be implemented by government opposition (Tedlow et al, 2014)

LO 4 Understand ethical issues in marketing

4.1 Ethical issues influencing marketing

Code of ethics in the business implies the decision making and the behaviors in the organization to be based on certain desired or acceptable guidelines (Kotler et al, 2012). While practicing the marketing strategies and the activities, the marketers must be fair and just in behaviors including advertising and does not make fool out of the customers and thus the moral principles must be incorporated in to marketing (Gordon, 2011). Thus the organization like Tommy Hilfiger must be planning the marketing not just in order to fulfill the needs and expectations of the customer but practicing ethics in marketing. This will help the customers to develop a trust and good attitude towards the brand thus the marketing plan must be based on ethical conduct in order to generate long term relationships (Christopher, 2010). While the unethical conduct of the marketers may reap bad image, customer disloyalty and legal suites against the company thus making it fail completely.

4.2 Organization responds to ethical issues

The customers may not wish to make future purchases from the organizations that make false claims through advertisements, where product performance is low, provide impulse in customers to purchase the product by giving fake information, etc (Tedlow et al, 2014). The management of Tommy Hilfiger is concerned about the ethical practices in whole organization including the marketing function thus it provides Code of Conduct while also providing training and relevant information to its employees to make ethical decisions and take care of the rights and benefits of the customers and other stakeholders like suppliers and investors. Tommy Hilfiger had developed a socially responsible image as through promoting social causes like Breast International and the organization culture towards the ethical practices in the organization. The company involves in legal suits against the employees or other stakeholders following the unethical behaviors in organization. This helps Tommy Hilfiger to maintain its image in minds of the customers as providing reasonable goods with ethical advertising (Kotler et al, 2012).

4.3 Consumer ethics and its impacts on marketing planning

A ethical consumer is one who in their shopping behaviors make decisions as being concerned towards the society, environment, animals and the entire nature and thus prefers to buy the products from those brands which ensures all such considerations in their operations (Gordon, 2011). The ethical consumer will not involve in purchase of the goods that are prohibited by law or harms the nature or society. Tommy Hilfiger is concerned about the rising awareness and ethics in the consumers around the world and thus in its marketing planning it incorporates promoting social causes like child education and Breast International campaign to develop socially responsible image of Tommy Hilfiger in minds of target customers (Phatak et al, 2009). Also Tommy Hilfiger has a policy of getting raw materials from suppliers practicing sustainability and are responsible towards the environment (Tedlow et al, 2014).

Conclusion

Tommy Hilfiger is well established brand worldwide and the marketing planning is an essential part of its functioning. This helps the organization auditing as through the analysis of the internal and the external factors that have a bearing on the organization. There are certain barriers to marketing planning like the attitudes and the cooperation amongst the employees or the top management which Tommy Hilfiger must overcome to gain over business strategy. New product development is important for Tommy Hilfiger as it operates in lifestyle segment where the rend changes frequently. Tommy Hilfiger must continue to make products as per the research on the consumer needs, tastes and preferences to keep abreast of competitors like Nike, Wrangler, etc (Tedlow et al, 2014). Based on the study it is quite evident that how important is the ethical decision making and practices for the marketers including Tommy Hilfiger as not making use of children in advertising and making false claims about product performance making the customers to purchase instantly.

References

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