Marketing Plans: Capturing Customer Attention for Increased Sales - Essay Sample

Introduction

With the observed increase in the number of service providers in various industrial sectors, the necessity to come up with better marketing plans that help to capture the customers' attention as well as their need to purchase a particular commodity has been identified. A marketing plan may be referred to as the strategic market approach measures that a given service provider implements intending to help them to effectively and efficiently reach the target customers (Davids, Mike, and Kelly, 2006). A marketing plan is essential in the sense that it enables the service provider to understand the market better through market research activities. In turn, they can use the findings obtained to their advantage by exploiting opportunities in the market structure, thereby helping them in the achievement of higher sales volumes as well as the realization of more significant profit Margins.

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Haribo Gummy Bear Company

The Haribo Gummy Bear Company is a company that was founded in the year 1920 and specialized in the production of gummy bears. The company has continued to enjoy popularity and market success due to the popularity of its product among the target clientele market. However, competition from other service providers has resulted in the necessity for the company to come up with a new and better marketing strategy that will enable them to engage competitively in the above service provision activity.

Executive Summary

The research activity intends to come up with a better and well-rounded marketing strategy that will not only help the company in improving its sales records but also in cultivating an employee motivational approach system. Through the maintenance of a motivated workforce in the implementation of the new marketing strategy, it will be possible to implement the new approach effectively, which will be instrumental for the company's performance. Marketing has been identified to be among the most fundamental aspects of any given business operations as it is the face of any institution that is involved with the direct interaction with clients. The marketing department is therefore required to be in close contact with the prevailing market conditions that put the given institution at a competitive advantage through appeal to the customers in the most effective way.

The marketing strategy to be implemented intends to utilize a socio-emotional aspect of marketing that is yet to be fully integrated into the market by other service providers. The approach involves bringing back some of the old-time gummy bears' products, which will be referred to as "the vintage edition." We all have those fond childhood memories as well as experiences that make us reminisce and fond memories. There are also certain toys, foods, and other materials that we grew up liking but may have gone out of production in recent times or may have changed with time. The socioemotional marketing strategy is therefore aimed at ensuring the Haribo Gummy Bear Company brings back some of their old products to the market, which is expected to increase the purchase of the products. This has been identified through research activities conducted on consumer behavioral patterns and their likelihood to buy vintage edition products.

Environmental Analysis

Competition from similar service providers in the Haribo Gummy Bear Company operational environment has been viewed as a significant challenge for the future sustainability of the company's operations. A closer look at the market environment, it is possible to note that most of the new service providers are companies that have been established in the recent past. The Haribo Gummy Bear Company therefore enjoys a wider market popularity given its dominance as well as demand in the gummy bear industry. As a result, the operational environment may be viewed to be in favor of the Haribo Gummy Bear Company.

However, it is necessary to identify that other similar service providers are in the process of establishing a market place for themselves and may already be enjoying sizeable followership. However, based on market structure analysis, most of the individuals with the purchasing power of these products are individuals who grew up in the Haribo Gummy Bear Company service era. As a result, the popularity of the company can be viewed to be higher among the prospective customers.

There are environmental regulation policies that the company also has to adhere to, including the environmental protection act of 2015 on sustainable industrial production approaches. The law required industrial productions to ensure that there is the use of biodegradable products in the production process and also ensure that there is a significant reduction in the atmospheric emissivity. Among other operational measures and federal government regulations that have been put in place include employee safety and healthy wellbeing observation in the workplace (Dib, 2018). These include the employee protection act of 212 that required all employees in the industrial sector to observe health and safety regulations such as health insurance cover and other safety precautionary measures which the Haribo Gummy Bear Company has complied with following.

Target Markets and Marketing Objectives

The target market that the new marketing strategy intends to hit is the middle-aged as well as the working-class demographic group that may be viewed as the largest group demographically that has the highest purchasing power and consumerism capability. Although this group may not be the intended consumers of the product, those directly affiliated to them are the target audience. The marketing strategy to be implemented was identified to be a socioemotional approach in nature whereby the vintage edition of the Haribo Gummy Bear Company products will be re-introduced into the market to entice the older generation to purchase commodities that remind them of the ancient childhood times.

Through scientific research, it has been established that consumers are more likely to purchase commodities that have a sentimental value as compared to a new product in the market that they hardly know about. Similarly, older brands are also observed to do relatively well in the market as compared to new and improved brands that lack the privilege of the market time and consumer popularity. The Haribo Gummy Bear Company therefore intends to exploit the above two findings in altering the market to their favor. The target market is likely to be parents or guardians who may be in charge of developing young ones who may need the product being provided by the company.

By using their influence, the parents and caregivers are likely to urge the younger consumers to try the vintage editions of the gummy bear products, which can be viewed as a cultural practice passed down. Parents may also want their children to have a taste of some of their experiences when growing up and are therefore oriented to purchase the vintage edition gummy bears. This can, therefore, be viewed as a marketing objective that will have a ripple effect and is likely to significantly increase the recorded number of sales for the company's products.

SWOT Analysis

Before the implementation of the marketing plan into operational standards, it is necessary to conduct a feasibility assessment that will help to pre-determine the expected performance of the new marketing strategy in the field. A SWOT analysis is therefore a suitable measure of execution of the new marketing strategy;

Strengths

One major strength of the marketing strategy lies in the exploitation of the socioemotional aspects of the market. Based on previous research conducted about the subject, it was identified that consumer behavior is primarily oriented towards their emotional elements as compared to the rational. This, therefore, indicates that most consumers are likely to purchase a particular product from emotional impulse rather than the genuine necessity. This is critical in understanding why concepts such as advertising are essential in the business world (Murphy, Debra, Cohn, and Hough, 2008). The new marketing plan, therefore, exhibits a significant strength in having the capability to exploit the emotional aspects of consumer behavior, thereby making it a likely successful marketing strategy that will be essential in helping the company to achieve the desired sales targets.

Weaknesses

An outstanding critical weakness in the new marketing strategy lies in the uncertainty aspect. While the marketing strategy may be viewed as having exploited one of the most fundamental aspects of business marketing, the consumer's response is unknown. This therefore poses a significant uncertainty on the expected success of the marketing strategy as different consumers may react differently to the vintage edition gummy bears. For instance, the younger generation may not be interested in the old product, and this may result in a likely poor performance of the marketing strategy. However, the company will have a counter mechanism in that the current line of gummy bear production will run concurrently with the vintage edition, thereby serving as an incentive in case the new strategy fails to work. Another weakness in the marketing strategy plan could be viewed to lie in the profitability of the original production technique. This may be because the vintage products will require the old methods of production, which were either high cost or time-consuming. As a result, this is likely to incur the Haribo Gummy Bear Company extra production costs.

Opportunities

There lies a fundamental break in the ability to tap the unexploited market in the vintage edition of gummy bears as well as reusing some of the company's old marketing strategies. For instance, the company could utilize the old advertisement approaches that they used before, thereby saving costs in aspects such as awareness creation and product promotion. This therefore presents a unique opportunity where through cost allocations, funds to be used for advertising purposes could be utilized in other production aspects. On the other hand, there also lies the opportunity for the company to diversify its product portfolio. The vintage line of gummy bears could be viewed as a diversification portfolio where the profit realized from these sales could be used in other company development projects.

Threats

The critical threat lies in competition from similar service providers who may take on related production aspects, thereby making the market a strict competitive zone for the Haribo Gummy Bear Company products. However, it is essential to note that competition is inevitable in any free market and therefore needs to be addressed through the improvement of the quality of services provided to the consumers. As a result, to alleviate this threat, the Haribo Gummy Bear Company could ensure that the new product adheres to quality standards, thereby ensuring that the consumer's tastes and preferences will be oriented towards the purchase of the original product. With other market factors remaining constant, it is likely that the vintage edition gummy bears are expected to gain popularity in the market according to the projections made by the new marketing strategy.

Marketing Objectives, Strategies, and Implementation

The marketing objective that intends to be achieved using the new marketing strategy is the attraction of a more significant consumer base, which will, in turn, result in higher profit margins for the company. The Haribo Gummy Bear Company intends to assert market dominance in that will help in increasing their competitive advantage over similar service providers. If the new marketing strategy is a success, then the company may consider diversifying and making the vintage edition of the gummy bear line a permanent service to its custom...