Steps in Writing a Marketing Plan
The To’ak Chocolates were founded by two people one of American origin called Jerry Toth and one Australian man called Carl Schweizer. The To’ak is one of the chocolates that originates from the Nacional Cacao trees. The native place of these trees is in the Ecuador, South America. The trees produce the nuts are processed to make the chocolates. During the processing, the nuts are crushed then taken through fermentation and dry installation to produce the chocolates. The price of To’ak Chocolates is about $260 per 50 grams of this product (Toakchocolate.com, 2017). The chocolates started in a small area and had later grown to reach many people in the world, and there is need to understand the market and ensure that the product remains fit in the industry.
A marketing plan is one of the essential aspects that drive businesses to success. This paper presents a marketing plan for To’ak Chocolates. The plan has an objective of creating To’ak’s brand awareness in Australia to attain a huge market ration. Also, the plan explores the current potential market opportunities that To’ak can use for its success. It analyses the prevailing market conditions of To’ak through the application of SWOT analysis, providing information which is critical for the success of this business. The plan also sets the marketing and financial objectives for this organization which is essential in ensuring that company attains a higher performance level in the market. Further, the plan covers the various marketing mix strategies that the organization can employ for its success. Thus, this marketing plan is critical in helping To’ak attain a higher performance in the market.
SWOT is one of the most powerful tools used to analyze the current market state for the business organization (Wood, 2008). SWOT is an abbreviation for the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats.
Strength refers to the factors within the business organization that helps it to excel and become outstanding over others in the market. There are many strengths that exist in To’ak Chocolates. Firstly, the taste of these chocolates resembles the taste of the vintage wine and aged whiskey. This attracts many people. Also, the chocolates have got an outstanding texture and flavour, thus its likable in the market. Besides, the chocolates have a luxury experience which attracts many customers of all kinds of status in the market. Also, the chocolates are handmade, thus, have become superior to other products in the market (Mintz & Currim, 2013).
These are factors that prevent the organization from performing to its optimal level. Some of the shortcomings of To’ak Chocolates include its lack of units of manufacture in Australia. Also, there is no range of varieties in the products other the conventional chocolate bar. Besides, the To’ak Chocolates are expensive in the market. These factors inhibit the organization from performing to its optimal potential (Luan & Sudhir, 2010).
These are existing factors outside the company that favours it to gain a competitive advantage over others in the industry. Some of the To’ak’s opportunities include its potential to start an outlet in more populated areas. It also has the opportunity of introducing different chocolate shapes other than the bars (Nathalie, Sheida, Davy, Sara, Xavier & Koen, 2017). Besides, the company has an opportunity to offer to give offers and discounts for purchasing the products. Additionally, To’ak has gained popularity in the international market, which is a good opportunity for its success.
SWOT Analysis
These are factors that can cause harm to the company. Some of the threats to To’ak include competition in the industry whereby, the competitors determine the price of chocolate bars. Also, the To’ak Chocolate is taxed, and this threatens its success in the market (Sinapuelas, Wang & Bohlmann, 2015).
The mission refers to an organization’s statement that describes its functions, its market and some of its competitive advantages; thus, it describes the company and why it exists. The mission statement is critical in providing the direction for business organizations. To’ak Chocolates has a mission statement that seeks to transform the way in which the work experience the dark chocolate, by perfecting its making and tasting to another level that resembles that of the vintage and the aged whiskey. This mission has played a critical role in the success of To’ak Chocolates because it defines the company and gives direction why it exists and the primary objective that it wants to achieve in the industry.
The plan has three marketing objectives for To’ak. Firstly, it has a marketing objective of creating the brand awareness of To’ak Chocolates in Australia. This will help the organization increase its market size since it will increase when the consumers become aware. Secondly, To’ak should look forward to establishing market opportunities that exist in the industry. Thirdly, To’ak should have the objective of analyzing the competitive chocolates with those of other players in the Australian market. These objectives are important for To’ak to establish a robust market in the industry.
Regarding the financial objectives, firstly, To’ak aims at increasing in revenue in for the coming six months. The organization’s return can be improved through employing appropriate financial strategies. Secondly, To’ak has an objective of attaining a wider profit margins from the business, whereby, the company can reap huge profits out of business. Thirdly, the financial objective for To’ak is to attain bigger cash flow. In the coming six-month period, To’ak should be better positioned to increase its cash flows by a reasonable amount from its current state. Therefore, is clear that financial objectives are closely tied to the marketing objectives of the organization, since achieving the marketing objectives directly influences the financial objectives of the organization.
The marketing mix strategies refer to the tactical tools that the organization can use to reach and impact the target market effectively. The strategy is also called the 4P’s strategy and entails the Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. These factors are important for the organization to effectively reach and satisfy the market conditions (Hartmann, Nair & Narayanan, 2011).
The place refers to the actual point where the business transaction takes place. To’ak need to consider the place in terms of having the direct sales plan, retail and wholesale of the chocolates to ensure that many potential customers can access the products. Besides, the company should consider e-commerce where the customers can order for its chocolate products online using the E-commerce system. As an emphasis, there is a need for To’ak to consider integrating E-Commerce above other place strategies. This is because currently, most of the market is found in the digital market (Maggon & Harish, 2015).
Mission
The product as part of the 4Ps refers to the commodity that is being sold. The Chocolate bars as the product of To’ak should take essential characteristics to make them robust in the market. They should be of a high quality above other products, and of high value to ensure that the customers get their desired product value. Also, there is need to consider the packaging and branding of the chocolates. They should be packaged in the best way possible and at the same time branded well in the market to ensure that it communicates the To’ak’s brand name (Lee & Law, 2012).
This refers to the activities that company can take to ensure that the product becomes known to the consumers. To’ak should adopt the offers and discount plans as a way to promote its chocolate bars in the market. Also, the organization should embrace the announcements to broadcast information to the target market audience. Besides, the company should adopt the use of data-driven marketing which is important in the current world (Kim, Hayes, Avant & Reid, 2014).
The price refers to the product’s monetary value. It is important for To’ak to ensure that it determines the price of chocolates to make sure that the price is not set too high to scare the customers nor too low for the company to go at a loss. Thus, the chocolates should be worth the price yet profitable to the enterprise (Chase, Mackillop & Hogarth, 2013).
The action plan for the To’ak chocolates to achieve its marketing and financial objectives entail a series of activities of reforms in the company’s 4P’s strategies. Firstly, regarding the product, there is a need for the organization to consider producing the chocolates of various quantities so that people of all calibers can afford to buy their suitable quantities. Also, the products should be branded to get more people to see and know them. Concerning the price, the company should take an action program to ensure that it makes a maximum profit which is an essential aspect for achieving the financial objectives of the organization (Kumar, Sharma & Gupta, 2017).
Besides, To’ak should take action plans on the place factor. The best place strategy that can help the organization achieve its six-month marketing and financial objectives is through the integration of the digital sources. The products should be available online all the time through E-Commerce to reach a huge customer community online. Lastly, concerning promotion, there is a need for To’ak to consider adopting digital methods. Adverts should run on Facebook, Twitter and social sites (Langford. & Panter, 2013). This is the modern way of reaching many people. Therefore, when these action plans are put in place, To’ak is likely to achieve its marketing and financial objectives.
These are the activities that help to ensure that the organization meets its marketing goals. Successful implementation of To’ak’s marketing plan entails organizing and directing the people involved to make sure that all the planned activities are conducted in most efficient way possible (Stein, Wilson, Koffarnus, Judd & Bickel, 2017). There should be clear and detailed activities that will be conducted during the implementation, and the specific people responsible for these activities. Besides, there must be a clear information about all the resources required for the endeavor (Perreault, 2010). Additionally, To’ak should have a mechanism of control during the execution of the plan. this could be through monitoring and evaluation activities among many others. Therefore, if To’ak adopts these strategies, there is a likelihood of its success in implementing the plan.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the marketing plan is critical to the success of business organizations. In developing an effective marketing plan, there is need to establish the business environment which is essential in providing information essential in decision-making. The marketing strategies are also important in attaining the marketing and financial objectives. For the success in implementing the plan, there is a need for the organization to take effective action programs and strategies. Therefore, if actions are laid in place, the company is likely to succeed in implementing the marketing plan.
References:
Chase, H., Mackillop, J. & Hogarth, L. (2013). Isolating behavioral economic indices of the demand in relation to the nicotine dependence, Psychopharmacology, Vol. 226(2), pp. 371-80.
Hartmann, W., Nair, H. & Narayanan, S. (2011). Identifying Casual Marketing Mix Effects Using a Regression Discontinuity Design, Marketing Science, Vol. 30(6), pp. 1079-1097.
Kim, K., Hayes, J., Avant, J. & Reid, L. (2014). Trends in Advertising Research: A Longitudinal Analysis of Leading Advertising, Marketing, and Communication Journals, 1980 to 2010, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 43(3), pp. 296-316.
Kumar, V., Sharma, A. & Gupta, S. (2017). Accessing the influence of the strategic marketing research on the generating impact: Moderating roles of models, journals, and estimation approaches, Academy of Marketing Science Journal, 45(2), 164-185.
Langford, R. & Panter, C. (2013). A health equity critique of the social marketing: Where interventions have an impact but insufficient reach, Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 83, pp. 133.
Lee, H. & Law, R. (2012). Diversity in the Statistical Research Techniques: An Analysis of the Refereed Research Articles in the Journal of the Travel & Tourism Marketing Between 1992 and 2010, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Vol. 29(1), pp. 1-17.
Luan, Y. & Sudhir, K. (2010), Forecasting Marketing-Mix Responsiveness for the New Products, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 47(3), pp. 444.
Maggon, M. & Harish, C. (2015). Revisiting The Relationship Marketing and the Customer Relationship Management in the Leading Tourism and the Hospitality Journals: Research Trends From 2001 to 2013, Journal of Relationship Marketing, Vol. 14(1), pp. 53-77.
Mintz, O. & Currim, I. (2013). What Drives Managerial Use of Marketing and Financial Metrics and Does Metric Use Affect Performance of Marketing-Mix Activities? Journal of Marketing, Vol. 77(2), pp. 17.
Nathalie, D., Sheida, K., Davy, V., Sara, D., Xavier, G. & Koen, D. (2017). The functionality of cocoa butter equivalents in chocolate products, European Food Research and Technology, Vol. 243(2), pp. 309-321.
Perreault, W. (2010). Essentials of marketing: A marketing strategy planning approach
Sinapuelas, I., Wang, H. & Bohlmann, J. (2015), The interplay of innovation, brand, and marketing mix variables in line extensions, Academy of Marketing Science Journal, Vol. 43(5), pp. 558-573.
Stein, J., Wilson, A., Koffarnus, M., Judd, M. & Bickel, W. (2017). Naturalistic assessment of demand for the cigarettes, snus, and nicotine gum, Psychopharmacology, Vol. 234(2), pp. 245-254.
Toakchocolate.com. (2017). To’ak Chocolate. [online] Available at: https://toakchocolate.com/ [Accessed 24 Sept. 2017].
Wood, M. (2008). The marketing plan handbook. Pearson Prentice Hall
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
