Product Lifecycle and Marketing Strategy
Biscuits are FMCG products which are fast moving consumer goods. They are food products which are baked from flour. These products come in different varieties. There are several companies which sell biscuits and there is intense competition between these companies. The presence of several companies who are selling similar products have made the market highly competitive in nature and have pushed the companies to give their best to regain their customers and also gain new ones. The companies find different marketing strategies so that they are able to produce and market their products in a better way than their competitors and that the consumers are attracted towards their products instead of their competitors. This study will focus on one company and the issues that they are facing with customer loyalty. The report will critically analyse the current marketing strategy of the company and the different strategies that could be used by them to ensure a good marketing of their product in the market among the customers. The report will further critically analyse the marketing communication mix and how it can be implanted in the company. The study will finally provide certain recommendations for the company which will help them to maintain their position in the market.
The fast-moving consumer goods industry is a rapidly changing industry and a competitive one at that. To survive in this industry it is of utmost importance for the companies selling these products to develop a marketing strategy to maintain their foothold in the market and to ensure that they are able to survive in the industry amongst the competition (van der Zanden et al. 2014). Every product that is available in the market goes through certain stages which determines their status and existence in the market. Sharma (2013) states that product life cycle shows the different stages that of a product since it has been introduced in the market. The product life cycle has four stages which are introduction, growth, maturity and growth (Rosemann and vom Brocke 2015). The introduction stage is the initial stage of the product when it is introduced in the market. The next stage is the growth stage where the product expands and grows into the market (Akan, Ata and Savaskan-Ebert 2013). This is the most important stage in the life of a product. In this stage, the company has to adapt to different strategies to establish their product among a huge customer base and to expand their business. This is the stage where the customers will try the product and decide if they like or dislike the product. The next stage is the maturity stage. In this stage, the product has reached a certain level in the market and comfortable position in the market after being in operation for a moderately long time. In this stage, the companies have loyal customers who also bring in new ones in their own way (Ahi and Searcy 2013). The last stage of the product lifecycle is a decline, this is the last stage where the product is declining from their position. This happens due to many reasons one of which could be the lack of proper strategies to keep the customers involved in the product or the emergence of better products in the market especially substitutes products (Solomon et al. 2014).
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning
To save the products from reaching the last stage it is important for the companies to develop strategies for marketing their products in the proper way which will grab the attention of a huge customer base and will help to be existent in the market for a long time. As stated by Mohd Suki (2013) the most important strategy is the segmentation, targeting and positioning of the product. As in this study, biscuits are a product which is consumed by all individuals. However, even in products which have mass consumption, there is a need for proper segmentation, targeting and positioning (Schlegelmilch 2016). This is needed because even biscuits have large varieties and not all varieties of biscuits are consumed by all kinds of people. Every consumer has their own choice of biscuits based on their taste, preference, income and other factors. Kahn (2013) also states that the segmentation of the population have to do in such a way that every group is segmented according to the variety of biscuits that they prefer. The demographic and psychographic factors come into account for the segmentation where the population is divided based on their age, gender, income, buying the practice and other factors. The targeting of the segmented population would be done on the basis of the different varieties of biscuits that are most preferred by the consumers (Diamantopoulos et al. 2014). Moreover, Erragcha and Romdhane (2014) propose that the positioning of the product is the most important factor in the marketing strategy which determines the success or the failure of the product. The proper positioning of the product among the correct customers will help in the maximum sales and consumption of the biscuits (Venter, Wright and Dibb 2015). For example, if a branded biscuit product which is expensive is positioned in an area where middle-class people reside it will be a failure since the middle-class people would not consume the product on a daily basis.
The current strategy is to target kids for biscuits which come in snacks variety and different flavours since kids are attracted to these kinds of biscuits. For people who are health conscious, there are different kinds of diet biscuits which would be liked by them. For aged people and working group, normal biscuits of wheat are preferable and also other additional snacks which they can consume in their free time. The marketing strategy or the marketing plan which would be developed by the company has to be implemented correctly for the plan to work and sustain for a long time. Sagala et al. (2014) stated that the elements of marketing communication which are also known as the promotion mix is used to implement the plan. There are five elements in the marketing communications mix which are personal selling, direct marketing, advertising, public relations and sales promotion. Khan (2014) describes personal selling is the way of connecting with the customers personally to increase the sales and build strong relationships with the customers. Often salesmen go to different houses when any new variety of biscuit is launched by any new company and give offers for the purchase of the product. Direct marketing is also a part of personal selling where individuals are targeted and sales are initiated and also customer relationships are formed. This is also done in cases of new arrivals in biscuit products.
Marketing Communication Mix
Advertising is a paid form of presentation which is non-personal and which is initiated to target a large base of customers together (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014). Advertising promotes different ideas of the product and is designed in a way which attracts the customers and urges them to use or consume the product. There is a different advertisement of biscuits which are developed according to the kind of biscuit which is being advertised and the target customers and their preference. If the kids are targeted then the advertisement will hold cartoon and animated images which will grab the attention of the children. Johnston (2014) describes public relations is the way of building a strong and good relation with the public and building the image of the company so that they continue to consume the product. The rumours of the company relating to the product are dealt in this section by the public relations officer of the company or any public relation agency which is hired by the company to manage such rumours. Even products like biscuits can come under the scrutiny of the public if rumours regarding their manufacturing and ingredients that are used in it. In such cases, the public relations officer of the company would communicate with the crowd and try to explain the reasons for the rumours and promise to solve it as quickly as possible so that the sales of the product are not hampered in any way. Sales promotion would mean giving short incentives through which the sales can be increased. Biscuits are often given as free products with other free products to make it known among the public and to increase their sales. If the consumer likes the biscuit then they can actually purchase the product in the future.
The product would have to expand their reach in the market and develop their products according to their market strategy for them to establish a stronghold in the market. There are several companies of biscuits which would prove to be a strong competitor to each other. Irrespective of the company, the product biscuit is purchased by every individual for their consumption. For them to maintain their hold and to ensure that the consumers are able to purchase the biscuits according to their taste and preference, there are certain recommendations for the company which would help them to maintain their product in the market. Firstly, the biscuit company should try to maintain a good relationship with the customers. This is because the customer relationship is one of the most important factors of a successful marketing strategy. A customer will only purchase the product if they are happy and satisfied with the product quality and the added services that they are getting from the product. The company could give various offers to the customers who purchase the biscuits. To target mass customers, a new slot of biscuits could be started which could a lucky draw and gave gifts to a few chosen customers who received or purchased the lucky draw pack of biscuits. To get the gifts through the lucky draw more people would purchase the biscuits. Moreover, the company could also concentrate on making their personal sales strong so that they are able to personally connect with the customers on different levels. Personal selling could be through the door to door sales for certain new biscuit products which have been developed by the company.
Strategic Recommendations
Secondly, to gain a competitive edge over the other companies in the market, the company would have to develop their products in a much better way and increase the quality that they deliver so that customers would not think of switching their company to another one. Since there are numerous biscuit companies in the world, the only way the company would be able to successfully increase their sales is by providing better quality biscuits than their competitors. The company would also have to provide different varieties of biscuits which would be liked by different segments of people, if the company is able to target almost all segments of the population for selling their biscuits then they would be able to incur more sales and therefore get more profit than their competitors. The price range of the products could also be maintained by the company. This means that along with developing new varieties of biscuits, the company could also set the prices of the biscuits from low to high so that all range of people belonging to different income groups are able to purchase their biscuits. If the company focuses on only one income group then their sales would be restricted and hence they would not be able to grow in the market.
Thirdly, maintaining a clean public image is important for the company. Most of the loss of customers is suffered by the company when some rumours arise about them or their products. Consumers do not like to be associated with companies about whom bad rumours are spreading. This is because there are various choices in the market and consumers often switch to other brands in case a rumour arises about their previous company. Therefore it is the job of the company to maintain their image and the image of the brand so that they do not lose any customers to other companies. They should also ensure that none of their products breaks any safety rules and regulations and became a hazard to the health of their customers since the consumers have placed their trust in the products of the company. Even though there are several other recommendations which would help the company to regain their old customers and get new ones, these three are the basic recommendations which would help the company to get back their position in the market.
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