Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Marketing plan - Essay Example It should consider launching CIF in China keeping in mind the local tastes, culture and consumer habits. The short- and long-term marketing strategy have been suggested while also defining the control measures. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Marketing Audit 1 2.1 SWOT ANALYSIS – internal environment of Unilever 2 2.2 PESTEL Analysis 3 3. Marketing Objectives 6 4. Market Mix Analysis 4.1 Segmentation 6 4.2 Targeting 7 4.3 Positioning 7 5. Market entry 8 6. Implementation strategy 9 7. Gantt Chart 12 8. Contingencies and Controls 14 References 15 Appendices 18 1. Introduction Unilever, one of the world’s leading FMCG companies, headquartered in London, offers products across several categories including foods, home, and personal products (Datamonitor, 2010). Unilever’s strategic priorities are the developing and emerging economies. The company has a diversified product portfolio as well as a wide geographical reach which explains diverse revenue streams. It has a strong portfolio of over 400 brands. Approximately 49% of its revenues in FY2009 came from emerging economies. This gives the company the confidence to tap new opportunities in the existing emerging economies. While Unilever has a strong presence in China as is evident from their sales figures between 2004 and 2007 (Appendix A), they would like to introduce a new product in China – CIF dishwashing liquid. ... The Chinese FMCG market enjoys a balanced development both in the food and the non-food categories (Ryan, 2004). Despite the growth in the FMCG sector in China fueled by strong economic performance and higher disposable income, the sector is fragmented and still developing. An in-depth study of the competitive environment and consumer demand in the respective FMCG sector has to be conducted to understand the dynamics of that sector. These would include and understanding of the price dynamics, trade distribution, and consumption patterns (Moodle, 2005)). Thus, based on marketing audit, the short- and long-term marketing plan would be drawn up. 2. Marketing Audit The Chinese consumers demonstrate brand loyalty when it comes to foreign goods. However, marketing in developing economies differs from marketing the same product in developed in developed countries. International marketing requires the right business strategy and revolves around being competitive. The strategy can be devised after an assessment of the internal and the external business environment. The international marketing strategy has to depend upon the product characteristics, the time of entry, the consumer characteristics and the brand reputation (Ferner & Varul, 2000). Other factors that influence the marketing strategy include the differences in the culture, political stability, demographics, customer needs and government regulations. The business environment is constantly changing and marketing audit reviews the current situation based on which the marketing strategy can be devised. 2.1 SWOT ANALYSIS – internal environment of Unilever Strengths Unilever is a leading company dealing in FMCG with 270 manufacturing facilities across six