Marketing Strategies and Plans

Harinder's Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategy

1. Harinder began making wooden writing utensils as a hobby until Manpreet recognized Harinder’s talent. Manpreet immediately ordered 250 pens and pencils of various styles to be displayed in his shop’s showcase. Within three months, the writing utensils were a hit! Harinder had never thought of marketing his talent but Manpreet’s enthusiasm and the recent sales were enough to change his mind. With limited resources, Harinder contacted three additional specialty shops within 100 miles. He explained his manufacturing processes and engraving options to each. All three shops' owners placed a trial order. Within two months, just prior to the holiday season, each shop owner placed an additional order. Harinder was ecstatic! “I figured business would slow down after that,” Harinder stated, “but in February I was contacted by E Distributors. At that point, I had to make a huge decision about how far I wanted to go with this business.” E Distributors provided products for school fundraisers in a server state area. Harinder was offered a two-year contract and immediate inclusion in E’s promotional flyer. Harinder accepted the offer and, along with it, the responsibility to produce thousands of wooden pens and pencils. “I had to get a grip on the magnitude of this project!” Harinder added. “I couldn't grow out of control. I was already working to capacity.” Harinder decided to place his major focus on the large contract with E Distributors. However, to avoid placing his total emphasis with one customer, Harinder continued nurturing his four previously established accounts without targeting any additional customers. “At this point, I had set up an assembly line in a rented building,” Harinder explained. “I had to hire three full-time employees to work the line while I managed the customer orders and purchased materials.” Harinder paused. “But I can’t take the E Distributors project for granted. It might not always be there. I’ll have to have a good alternate plan if that day comes.”

2. Discuss Harinders Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Strategy? In your opinion what alternate marketing plan should Harinder work on?

3. You have been hired by a chain of budget hotel organization as marketing consultant. They are launching a new budget hotel in Sharjah, UAE for the first time. As a consultant what factors you will consider helping them in pricing strategy? And what steps will you take to set the pricing strategy/policy?

4. The challenges in achieving success with communications necessitates careful planning. As a marketing head, show the steps involved in developing effective communications?

Alternate Marketing Plan for Harinder

5. Sachin and Rahim are two enterprising youth. They have passed out from MAHE, Dubai. They thought instead of doing a job, they will launch fresh vegetables in UAE markets. Having learnt of the future conventional foods, they decided to venture into cultivation of mushrooms. Mushrooms are known to be the best alternative food for vegetarians. For Sachin and Rahim fund raising was a serious handicap for mass production. However, the first trial batch of mushrooms that they produced was bought by Star Hotel in Dubai. Further, the hotel placed orders for supply of 20 kgs every day. Now mushroom industry is run by small entrepreneurs, like Sachin and Rahim. Another big player M/s John Mushrooms, equipped with cold storage facility was more interested in the export market. Sachin and Rahim have set their sights high. They aim to sell mushrooms in a very big way all over UAE. Mushrooms have a great market potential and is a perishable food.

6. How will you advise Sachin and Rahim, as how to increase the consumer awareness about this new food?

7. What would be your suggestions for distribution channel for mushrooms?

8. If you were to segment the market for the following product and service, what base/ bases of segmentation will you choose to do so? Justify your choice.

a. Luxury Watches

b. Movers & Packers

c. If you were to segment the market for the following product and service, what base/ bases of segmentation will you choose to do so? Justify your choice.

d. Designer Jewels

e. Yoga Center

9. In the modem business world, the significance of marketing management has increased to a great extent due to the constant changes in macro environment”. Critically evaluate the statement analyzing the macro environmental factors influencing UAE marketing world.

10. Elucidate the steps involved in the buying decision process of ‘Enrolling in a Degree Program’. Also comment on the personal factors that are likely to influence the consumer’s choice.

11. Elucidate the steps involved in the buying decision process of ‘Buying a luxury Car’. Also comment on the personal factors that are likely to influence the consumer’s choice.

12. Elucidate the steps involved in the buying decision process of an ‘International Vacation Package’. Also comment on the personal factors that are likely to influence the consumer’s choice.

13. Read carefully the following two case situations given below and answer the questions mentioned at the end of each case.

Factors to Consider in Pricing Strategy for a New Budget Hotel in Sharjah

14. The pen market in UAE is around USD 10 million and 60 to 650/o of the market belongs to ball pens. Growth is in the range of 20% annually. The "X" brand created a kind of revolution by bringing in an offering priced higher than a number of competing brands and also offered greater reliability and superior flow. The brand is a market leader. "Y" was a follower brand priced below "X" and it has become a USD 1 million brand. The brand also provided a "secondary" differentiation by introducing a number of colors. Explain the pricing strategy of to this situation. and its relevance. (10 Marks)

15. ABC is a well-known brand in the cement industry. It has a large distribution network of around 8000 plus distributors and 20 C&F agents. During the last decade the company's market share has gradually declined to 15% from earlier 30%. About a couple of years ago, the brand opened its first company-owned retail outlet called "World of ABC”. The outlet reassures the customer about the genuine material and encourages interaction besides displaying a range of refractory and aluminum-based products. This type of outlet is also likely to enhance the company's image. Taking into consideration the cement market and the commoditized nature of the product, comment on the pros and cons of an outlet of this kind. Would such outlets alone enhance sales? Explain your answer? (10 Marks)

16. Office Needs, is a small chain of distributors of good-quality office furniture, carpets, sofas and filing cabinets. Within each category, the company offers a wide variety of products with a great many variations of each product being offered. For instance, the company currently offers around 42 different designs of chairs and 23 varieties of office desks; The Company keeps In touch with advances made in the office furniture field woodwind and introduces those products which are in keeping with the needs of the market in terms of design, workmanship, and value for money and technical specifications.

17. Office Needs trades only in quality furniture which is sturdily constructed. Differences between its products and cheaper, lower quality ones are well known to those who have several years of experience in the business. An Important feature, the company feels, is the availability of a complete list of components of the furniture system. This enables the customer to add bits and pieces of matching designs and color in the future. Such components are available for sale separately, Systems are maintained in stock by the company for a number of years, and spare parts for chairs and other furniture are always available.

Steps in Developing Effective Communications as a Marketing Head

18. The trade is currently witnessing a downtrend due to recession and players from local unorganized sector. Office Needs has also experienced the same over the last two years. In addition, it had to trim the profit margins. Last year, it barely broke even and this year it is heading for a small loss for the first time in the company’s ten year history.

1. Explain the term Product item, Product line and Product mix in the context of the above situation. (10 Marks)
2. Advice the company in relation to its product mix decisions and its effects on the company’s image. (10 Marks)
3. An electronic gadgets manufacturing firm wanted to market in GCC a small, hand-held electronic instrument for measuring blood pressure at home. The price of the instrument was fixed at around AED 500/- a piece. Being a specialty product, it was perceived to have only a limited clientele. As the firm had no established channel of distribution, it decided to take the direct-marketing route. The product was unique in the sense that it offered the convenience of constant monitoring of blood pressure at home, in office or anywhere, without having to visit the doctor. It could save a lot of time and inconvenience, especially for busy professionals, executives, businessmen and all those who had a hectic work schedule. Since it was a relatively expensive product, senior executives, professionals and businessmen above 45 years of age, having an income of more than AED 10000 per month were expected to be the prospective buyers. The firm adopted the following procedure for identifying and enlisting prospects.

19. In order to prepare a cold list, an advertisement of the product, along with a coupon, was released in two leading business newspapers in Dubai. Interested individuals were asked to fill up the printed coupon and send it to the firm within 10 days to get a free booklet on management of blood pressure. Personal particulars relevant to identifying the ‘qualifying prospects’ Such as income, age, profession, residential address and details of any health-related problem were to be filled in the coupon. A majority of the people who responded were found to be suffering from blood pressure, obesity or heart-related problems. A cold list of about 5,000 individuals was generated on the basis of filled-in coupons. This list was further scrutinized and names of individuals below 40 years of age and those who did not fulfil the income criteria were dropped, as were the names of apparently non-serious respondents who might have sent the coupon more out of curiosity. The residual list of about 3,500 respondents was treated as the hot list.

20. Another alternative to this newspaper ad approach, as suggested by the research agency was to obtain a list of credit card holders from reputed banks such as ENBD Bank, Citibank, ADCB Bank, FAB Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank. The firm could then have sorted out the names of card holders who were above the age of 40 and occupied senior executive positions in private or public organizations. This would have formed the cold list. Next, the firm could have sent a brochure and a personal letter to them offering to arrange a free demonstration of the product at their residences. All those who responded would have formed the hot list. However, this approach was not taken due to some logistic problems. The respondents were then clustered into different segments on the basis of their health status : those who had only mild blood pressure but no other problem; those suffering from obesity and blood pressure both; those suffering from blood pressure and some cardiac problem; those who had blood pressure and diabetes with or without some cardiac problem; and so on. This database of all the listed people with their detailed health profiles helped the firm in identifying specific needs of the respondents.

1. What elements of promotion mix would be more appropriate for the company to market blood pressure instruments, and why? (10 Marks)
2. What should be the long run promotional strategy for the company? (10 Marks
3. An internationally acclaimed brand of coffee shop wants to enter UAE. Discuss in detail the key micro and macro environment factors that they should consider in marketing planning.
4. Modern concept of marketing is of great use, not only to the business organizations, but also to the non-business organization” Critically evaluate the statement considering the scope and utility of modern marketing concept
5. India is among the hottest growth markets for AC makers, just like other consumer goods companies. Daikin entered India in 2000 an as 80:20 JV with Siddharth Shriram group company Siel. In 2004, it bought out Siels's 20% stake to make the Indian firm a wholly owned subsidiary. All these years, Daikin's sold bulk of its ACs to offices and factories and served only the upper middle-class homes. Since entry-level products are driving volumes across categories, the company could not afford to stay away from that segment for long. Daikin launched 14 models for homes last year and the starting model was only 10-15% costlier than similar models offered by the competition. Earlier the price gap used to be 50%. Changing lifestyle, increasing disposable income, falling prices and wider availability have all contributed to the rise in air-conditioners sales. Demand is also rising in smaller cities and towns as well as more households join the buoying middle class segment. With introduction of cheaper products, enhanced distribution network and aggressive promotional activities in the last one year, the company claims to have already increased its market share marginally which is encouraging, and it wants to become one of the top three room air-conditioners marketers. The company plans to introduce more mass products, which account for more than 80% of the country's room AC market.

1. Home segment
2. Offices and factories segment
3. Water purification (households) market in UAE is slowly becoming competitive with the introduction of Aquaguard in a big way. Zero-B is another brand which has been in the market for the last few years. It also offers portable models (tumblers). New brands are also entering the market. Aquapen, a pocket-sized water purifier was launched in 1997 at a cost of AED 120. The product works on a 6V battery and has a LED indicator which flashes every five seconds to indicate the product is operational. The purification process lasts for about 50 seconds. A battery lasts for about 5000 glasses. The company planned to retail the product at around 50,000 outlets and had planned an advertising budget of AED 2 million. Taking into account, the other brands in this market, formulate a detailed marketing plan for Aquapen addressing the following issues:
4. What will be its positioning?
5. Comment on the distribution strategy.

Increasing Consumer Awareness about Mushrooms

21. Boroline antiseptic cream has come a long way since its launch in the pre-Independence era, in 1929: the winter cream that hails from West Bengal has, over the years, become a family brand trusted by generations. It has enjoyed a long period of intense monopoly in East India, has survived stiff competition from international brands and me-toos, and been part of the Superbrands India list for 2018 - 19. All this has been accomplished with minimal alteration in its look/packaging and a wholesale driven strategy for a long time. Boroline has a strong penetration in East Indian markets such as West Bengal, Assam and Orissa. In its initial years, word of mouth is what made the brand popular of course, this was helped by the fact that back in 1929, it was perhaps the only cream of its type available. In the 1950s, Boroline eyed its communication in an organised way, with the strapline 'Tender Face Cream' (positioned as a cosmetic face cream).In the '60s, customer feedback made the company realise there was a change in the way the product was being consumed –it was graduating from a face cream to a multi-purpose cream for the skin, particularly for curing intense dryness, and the brand then represented 'Boroline for the skin. The skin needs Boroline'. Print and radio heavy advertising dominated this period. During the '60s, Boroline became a national brand from a purely East - driven one. Since then, it has been advertised in many major Indian languages. The '70s saw the brand becoming more aggressive, with 'Boroline has no substitute', while in the early '80s, it moved beyond a purely cosmetic purpose and became 'The hard working cream that protects your skin'. Later into the decade, it shifted gears with 'In a world full of surprises, thank goodness you can count on Boroline'.

22. With the emergence of aggressive competition (particularly sophisticated me-too brands) in the '90s, Boroline asserted its position with 'The Original'. "Yes, there was a setback in this period due to me - too products. But the efficacy of the product and our loyal user base helped us get out of the hard times," Debashis Dutta, managing director, GD Pharmaceuticals, tells. From a peak market share of 95% to its 20% market share today confined only to antiseptic creams what has been the reason of boroline‘s debacle.

a. What suggestions will you make to the brand for promotions?

b. Prepare a print Advertisement for the firm to attract the lost market?