Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing plan - Essay Example The third objective is to increase customer loyalty significantly and turn at least 30 percent of its customers into repeat customer during the season. The company will use television advertisements, bill boards, and social media to market its brand to its main target market which is the young population of Hull City. The strategy of market penetration will be adopted by the company to increase its market share. The company will also use the occasion of Christmas and the tradition of gift giving in its marketing messages to the young population of Hull City. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 SWOT Analysis 4 Marketing Objectives 5 Target Markets 6 Product Offering 7 Brand Positioning 8 Marketing Strategies 9 Consumer Behavior 9 Marketing Mix for the Marketing Strategy 10 Implementation and Control 13 Budget 14 Appendix 16 Figure 2: Balance Scorecard of Chocolate Industry UK 17 Source: Trading Vision 17 Introduction The Christmas season is good for the retail industr y as it is a season where people exchange gifts. The season offer immense opportunities for businesses all over United Kingdom. Chocolate industry like other similar industries also experience significant increase in sales in the Christmas season (Holmes, 2009). Thorntons is a famous chocolate company of United Kingdom having presence all over the country (Thorntons, 2012). ... A detailed budget will also be presented in the marketing plan. In the marketing plan specific steps will be discussed that the company can use to increase its sales in the Hull City. The marketing plan will aim at increasing the sales of the company in the Christmas season. SWOT Analysis s Strengths Weaknesses Established Brand Name (See figure 2 in Appendix) Rich History Established Infrastructure in Markets Good Public Image Reduced Sales Confused Pricing Strategy Consistent Profitability issues Issues in Distribution Opportunities Threats Growing Chocolate Industry Young population of Hull City Seasons like Christmas and Easter Governmental regulation regarding food marketing and chocolate sizes Increasing competition in the industry Ethical issues reading Cocoa farmers Marketing Objectives The main marketing objective of Thorntons is to increase its sales in the Christmas season in the Hull City. As discussed above the sales of chocolate increase significantly in the Christmas s eason (Sweet Retailing, 2011) and therefore the company has a vast market in front of it. Thorntons should follow the strategy of market penetration in order to increase its sales in the Christmas season. Market penetration strategy helps the company increase its market share (Proctor, 2000). The strategy of market penetration is very appropriate for the company at this particular point because its overall sales are reducing and this strategy will help the company remedy this weakness. The company also has a rich history and well established brand name in the market and it can use it to attract more sales. The company should have three specific marketing objectives. The first objective should be to increase its sales by at least 25 percent from October to December. This is