Marketing Plan For Toms Chocolate In Sri Lanka Essay.

Part A - International Market Entry Plan - Group presentation 

It involves a market analysis based on the Toms Business Case (available on Moodle).
Given the information about Toms’ strategy, objectives, and product portfolio provided in the Case Study, student teams will be allocated one potential (international) target marke and evaluate the market’s attractiveness for entry.

Each group is to prepare an International Market Research report containing all the information you have been able to gather about the i) macro environment of the country you are investigating (PESTLE) and ii) specific information about the market (industry and competitors) in which the company will enter/compete.

Part B – International Market Entry Strategy – Group Written Report 
Group International Marketing written report involves a market entry strategy for Toms Chocolate based on the decisions. Based on their market analysis, students are to design a creative marketing plan for this market that takes into consideration the economic, political, legal and, more importantly, cultural constraints of a particular country . 

This report is the marketing plan for famous chocolate company named Toms Chocolate. The company is famous in the confectionary industry due to its tasty and quality chocolate products in the market. Now, the company is seeking for the business expansion in the confectionary market of Sri Lanka. This is the new market for the company so, it is important for Toms Chocolate to prepare effective marketing strategies and plan to attract the customers and stay competitive in the market. The report focuses on the products of the company, target market, communication objective i.e. integrated marketing communication, increasing brand awareness, etc, effective strategy for communication plan, designing massage and media strategy, financial plan and evaluation of overall tactics. The report is focused on developing the integrated marketing communication plan for the company Toms Chocolate in Sri Lankan market (Toms, 2017).

Generally in Sri Lanka, Chocolate is consumed as the snacks, given as a gift and used during the festive period. The chocolate market of Sri Lanka is very competitive and it includes multipart customer base. It means, customers have information about varieties of chocolates, ingredients of chocolates and companies which provide chocolates. In case of Toms Chocolate, company is entering in the Sri Lankan market and there is the need to attract the customers based on quality products (Appleton et al, 2011). It is observed that Sri Lankan Chocolate market is highly competitive and there are various established companies having varieties of chocolates for the customers. Famous Chocolate provider companies in Sri Lanka are Ritz Burry, Kandos, Edna and Cadbury. In order to stay competitive in the market, Toms Chocolate will provide values and benefits with its products. Company will identify the requirements of the consumers and then will provide the chocolate products accordingly (Armstrong & Cunningham, 2012). The value propositions of Toms Chocolate are as follows:

Good taste- Most of the customers in the market expect out of a chocolate product is good taste. Toms Chocolate will identify this need of the customers and provide chocolates with natural cocoa taste consistently.

Nutritious- Customers are now health conscious. In the modern society, most of the customers are concerned about nutritious level in the products when they are purchasing or consuming the chocolates. So, Toms Chocolate will provide essential nutritious requirements in the chocolates for the consumers. Along with this, Toms Chocolates will be beneficial for the health of the customers (Martínez, 2012).

Fulfillments of required standards- Customers are always expecting that companies follow the required standards of Sri Lankan Chocolate industry. Toms Chocolate will fulfill the international as well as local standards in the business such as Sri Lanka standards (SLS), ISO and HACCP.

Attractive designs- Design is the important part of the Chocolate. The reason is that some people use chocolate as the gifts. So, Toms Chocolate will basically target kids as the consumer group for chocolate and the packaging will be attractive for the chocolate products.

Market segmentation can be defined as dividing the market into minor group based on characteristics, needs or behavior who might need separate products or marketing mixes. In the simple words, term ‘marketing segmentation’ refers to breaking the market along with similarity, commonality or affiliation. Toms Chocolate will focus on youth for the chocolate products. The segmentation of Toms Chocolate will be based on four factors. The basis on which Toms Chocolate segmentation has been done in Sri Lanka is as follows:

Market segmentation

Toms Chocolate will divide the country into two segments i.e. Northern and Southern. The Southern Segments use the most amounts of chocolates and preferred milk and caramel chocolate. On the other way, in the northern region, people use chocolate sticks and slices in higher quantities. Further, Toms Chocolate will segment the cities based on size and number of populations. Company will offer more products which cities have high population. Toms Chocolate has been using all its resources on appealing to the population living in urban areas. Because of inadequate resources, the company assumes that redirecting resources to the rustic areas will not be gainful (Bickhoff, Hollensen, & Opresnik, 2014).

In the segmentation, Toms Chocolate will segment its market demographically well. Toms Chocolate will try to segment every age group, region, families, gender and various socio-economic factors. Basically, company will focus on the age group and income. Company will also focus on the youth and children as they love chocolates in different flavors and tastes. So, Toms Chocolate will focus on various advertisements to attract children and youth.

Chocolate is the product for the affluent segment of the society. So, Toms Chocolate will target the customers based on psychographic segmentation. In this segmentation, company will focus on the middle-class consumers in Sri Lanka. Toms Chocolate will target such a large segment with Gold Bar, Toms Festival, Chocolate Sticks and G&J Chocolate slices. The customers will get an economical benefits as well as quality products from Toms Chocolate. Further, people believe that the consumption of quality chocolate is the indicator of their prosperous and rich standard of living. Potential customers will be assessed to be individuals with the active lifestyles. Toms Chocolate will also present its products with the brand personality among its potential customers. There are some personality traits of Toms Chocolate i.e. positive, confident, achievement-oriented, success, dynamic and optimistic (Chernev, 2015).

Under this segmentation, there are various traits like benefits, user status, usage rate and purchasing occasion. The users of Toms Chocolate can be classified as ‘people who want taste in chocolate’ and ‘those want to start their day with positivity’ etc. Further, market for Toms Chocolate will be segmented into non-users, potential users, first time users and regular users of chocolate. Along with this, Toms Chocolate will segment the market into heavy chocolate consumers, medium to light consumers. Toms Chocolate will try to capture heavy to medium customers for the products. At last, Toms Chocolate will promote its products as ideal for all occasions and important days i.e. New Year or Valentine Day etc (Peñaloza, Toulouse & Visconti, 2013).

Market positioning for the company can be described as the management of the brand to develop positive perception among the customers in the market. If a product is well established in the operating market then it will have strong growth and success in the market. Position statement for Toms Chocolate will be ‘The taste that will never forget’. The products of Toms Chocolate will provide maximum taste and high nutritious to the customers along with natural cocoa. By the taste of natural cocoa, the customers can feel the taste of real chocolate only from Toms Chocolate (Ries, 2001).

Integrated Marketing Communication Plan

Toms Chocolate has various flavors of chocolates and Jellies that attract most of the customers and ensures high quality and flavor of the products. In the product range of Tom’s chocolate, there are chocolate, liquor, Jellies, Dragee, Marzipan and sweets without added sugar. Company uses local and high level techniques in the manufacturing process of chocolate. Along with this, the company has also designed the store and promoted the products successfully.

Product line- Toms Chocolate is accessible in wide range of types and flavors. However, a small product line will be launched into the Sri Lankan market during the first 5 years. The product range comprises Toms Gold Caramel, Giant Turtle, Gold Bar, Toms Festival, Chocolate Sticks and G&J Chocolate slices.

Unique product quality- Toms Chocolate has quality of its rich flavor and use of cocoa beans in the manufacturing of the chocolates. Company transforms it using an exclusive formula that provides the chocolate including Caramel flavor.

Packaging- Toms Chocolates are wrapped up in the attractive colored including animated and bold imitations of the chocolates on the packages. Along with this, packaging materials hold high standard of environmentally sustainable practices. Toms Chocolates has changed the resources and cardboard superiority in the chocolate boxes in order to use more ecological resources (Beneke, Floyd, Rono & Sherwood, 2015).

After opening the stores in the confectionary market of Sri Lanka, the objective of Toms Chocolate is to gain market share, survival and return on investment. By achieving these objectives, the business of Toms Chocolate will be profitable in Sri Lanka. Keeping these goals in the mind, company will choose prices for the new target market. With the effective pricing strategy, Toms Chocolate will be able to stay competitive in the market. By not being immensely below the market price, company will be able to receive as much possible income while remaining competitive (Peck et al, 2013). Initially, Company will keep the prices of the chocolates low so that more and more customers can be targeted. For the high quality of milk chocolates, company will keep the prices little high but the prices of the products will be reasonable and affordable to everyone in the market. The prices of the chocolate products will be kept in such manner so that the regular customer will stick to them and can increase the number of the customers. Since Toms Chocolate is famous company and all the prices of the products are not the same depending on the economies of one’s country (Ghuman, 2010).

The objective of communication strategy is to promote the brand name of the company products and create brand loyalty for the Toms Chocolate’s products. Further, the objective is to encourage repeated and multiple purchase of the products of the company. Along with this, aim is to promote the sales of the products and increase the market share in the Sri Lanka market.

The main branding and communication channels for Toms Chocolate in the Sri Lanka market will be stores, end of aisle displays, print advertising and distribution discounts. All the branding items will have the pictures of delicious and tasty chocolates.

In-Store- In-Store promotions by Toms Chocolate will be used in various grocery stores in Sri Lanka. The promotion will include various attractive offers for the customers such as buy one get one free (BOGO), and 10% to 20% discounts on the chocolate bars. Along with this, the promotions will take place in every two months in order to enhance the awareness of the brands and purchases in Sri Lanka (Turnbull & Valla, 2013).

End of aisle displays- These displays will be put up in the famous grocery stores in the target market of Sri Lanka. These displays will include all the chocolate products i.e. Toms Gold Caramel, Giant Turtle, Gold Bar, Toms Festival, Chocolate Sticks and G&J Chocolate slices at the affordable prices. This will enhance customers’ purchases and acquisition in the market.

Free samples- In order to make the customers aware about the chocolate products, Toms Chocolate will have representatives in all the grocery stores. Those representatives will give taste samples to the possible consumers for five months. It is observed that customers are most likely to purchase a new chocolate brand if they get free sample of the product. The free samples of the chocolate will be provided on the regular basis in order to increase the purchases of the products (Terpstra, Foley & Sarathy, 2011).

Discounts- In order to promote the chocolate by Toms Chocolate in the correct places, the company will provide discount to confectionary wholesalers on the products. The confectionary wholesalers are responsible for 77% of the chocolate markets in Sri Lanka, making it the main controller. If the wholesaler are purchasing at 400 bars of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and caramel bars then Toms Chocolate will provide 350 bars of peppermint at a 40% discounted price.

Print media- In order to elevate knowledge about Toms Chocolate in Sri Lanka, the company will promote in the trendy magazines by which women customers can be targeted.  Based on the customer analysis in the market of Sri Lanka, it is observed that female customers are more interested in the new products which are helpful to enforce the advertising decisions (Pavlou & Stewart, 2015).

Further, there are various ways to promote the products of Toms Chocolate in order to achieve the objectives of sales targets. The objectives can be achieved by the advertisements including print, broadcast, internet, outdoor and other forms. Toms Chocolate has its own website for the customers to get information about the products. People who love chocolates and want to know anything related to chocolates will be able to get information. Toms Chocolate will use various public relations including special events, sponsorship, press releases and web pages etc in order to enhance the brand awareness among the customers (Vakratsas, Demetrios  & Ma, 2005).

The marketing strategy is Toms Chocolate is to ensure total returns of about Rupee 1.5 million annually in Sri Lanka which will be used back for the development and development of the product in the market. By the analysis of net profit, the financial success of the company can be measured every year. The total number of sale will be used to analyze the success of the marketing ideas taken by Toms Chocolate (Pride & Ferrel, 2008). Budget limitation of the marketing and communication tools is given below.

Evaluation of the campaign can be done in parts, before the campaign, at the time of campaign process and after the campaign. The first evaluation includes testing of concepts. This gives the rough idea of campaign and will ensure that the idea of campaign is right or not. In the concept testing, IMC campaign will be run in some markets by the company and the responses of the customers will be observed. This evaluation will be take place before the campaign. During the campaign, the concurrent testing will be take place. In this testing, the performance of the campaign and message given in the campaign will be observed. After the campaign, evaluate testing will be take place. In this testing, the result of campaigned will be observed. By this testing, it will be observed that the campaign is successful to achieve the objective or not. The success or failure of IMC program is evaluated by this method (Keegan, 2002).

Under this strategy, Toms Chocolate will try to enhance the market share within next 5 years either by selling more products to established customers or by finding new customers within existing market. For this manner, company will use promotional strategies. Because of incredible strength of Toms Chocolate’s brand, the company has been able to utilize the market penetration on the annual basis by developing an association with various events to increase the sales in the festive periods. Every year, company will develop attractive chocolate products till 5 years to stay competitive in the Sri Lankan market.

Conclusion: 

To sum up, from the above discussion, it has been observed that the company Toms Chocolate is the leading chocolate producing company and seeking for the business expansion in the Sri Lankan market. These products can be taken as the nutritious fulfill the requirements of the customers in the market. It has been observed that the company will be successful in the new market due to proper marketing and communication strategy. So, it is very necessary to develop marketing strategy and integrated marketing communication plan which will be helpful for the company to retain the market position. The IMC plan includes the online marketing, channel broadcasting, events and hoardings. These processes will help the company to increase awareness of products and services among the customers. Thus, this campaign will helpful for Toms Chocolate to gain its objectives.

References: 

Appleton, K., Mckeever, N., Woodside, J. and Mckeown, P., (2011), Biscuits, chocolate and fruit snacks: Effects on hunger and food intake: Appetite, 57(2), p.544

Armstrong, G., & Cunningham, M. H., (2012), Principles of marketing, Australia: Pearson publication

Beneke, J., Floyd, V., Rono, C. and Sherwood, K., (2015), Chocolate, Colour and Consideration: An Exploratory Study of Consumer Response to Packaging Variation in the South African Confectionery Sector: IJMS, 7(1)

Bickhoff, N., Hollensen, S., & Opresnik, M., (2014), The Quintessence of Marketing: Strategic and Operative Marketing Planning—Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning. pp. 47-11

Chernev, A., (2015), The Marketing Plan Handbook (4^th), NY: Cerebellum Press

Ghuman, K., (2010), Management: Concepts, Practice & Cases, USA: Tata McGraw-Hill Education

Keegan, (2002), Global Marketing Management, IND: Pearson Education India

Martínez, P., (2012), The Consumer Mind: Brand Perception and the Implications for Marketers, USA: Kogan Page Ltd

Pavlou, P. A., & Stewart, D. W., (2015), Interactive Advertising: A New Conceptual Framework Towards Integrating Elements of the Marketing Mix, pp. 218-222

Peck, H., Christopher, M., Clark, M., & Payne, A., (2013), Relationship Marketing, Burlington: Linacre house, Jordon hill

Peñaloza, L., Toulouse, N., & Visconti, L. M., (2013), Marketing management: A cultural perspective, USA: Routledge

Pride, W. & Ferrel, (2008), Marketing, USA: Cengage LearningRies, A., (2001), Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind, India: Tata McGraw-Hill Education

Terpstra, V., Foley, J., & Sarathy, R. (2011),  International marketing, Naper Publishing

Toms, (2017), Quality chocolate since 1924, accessed on 7^th December 2017 from https://tomsgroup.com/en/toms-products/Chocolate/

Turnbull, P. W., & Valla, J. P., (2013), Strategies for international industrial marketing, USA: Croom Helm

Vakratsas, Demetrios  & Ma, Z.,  (2005), A Look at the Long-run Effectiveness of Multimedia Advertising and Its Implications for Budget Allocation Decisions: Journal of Advertising Research, 45 (2), pp. 241–54