Unit 4 Marketing Principles Assignment - Unilever PLC

Task 1: In this section, the students are required to address the following questions with examples from ANY 1 brand selected from UNILEVER PLC (UL).

By using a reputable source, define marketing. You can use definitions of marketing given by CIM or AMA or Kotler and explain how these are applicable to a brand of UNILEVER PLC (AC1.1)

Defines  marketing  as   a  science  and  an  art  as  well  as  that  is  used  in  searching,  creation  and  delivery  of  value  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  targeted  customers.  Marketing   has  the  function  to  identify  the  needs  that  are  not  fulfilled  and  address  them.  Marketing  identifies  which  customer  segment   is  most  profitable  for  the  company  and  how  can  you  define  strategies  and  activities  to  serve  them. Marketing is  important  as  it  segments customers  by  offering  them  the  product  and  services  best  suited  to  satisfy  their  needs  and  demands. 

The important processes in marketing are;

• Identification  of  a  market  opportunity
• Developing  a  new  product
• Attracting  customers
• Retaining  customers  and  having  loyal  customers 

  I have chosen Dove for answering the questions

• Marketing  of Dove  - Dove  was  once  a  US  based  soap  bar  now  with  the  use  of  proper  and  better  marketing  strategies  it  has   become  the  biggest  brand  globally  of  Unilever’s product.  It  has  captured  new  markets  by   launching  new  products  such  as cleansers   deodorants,  shampoos,  conditioner, hair  oil  etc.  It  keeps  moving  to  the  niche  markets   that  are  less   competitive  and   establish  a  better  market  position,  It  was  ranked  4^th  most  valuable  brand  of  personal  care  products  in  the  year  2012  by  kantar’s  Brands(ADBRANDS,  2013)

.  With  highly  increasing  sales  figures  it  now  serves  four  products  groups  namely,

• Bar & Body  wash
• Deodorants
• Skincare  products
• Hair  care (ADBRANDS,  2013)

Incorporation of the definition of marketing by Dove

How Unilever has incorporated marketing in Dove is they use marketing strategies showing woman of all shape and sizes (ADBRANDS,  2013) This makes Dove a brand that can be relatable to all. They devise products accordingly studying the needs and the demands of the customers.

Briefly  explain  the  various  elements  of  the  marketing  process  applicable  for  UNILEVER  PLC  and  explain  how  the  Marketing  Strategy  is  applicableto your selected brand from Unilever PLC(AC1.2)

The  various  elements  of  the   marketing  mix  applicable  for  the  Dove  brand  of   Unilever   are:

• Product  -  this  is  the  tangible  or  the  intangible  element  that  is  sold   to  their  customers   (Ibidunni, 2011). Dove  has  a  product   range   from  body   wash,  hand  wash,  face  care,  body  lotion,  hair  care,  deodorant,  soaps  etc.

• Price  -  this  determines  the  amount  of  money  that  is  spent  to  acquire  the  product  and  this  element   generates  revenue  to  the  organization. Initially  the  product  where  higher  priced  and  not  accepted   in  developing  countries  now  it  has  lowered   the  prices.
• Place  -  this  element  determines  the  decision  and  the  tools  relating  to  the  products  and  services  that  are  made  available  to  the  customers  Dove  products  are  manufactured  in  many  countries  such  as  USA,   Germany,  Ireland  etc.
• Promotion  -  this  includes  the  integrated  marketing  communication  combining  many  elements  of  promotion  in  order  to  promote   the  promotional  message  of  the  firm. Dove  uses  promotion  by  consumer’s  magazines,  television,  and  emphasizes  on  real  beauty  than  celebrity  endorsements.

Swot analysis of dove’s marketing strategy:

Strengths - Use  of  creative  advertising  and  unconventional  strategies,  free  publicity,  emotionally  appealed  to  the  end  customers,  personal  touch  and  advertising  by  real  beauties  made  the  brand  appeal  much  stronger.

Weakness – The  weakness  in  the  marketing  strategy  is  that  it  targets  the  upper  middle   class  women  and  so  this  leads  to  the   development  of  a  notion  that  it  is  not  a  brand  for  the  middle  class  women.

Opportunity - 

• Recently  Dove  has  entered  the  beauty  market  of  men   products  making  men  realize  that  beauty  is  accessible  for   them  too.
• Using  of  a  united   global   promotion  strategy  and  saving  costs

Threats -  Have fierce competition form brands such as Olay, Nivea etc.  This keeps posing threat to capture Dove’s market share (Professinal Paper Writing, 2013). 

To put it all together, the above analysis shows that Dove requires a firm strategy to manage its 4P’s in order to gain maximum market profitability and also SWOT analysis explains how to achieve marketing effectiveness by using strengths and tapping opportunities, overcoming weaknesses and threats

Explain  how  your  selected  brand  is  using  the  marketing  concept  in  their  marketing  activities(AC1.3)

Marketing concept: Businesses are integrating marketing function and concept to better understand the needs and the demands of the consumers and adjust and adapt to the changing marketing needs (Johansson, 2006). Dove has successfully adopted marketing concept the below points exemplify this;

• Dove  has  been  using  innovation  in  its  promotional  message  to  appeal  the  customers   from  the  earlier  USP  of  mildness  and  moisturizing   to  creative  advertising  using  real  beauties.
• Positing  Dove  as  a  beauty  brand  for  Women  of  all sizes  and  skin  colour
• Telecasting  good  Dove  stories  of  real  customers  over  the  television
• Commissioning  a  booklet  for  skincare  where  queries  of  woman  was  answered      by  eminent  Dermatologists
• Conducting  researches  and  showing  that  the  doctors  and  paediatricians  recommend   Dove  the  most  mild  and  safe  brand(E.LERN  et  al.,  1999)

So  we  have  seen  that  Dove  has  integrated  marketing  in the real  sense  in  practice  and  used  the  concept  of  marketing  for  devising  their  promotional  activities  and  establishing  an  emotional  attachment  with  the  targeted  customers  (E.LERN  et  al.,  1999).

Identify  and  briefly  explain  the  possible  costs  and  benefits  for  your  selected  brand  for  pursuing  a  marketing  orientation  culture(AC1.4)

Cost and benefits consideration for pursuing a marketing culture is important in making the marketer acknowledge whether the costs accrued in having a marketing orientation is justified on grounds of the benefits. As marketing orientation leads to attain detailed information regarding the needs and wants of the customers, businesses can incorporate their strategic decisions to develop better product and service and attain profitability (Hennig-Thurau & Hansen, 2000).

The  dove  brand  has  been  using  the  marketing  culture  to  ensure  customer  satisfaction  and establish  an  emotional  connection  with  the  customers.  Dove  has  been  spending  a  lot  on  its  promotional  activities  to  establish  an  emotional  appeal  with  the  customers  with  diversification  of  the  products  the  media  spending  also  increased  for  Dove (Johansson, 2006).

Right  from  the  conception  Dove’s  marketing  strategy  has  perceived  it  as  a  soap  that  dries  your  skin.  In  the  year  1996  the  cost  of  marketing  on  Dove  Bar  was  lowered  as  huge  funds  were  required  to  promote  the  Body  Wash  that  was  launched  by  Dove.  Then  the  spending  was  increased  in the  year  1998  as  the  business  grew  but  this  strategy  of  using  the  promotional  spending  of  bars  for  promoting  the  body  wash  had  a  cannibalizing  effect  on  the  bars  as  people  started  preferring  the  body  wash  over  the  bar.  This  advertising  has  a  substantial  costs  incurred  but  the  benefit  was  that  Doves  idea  of  launching  the  Body  wash  became  a  success  ad  it  gained  marketing  momentum.

Another  examples  of  the  benefit  and  cost  of  advertising  is  Dove  has  been  advertising  using  emotional  connections  with  the  customers  this  has  led  to  high  customer  satisfaction  and  loyalty  to  the  brand (E.Lern et al., 1999)

Task  2:  In  this  task,  the  students  are  required  to  prepare  a  report  to  address   the  following:

Explain  your  product/product  range  feature,  advantages  and  benefits  to  market  your   product  in  your  selected  market. (AC2.1)

In  this  section I have  used  Unilever  new  product  development  of  a  range  of  ready  to  eat  foods  by  the  name  Eat  Quick.

Core facilitating and augmented product levels:

Core product is the intangible benefits that can be derived from the product and adds value to the product (Friesner, 2014). So the core product for Eat Quick is the ease of cooking the food easily with less time.

Actual product is the physical product that is tangible in nature (Friesner, 2014). These are the different food options with the Eat Quick’s brand name.

Augmented Product is non-physical attribute to the product and includes all the value added to the product that drives the customer’s to pay premium price for the product (McDonald, 2012). For Eat Quick the brand name, quality of food and services, availability and range of products are the augmented part of it.

Development of product is done to achieve competitive advantage as customers’ needs and preferences are taken in to account. The criteria for consumer preferences and benefits are taken into consideration. New Product development should be based on anticipating the needs of the customers and satisfying them (Friesner, 2014).

This  product  range  will  have  many  ready  to  eat  food   products  seeing  consumer’s  preference  of  these  foods  products  as  a  matter  of  convenience  to  match  their  time  constraints.  This  products  will  be  cereals,  porridge,  yoghurt,  cheese  snacks  and   organic  tofu.

I  have  selected  to  launch  this  product  in  the  market  of  developed  and  the  developing  countries  where  there  are   working  couples  who  do  not  have  much  to  cook  food  and  prefer  such  healthy  and  easy  food  options  that  take   very  less time  to  be  prepared.  Unilever  is  a  trusted  brand  globally   so  these  products  have  feasibility  to   gain  market  momentum  quickly.

Now you have to plan a marketing mix for two different segments in consumer markets in your newly selected market (i.e.: Children under 16, Young female college students, Business executives working for a large corporation, Individuals Interested in Sports etc. (AC2.2)

Marketing mix -

Marketing mix for Individuals interested in sports and fitness:

• Product - Quick  Eat  will have  a  separate  product  line  launched  for  this – Eat  Quick  Fit.  This  will  include  products  such  as  protein  shakes,  Tofu,  Dietary  Supplements,  Energy drinks,  pre  and  post  exercise  nutrition  bars.
• Place - the  distribution  of   these  products  will  be  wide  as people  in  many  scenario  and  places  are  interested  in  sports  and  fitness  so  they  will  be  distributed  to  supermarkets,  retail  outlets,  to  sports  and  fitness centre’s  etc.
• Price – This  will follow   an  economical  pricing  strategy  product  range  will  not  be  premium  priced  to  attract  more  people  and  gain  customers,  Making  it  a  brand  accessible  to  all.
• Promotion - Eat  Quick  fit  will  have  an  integrated  promotional  strategy  and  will  be  promoted  by  creative  TV  advertising,  fitness  magazines,  sports events  etc.

Marketing mix for children under 16:

• Product – A  product  range  for  kids  under the age of  16  with   the  name   of  Eat  Quick  Kids  will  be  launched  which  will include  flavoured  cereals,  jelly,  and  cornflakes  of  different  innovative  flavours,  energy   drinks  etc.
• Place – The distribution of these products will be wide’.  They  will  be  distributed  to  supermarkets,  retail  outlets,  shops,  grocery  chains  and other  high  visibility  locations  where  people  buy  such products  such as kids stores, school canteens etc.
• Price – The Eat Quick Kids will be moderately priced.
• Promotion – This  will also  follow  an   integrated  promotion  using  advertisement  with  kids,  pamphlets,  survey  reports,  magazines,  newspaper  etc.

Identify various distribution strategies that your product could use.  What  is  your  view  on  the  distribution  strategy  adopted  for  your  newly  developed  product? (AC2.3)

Importance of distribution strategy:

After the identification of the features of the product and the market segmentation the distribution strategy needs to identify where should the marketer sell his products to gain maximum effectiveness in marketing?  This strategy will help the marketer to identify which channel will be appropriate such as websites, smart phones etc. for younger generation.

Distribution strategy for Eat Quick:

Having  a  distribution  strategy  will  enable  to  sell  the  products  of  Eat  Quick  to  customers  in  new  sectors  of   the  market  or   geographic  areas  that  cannot  be  reached  directly.  The distribution channel can be wholesalers, internet, retailers etc.

• There  should  be  a  strategy  to  reach  out  to  the  customers  by  growing  the  business  and  reaching  out  to  maximum  customers.  Internet marketing increases customer’s coverage.
• Cost – it  is  always  wise  to  compare  the  cost  of dealing  with  indirect  channel  of  distribution  and  setting  up  the  personal  network  of  distribution  or  operating  by  having   direct  sales.
• Contribution – the  distribution  strategy  should  consider  the  contribution  of  business  sales  by  such individual  channel  of  distribution.
• Strategy –should consider the customer segment being addressed (LINTON, Ian, (n.d).

Explain  how  prices  are  set  to reflect  an  organization’s  objectives  and  market  new  conditions  in  a  newly  selected  market.  Recommend a specific pricing strategy for product which will reflect the different market conditions (AC2.4)

Defining Pricing  strategy:  pricing strategy of  an  organization  reflects  which  income  group  does  it  intends  to target.  Ideal  pricing  is  one  which  is  accepted  by  the  buyer  and  the seller.  The organization  reflects  the  value  of  purchasing  the  product  and  that  of  other  competitive  market  offerings And the price that customers associates to it. 

Quick’s  pricing  strategy  should  be based  upon  the idea  of  having  maximum  sales  and  profits  and  having  enough  of  margin  for  marketing  activities  and  the  dealing  with  the  overhead  expenses.

Calculation of the price for Eat Quick products –

Price = Cost +Desired Profits

So the price of Eat Quick’s products will be the price of a 3000 Kcal Ready to Eat Meal would be £11.5

Costs will be around £6 and desired profits would be of £ 5.5

For determining  the  pricing  of  Eat  Quick  following  steps  should  be followed:

• Market  Analysis  - size  and  composition
• Researching  on  the  elasticity  of  price  of  the  product
• Choosing  the  distribution  channels
• Studying  the  life  cycle  of  the  product
• Estimating  costs  and  overhead  costs
• Scanning  secondary  pricing  options
• Final  price  setting  of  the  product

Pricing strategy for Eat Quick:

As Unilever is a trusted brand so Absorption strategy would not be needed as in this method the costs are recovered.

Contribution margin-based pricing can be applied as it focuses maximizing the profits derived from the products on the basis of the difference between the price of the product and the variable costs this can be applied as they have a wide range.

Premium pricing would not work well for a new product as the intention is to gain customers by pricing moderately.

Illustrate how you can arrange promotional activities to achieve marketing objectives.Give examples of promotional activities that you can plan to increase your awareness and image. Recommend an integrated promotional strategy by combining some of the promotional mix elements such as advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and word-of-mouth (AC2.5)

Promotional  activities  are  very  important  for  a  new  product  development  as  these  are  the  means  to  get  your  product  known  to  the  customers.  So,  Eat  Quick  will need  efficient  promotion  to   attain  market  attractiveness  and  customer’s  loyalty.

I  would  recommend  that  Eat  Quick  should  use  an  integrated  promotion  to  appeal  the 

Customers by using various means of advertising such as;

Integrated

Marketing

Strategy

Recommended promotional strategy for Eat Quick:

• Above the line promotion - this technique uses mass media to create awareness. Eat Quick can use this to create brand and product awareness by using print and TV advertising, social media etc.
• Below the line promotion - these involve one to one selling and distribution of hand bills, placards etc. Much of below the line is not needed for Eat Quick as there is great brand awareness and loyalty for Unilever products.
• Push promotion – these promotional strategies would include direct communication with the clients and pushing the products to the customers using little advertisement (Smith & Taylor, 2004). Eat Quick can use Push strategies such as exhibitions and direct selling.
• Pull promotion – in this strategy the customer are encouraged to demand a product by using advertisement and promotion and free coupons, locusassignments.of the product. Eat Quick can use this as there is brand is a factor effecting the decision and buying behaviour of customers for food product.

Suggested promotional mix for Eat quick:

• Advertising  - Advertising  in  press  by  using  magazines,  newspapers,  journals   etc,  or  advertising  in   television  by  using  an  ad campaign  positioning  Eat  Quick  as  a  brand  of  convenience  and  healthy  eating options  for  everyone.
• Direct  advertising  -  this  can  be  done  by  using  below  the  line  techniques  such  as  emails,  direct  advertising,  fax  complying  with  the  anti- spam  legislation.  Eat  Quick  can  connect  to  wide  customer  rang  by  this  as  almost  everybody  handles  an email  account.
• Social  Media  - this  has  emerged  as  a powerful  tool  to  attract  customers  and  Eat  Quick  can  use  this  and  have  customer  feedbacks  suggestions  and  interaction  making  it   an  efficient  promotion  measure.

Analyse  how  additional  elements  of  the  extended  marketing  can  be  used  by  Unilever  PLC  (UL)   to  enhance  customer  experience  and  improve  customers(AC2.6)

Additional Elements of the marketing mix- As the market has become more customer oriented there was the need of the addition of the extended elements and the creation of the service marketing mix to deliver great services considering the physical , evidence, processes and people.

Unilever  can  also  use  the  approach  of  the  extended  marketing   mix  to  improve  their  customer  experience  and  service.

• Physical  Layout  -  These  days’  customers  demand  a  high  level  of  organization  in  the  physical  layout  of   the  products  and  service  they  use.  Unilever  can  use  this  to  attract  customer  by  making  the  use  of  selves  sizes  and  layout  of  product  display  to  foster  maximum  product  visibility  also  they can  use  efficient  packaging  and layout  of  the  products  itself  to  attract  the  customers.  The  layout  of  their  website  and  virtual  store  can  also  be  enhanced  to  attract  customers.
• People – Customer  service  is  the  crux  of  all businesses  Unilever  can enhance  people  engagement  by  opening  forums  for  discussing  the  ability  and  product  improvements  of  their  marketing  offerings.  Grievance redress   forums will also lead to high customer satisfaction and engagement.
• Importance of people at Unilever – At Unilever talent is determined as the ability to succeed so they are very much concerned to get the right kind of people. For this employee training is given due importance. They encourage diversity and openness and Unilever has a participative culture that gives its people opportunity to develop themselves.
• Processes - they  need to  adopt  specialized  and  better  processes  for  handling  customer  complaint,  processes  for  identifying  and  channelizing  a  customer  need  and   handling  customer  order  (Smith  &  Taylor,  1997).
• Processes at Unilever – Unilever has adopted innovative processes to make their products and services better. The new Dove bottles have 15% less plastic and are better for the skin. They have a well-developed R&D Section and uses in-depth market research to capture the wide share of market that it has.

Describe  the  differences  in  marketing  products  to  businesses  (B2B)  rather  than  consumers  (B2C).  Explain  how  your  new  product  could  conduct  its  business  to  business  marketing. (AC2.7)

 

B2B	B2C
It  is  marketing  to  businesses  so  industrial  jargons  make  the  process  efficient	Use  relatable  marketing  language  to  customer  majority
Focus  on  logic  and  features  of  the  product as a business buying software would be more focused on the logic and features of the software for itself	Focus  on  product  benefits as a lady buying a skin care product would focus on benefits such as moisturising, glow, fairness’s etc.
No  or  very  little  involvement  of  emotion	Buying  is  often  driven  by  emotional  needs
Ask  for  lots  of  information  about  the  product	They  seek  information  only  when  buying  high  priced  products  many  products  are  bought  as  an  impulse

How can Eat Quick conduct its Business to Business Marketing?

Eat  Quick  and  sell some  of  its  products  to  businesses  such  as  sports  and  fitness  centres  could  be  the  potential  customers  of  the  low  fat  to  make   and  sugar  foods  so  for  B2B  marketing  it  can  conduct  events  and  shows  to  attract  consumers   and  sponsor  a  sports  event.  It  has  to  make  the  end  customers  understand  very  well  the  benefits  and  use  of  these  products  and  answer  their  queries. Giving   off  free   products  for  trial  can  also  be  used  as  a  marketing  strategy  for  B2B.

Industrial Markets – Eat Quick can conduct industrial marketing and sell their products to organisations and businesses and people who work for organisations. Example they can sell their diet and fitness products to fitness centres and gyms, and ready to eat food to cafeteria of corporates etc.

Institutional market- this market is composed of profit and non-profit institutions where Eat Quick can target their products such as hospitals, schools, government agencies and sell their food products.

Reseller Markets – Can act as intermediaries and wholesalers and sell their finished and unfinished food products to food businesses.

Define ‘’service’’ and discuss the characteristics of service.  Do you  think  your  product  can  use  the  service  element  in  Marketing?   If  ‘yes’, explain  how  it  can  incorporate  the  service  element  in  Marketing (AC2.8)

A  service  is  an  intangible  commodity   that  has  an  exchange  value  and  ability   to  customers.   Service  have  certain  characteristics  differentiating  them  from  products  these  are  Perishability,  they  are  intangible,  heterogeneous   etc.

Characteristics of services:

• The  selling  of  services  takes  place  as  it  provides  benefits  to  their  end   customers
• Unlike  products  services  cannot  be  availed   in  advance
• These  is  a  critical  factor  of  time  utility  in  services
• They  are  perishable  in  nature
• After  the  consumption  of  services  they  cannot  be  returned  (Richards,  2014)

Service Provided Eat Quick can use the service elements to reach better to the customers. The service would be elemental in determining the customer purchasing decisions.

Application of service lament for Eat Quick:

The Physical Evidence of the products such as the packaging, store display, layout etc will determine the quality of the Eat Quick products thereby making it very important. The People involved will determine efficiency of production and development of better marketing strategies to evolve the products of Eat Quick. The process will determine how the products are made such as organic farming, low pesticides, fresh farm products, high nutrient content and innovation all this will be driving factor to affect the buying decision for the targeted customers of Eat Quick.

Yes,  Eat  Quick  can  use  the  service  element  in  marketing  although  it  is  a  product  company  but  the  product  delivery  requires  efficient  service  strategy  to  reach  the  ends  distributors  and  the  customers.  In  B2B  marketing  of  Eat  Quick   products  the  service  elements  are  more  important.

Show how and why international marketing differs from domestic marketing. Explain  how  your  new  product  continues  to  hold  its  position  in  international  markets  with  examples  of  international  marketing  strategies(AC2.9)

Difference of international marketing to domestic marketing

• In  domestic  marketing  transfer  of  goods  and  services  takes  place  within  the  country  where  there  are  produced  whereas  in  international  it  takes  place  from  one  country  to   another.
• There  are  several  barriers  to  international  trade  such  as  tariff  and  non- tariff.  But domestic marketing is devoid of these barriers.
• International  trade  includes  exchange  of  different  currencies  whereas  domestic  trade  involves  trade  in  the  same  currency
• International trade has high government regulations unlike domestic trading (Smith & Taylor, 2004).

International marketing strategies suitable for Eat Quick:

For  its  international  marketing  Eat  Quick  has  to  use  integrated  promotional  strategies  to  target  the  market  of  developed  and  developing  countries  where  there  is  a  market  of  ready  to  eat  foods.  They  have  to  promote  the  food  by  the  use  of  different  media  to  create   brand  awareness  in  international  domain  and  use  strategy  of   entering  by  leading  grocery  chains (Smith & Taylor, 2004).

References

Ashe-Edmunds, S., 2014. Importance of a Marketing Strategy in an Organization. [Online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-marketing-strategy-organization-65269.html [Accessed 2 January 2015].
Business Owner's Toolkit, 2012. Product Pricing Can Spell Difference Between Success and Failure. [Online] Available at: http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/marketing/packaging-pricing/pricing-is-difference-between-success-failure.aspx [Accessed 5 November 2014].
CIMA, 2014. Buyer Behaviour. [Online] Available at: http://www.cim.co.uk/marketingplanningtool/tech/tech1.asp [Accessed 2 January 2015].
Corneby, G. et al., (n.d). Consumer Research On a Mew Market Segment for Dove Soap. Philippines.
Dove, 2014. Dove Men Care. [Online] Available at: http://www.dovemencare.com/products/ [Accessed 2 January 2014].
E.Lern et al., 1999. Canadian Advertising Success Stories. Ogilvy & Mather.
Flagg, J., 2013. What We Can Learn From Dove’s Marketing Strategies. [Online] Available at: http://www.mechtron.com/blog/what-we-can-learn-from-doves-marketing-strategies/ [Accessed 2 January 2015].

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