Green Horse – An Internal Analysis
The use of eco-friendly products are much in vogue these days because of their energy efficiency and material efficiency. Eco friendly goods and services are cost effective and low maintenance too, and create a better and healthier environment in which to live (Leonidou et al., 2013). Green Horse is a well-known eco-product manufacturer in Melbourne, Australia that has been in operation for quite some time now. This report aims at creating a marketing or business plan for Green Horse, which it can use to promote ornamental wooden cutlery and dishes, an innovation on its existing set of wooden dinner plates that is sustainable in nature but which is unable to attract the customer base that it desires because of its dull appearance. To do so the report will carry out a SWOT analysis for Green Horse, following by competitive market positioning, market segmentation and marketing mix. The report concludes with a number of recommendations on how Green Horse can make its new product, the ornamental wooden cutlery and dishes truly stand out in the market.
Strengths – Green Horse produces high quality and sustainable products in a diverse range of areas such as beauty, lifestyle, products for babies and kids and clothing. All of its goods are environmentally sustainable, and are manufactured with the sole intention of conserving and preserving the surrounding environment. The sustainable nature of Green Horse’s products makes them hugely appealing to all and sundry especially to those who are concerned about environmental wellbeing and engage in green living for this purpose (Ko et al., 2013).
Weaknesses – The eco friendly products manufactured by Green Horse are quite expensive, with certain lifestyle products being quite highly priced. Owing to the fact that most if not all of its products are organic in nature, the shelf life of such products is limited too and customers are not able to use them over too extensive a period of time (Baker & Davis, 2014).
Opportunities – More and more people in Australia and in the city of Melbourne in particular are becoming increasingly conscious of environmental wellbeing. Green living is rampant among most Australians today so Green Horse is certain to find takers for whatever product it releases in the market, be it in Melbourne or in any other part of Australia (Barbarossa & De Pelsmacker, 2016).
Threats – There are many companies in Australia that focus heavily on environmental sustainability at the time of manufacturing products, and which specialize in the provision of goods and services that are eco-friendly in nature. Customers in Melbourne and in other parts of Australia therefore have a wide range of options to choose from when looking to buy goods that promote green living. Green Horse has to design and market its new and existing products in a way that these truly stand out and make it clear to buyers that these are worth purchasing in spite of so many other similar options being available in the market (Testa et al., 2015).
Competitive Market Positioning
In order to make its new cutlery and dinner plates attractive to a wide range of customers both in Melbourne and in other parts of Australia, Green Horse will have the new cutlery featured in different types of ornate designs that make them look quite decorative when set out on the dinner table. The new brand of cutlery is made of high quality bamboo wood, making them highly sustainable environmentally. People passionate about environmental wellbeing, and who partake in green living will want to get their hands on such cutlery and dinner plates at the earliest (Lu et al., 2013). The earliest plate of wooden plates and cutlery manufactured and marketed by Green Horse had quite a boring appearance and there were not many takers for these. It is hoped, that the top quality bamboo wood and beautiful designs of the cutlery will enhance their appeal considerably, giving stiff competition to related products that are already in circulation in the market (Diglel & Yazdanifard, 2014).
The decorative cutlery and dinner plates made of high quality bamboo wood will cater to a target audience that is comprised of people aged between their early thirties to mid sixties. Cutlery is in demand at all times of the year and by people of all age groups. The new cutlery and dinner plates that are made available by Green Horse will be quite moderately priced, and should therefore find several takers among people who are aged between thirty and sixty, who must already be well established on the professional front and who have a good purchasing capacity (Haws et al., 2015).
- Innovative Product– The product being marketed is an ornate cutlery and dinner plates set made of high quality bamboo wood. An innovation has been made to Green Horse’s existing set of wooden dinner plates by making it more decorative in appearance and manufacturing it using the best quality bamboo wood, so as to make it more appealing to customers in Australia particular those who advocate and follow a green lifestyle (Jeong et al., 2014).
- Strategic Marketing– The site of marketing activities will be the city of Melbourne itself where Green Horse has its store. Provision will be made so that customers can electronically buy this product from Melbourne as well as from other parts of Australia.
- Affordable Price – Efforts will be made to keep the product as affordably priced as possible so as to cater to people from diverse income backgrounds. A set of cutlery and dinner plates will not cost more than $ 100, thus enabling people of various budgets to be in a position to buy this without feeling a pinch in the pocket.
- Effective Promotion– The promotional activities for the product will be carried out on a number of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter where Green Horse already has a presence. The company is sure to locate many takers for its new product on such platforms given how widely used these are in today’s day and age. Efforts will also be made to promote the product through leaflets that are distributed at shopping malls, local grocery outlets and supermarkets and at coffee shops. The leaflets designed will be colorful and vibrant and will feature large size photos of the dinner plates and cutlery being marketed so that those viewing such leaflets get the right idea about what is being promoted, and what it is that they could possibly be owning, if they buy it (Saini, 2013).
Green Horse will devote $ 20,000 on the promotion of the product on social media platforms. An additional $ 10,000 will be spent on marketing and promoting the product at shopping malls and coffee shops as well as at localized grocery outlets. Based on how well the product performs in the market in the initial stages of being launched, further resources may be allocated for the adequate marketing and promotion of the product.
- Since Green Horse is a company that has environmental sustainability as its focus, it should reach out to non-profit organizations as well as organizations that are specifically concerned about the wellbeing of the market to spread news and information about its new product. By promoting or encouraging the use of such products, these organizations will end up advocating green living indirectly, something that is much desired in an age that is characterized by rapid rates of global warming.
- Efforts should also be made on the part of Green Horse to get its product approved of by the elite sections of society who have a high purchasing power. By doing so, Green Horse can keep its product affordable but enhance its appeal. People of a low income budget may feel a greater inclination to buy the product if they see the rich and the trendy buying it quite willingly.
References
Baker, M. A., Davis, E. A., & Weaver, P. A. (2014). Eco-friendly attitudes, barriers to participation, and differences in behavior at green hotels. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 55(1), 89-99
Barbarossa, C., & De Pelsmacker, P. (2016). Positive and negative antecedents of purchasing eco-friendly products: A comparison between green and non-green consumers. Journal of Business Ethics, 134(2), 229-247.
Diglel, A., & Yazdanifard, R. (2014). Green Marketing: It’ s Influence on Buying Behavior and Attitudes of the Purchasers towards Eco-Friendly Products. Global Journal of Management And Business Research.
Haws, K. L., Winterich, K. P., & Naylor, R. W. (2014). Seeing the world through GREEN?tinted glasses: Green consumption values and responses to environmentally friendly products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(3), 336-354
Jeong, E., Jang, S. S., Day, J., & Ha, S. (2014). The impact of eco-friendly practices on green image and customer attitudes: An investigation in a café setting. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, 10-20.
Ko, E., Hwang, Y. K., & Kim, E. Y. (2013). Green marketing’functions in building corporate image in the retail setting. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1709-1715.
Leonidou, L. C., Katsikeas, C. S., Fotiadis, T. A., & Christodoulides, P. (2013). Antecedents and consequences of an eco-friendly export marketing strategy: The moderating role of foreign public concern and competitive intensity. Journal of International Marketing, 21(3), 22-46
Lu, L., Bock, D., & Joseph, M. (2013). Green marketing: what the Millennials buy. Journal of Business Strategy, 34(6), 3-10.
Saini, B. (2013). Green marketing and its impact on consumer buying behavior. International journal of engineering science invention, 2(2), 61-64.
Testa, F., Iraldo, F., Vaccari, A., & Ferrari, E. (2015). Why eco?labels can be effective marketing tools: Evidence from a study on Italian consumers. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(4), 252-265
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