Consumer Segmentation Of Streets Ice Cream: A Case Analysis

Consumer Segmentation

The concept of marketing management has been concerned to the practices and the approaches which are required to be executed for managing and controlling the marketing activities. The management of marketing has been considered as an integral concept for any of the business organization. It will aid the entity in attaining the marketing objectives and also the accomplishment of the organizational goals will be done. The brand name Streets is an Australian brand which is owned by a British-Dutch company Unilever. Moreover, the entity is also in a long term contract with the multinational business entity Dairy Farmers. The ice cream brand is the part of Unilever’s ice cream brand .i.e. Heart brand.  The below executed analysis has been executed for the Streets Ice cream. The report has been made focused on Paddle Pop which is one of the new products of Streets Ice cream.

Segmentation is the mechanisms which is concerned with the division of the consumers or the markets and is based on some criteria or standards which are specified or set by the business corporation (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2013). The main objective of developing segmentation is to divert the focus of the marketing team and their efforts to a right direction. As segmentation comprises of varied range of strategies and approaches which are developed so as to provide an ease in defining the consumers targets and markets. The term segmentation can also be referred as the division created in the market place into smaller segments which are easily definable, accessible, actionable and profitable and also have a success and growth potential. This approach has been considered as one of the oldest marketing trick which can be adopted by the business entity for creating a division between the consumers. The main reason of implementing segmentation approach is the diversification and also increases in the customer’s perceptions and preferences and also availability of competitive options is increasing. And this is the main reason for Streets ice cream to develop consumer’s segmentation (Terpstra, Foley and Sarathy, 2012). The below is the description of consumers segments which has been developed for Streets Ice cream:

Variable	Consumer group 1 Gym Junkie Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Consumer group 2 Children’s	Consumer group 3 Teenagers	Consumer group 4 Adults	Consumer group 5 Senior citizens	Consumer group 6 Party people
Size of group In (%)	45%	80%	60%	55%	35%	85%
Geographic	Near gyms and main city area	In school canteens	Cafeteria in college campus	Offices and workplace	Near parks	Disco and Pubs
Demographic	18-45 age group	8-18 age groups	18-16 age groups	24-55 age group	Above 55 age group	18- 35 age group
Behavioral	After the exercises	During the lunch time	Any time of the day	After dinner	After dinner	During party time
Frequency of use	Once a day	Not more than one time	Frequency is more and number of consumption is more than any other group	Once a day	The least should be the consumption	Consumption and frequency will be more
Loyalty status	This segment can switch to other brand due to the quality issue	Taste is the only factor which can be considered as relevant for brand loyalty	Taste and price of the product will determine the brand loyalty	The quality, price and taste are the factors which are considered as significant	The frequency is very low	The frequency can be high or low , this vary on the party size or occasion etc.
Attitude	The attitude will be based on the positive components and benefits of the Ice cream	The attitude will be based on the taste	For this component the attitude depends on the mood and also the taste can be compared	The attitude will mainly depend on the benefits and quality	The benefits are the only considered factor on which the attitude can be defined	The taste can be considered as one of the biggest factor which will be considered as significant for attitude
Price conscious	They are not less price conscious	They are not	This segment can be price conscious if the brand is premium	They are price conscious in case of quality	They are price conscious	This segment is not at all price conscious

The primary segments are considered as the highest revenue generators and the most integral part for this segmentation process and also for the target market. From the above presented analysis the children’s, the teenagers and the party people are the major primary consumer segments which are considered as relevant for stimulating the demand for the products of Streets Ice cream (Dunning, 2012). These consumer segments are the highest consumption segments amongst the target market. Moreover the adults, gym junkies and the senior citizens are considered under the secondary target market. These consumer segments have low consumption as compared to the primary target markets.

Question to ask	Problem identification	Information search	Evaluation criteria	Purchase decision	Post purchase behavior
What are they likely to be doing?	Quality issues with the competing brands	Internet sources and official websites	This can be set on some specific factors such as quality and taste of the Streets Ice cream .i.e. Paddle pop	This aspect is based on price and quality of the product	The experience after purchasing the product
Where they are likely to be doing it?
Who will they talk to?	Friends, relatives and the existing consumers	Social media and actively engaged internet users	The reviews and the feedbacks	Friends, relatives and the existing consumers	They will talk to the customer executive for giving their feedbacks
Where they will go for information?	On official websites and various search engines	Search engines such as Google, Yahoo etc.	The existing consumers will be approached	The physical stores that are the ice cream parlors	Share their experience with the friends, relatives
What do they think of your offering in this stage?	Customers thinks that the quality is better as compared to the other rivalry brands	Most of the audience is found active in searching the Streets ice cream .i.e. Paddle Pop	Streets Ice cream provides quality and taste	The consumers were positive	Consumers were satisfied after consumption of Streets Ice cream
Time period (Week months etc.)	1-2 weeks	1 Week	3-4 weeks	3-5 weeks	The behaviors are immediate

Figure 1 Positioning Map

(Source- Positioning map of Streets Ice cream, 2017)

The above presented is the positioning map which has been analyzed for getting aware about the products current position in the market (Zhu and Geng, 2013). The Streets ice cream is situated in the market as appeared in the above positioning map. The nature of the brand isn’t premium, yet it isn’t low. It keeps up ideal nature of the ice cream. The organization likewise keeps up normal valuing technique, which makes the brand open for all areas of populace. The ice cream brand is neither cheap nor costly and henceforth an extensive variety of clients would have the capacity to bear the cost of it.

Primary and Secondary Target Market

The nature of the brand strategy of Walls ice cream is indicative and also the business entity has been offering a wide range of brand components which can be implemented and linked with the various kinds of products which are being offered by the firm (Verbeke, 2013). Existing and new brand elements were used by the business entity while launching its products in the market. One of the existing brand element of the entity included “Paddle Pop”, through which the entity featured an animated character of lion. Moreover, in addition the entity also added a magical theme jingle, which has been used by the business entity so as to influence the children’s. Also the brand entity has been increasing the brand value by promising the target market for receiving fun, delicious and nutrition (Dunning, 2014). The slogan used by the business corporation for attracting the consumers is “Stop me and buy one” which aids the entity in ensuring that the people are convinced for consuming the products even when there is no compulsion of doing that. Moreover, the slogan also aids the entity in preventing the customer to switching over the other brands. This will also ensure the customers brand loyalty. Attractive packaging materials are used by the entity so as to influence the children.

The marketing objectives are considered as the significant and an integral part of the concept and are considered as liable for determining the road map so as to execute the business for the concerned market segment (Baker, 2014). The marketing objectives of the business entity are developed on the basis of the environmental analysis which has been executed after analyzing the earlier assessment. The below mentioned are some of the significant points of the marketing objectives which are considered required to be essentially attained by the business corporation-

Developments and expansions in the target market of the brand and which are required to be focused on the existing customer segments, since it has been observed that there has been growing ageing population in Australia (Chang, 2016).

The business entity has been launching sugar free variants flavors in the ice cream since it has been noted due to the executed analysis that there is an increase in the demand for healthy food products (Chernev, 2014). The same can also be considered as relevant in the case of old age population which is suffering number of issues such as diabetes and others.

The business entity should also try to think to target the international markets which will bring an expansion to number of aspects in the global market for ice creams

The business entity should focus on the contemporary means of promotional tools and mechanisms for internet marketing segment (Coronel, and Morris, 2016). For instance social media can be considered as the most effective medium which will enable thee entity to promote the products to a larger level. The entity should develop a Facebook page so as to focus on the regular updates regarding the store.

Streets Ice cream should also concentrate towards the objective of enhancement in the brand awareness and that to by an increase of 50% and this can be done by offering exciting contests, coupons schemes and rewards etc.

Brand Strategy

Launching organic flavored ice-creams can also be considered as an objective which will aid the entity in increasing the goodwill and popularity (financials.morningstar 2017). As this can be proven favorite among the health seeking customers and the gym junkies.

New product Development program is a plan that is created to develop, examine and consider the feasibility of products and services which are new to marketplace for ensuring the existence and growth of an organization (Hollensen, 2015). When an organization brings its new products and services, it needs to create a product development plan, so that it can effectively introduce its new products. In the given case, Street Ice-creams is introducing its new products, i.e. Paddle Pop Ice-cream. It is developing product mix management for company’s new product. There are different steps, which can be included in product development plan (Inera 2017). The product development plan for Streets Ice-cream is stated below;

Idea Generation

This is the first step of product development plan, in which Street Ice-cream will generate an idea for product development. Under this step, the company will use internal and external sources. Using internal sources, it will conduct research and development in organization. In this, it will consider the employees, sales team etc. In addition, it will utilize external sources, like; competitors, distributors, customers and suppliers (Lusch and Vargo, 2014). In this marketing plan, Street Ice-cream is developing a marketing plan for its new ice-creams. The organization will conduct a research and development to analyze the competitors, market trends and demands and likes of customers. These factors will assist the organization in generating a new and unique idea about new product development.

Idea Screening

After generating different ideas, the company will evaluate the ideas by applying some criteria (Pasquier and Villeneuve, 2017). Under this step, other ideas will be eliminated and best idea will be chosen by the company. It will be pursued by analyzing the business value. Streets Ice-cream will utilize different resources to choose a best alternative.

Concept Development and Examining

Under this step, Streets Ice-cream will develop a product concept for its new ice-cream products. After making research on current market trends and preferences and demands of customers, it will develop a product development concept (Streetsicecream 2017). After developing the concept, it will examine this by asking its target customers. During this step, it will make decision on a specific flavor and taste of ice-creams.

Marketing Strategy Development

In product development plan, it is the most important step that can be used by Streets Ice-cream in developing these products. In this, it will focus on the quality of products. It will offer a wide range of flavors with higher quality (Hollensen, 2015). Moreover, it will introduce a new flavor in the market on lower prices in comparison to its competitors, i.e. Peters, Bulla Dairy and Cole Ice Cream.

Product Designing and Launch

After designing an effective marketing strategy, the organization will develop the product by adopting an effective and systematic process. Streets Ice-cream will develop and design ice-cream according to the results of research and development process. After development, it will release new products into a small representative market, where it can assess the reaction of consumers towards its product mix. In addition, it will conduct a customer interview to focus groups and distribute the ice-cream in trade shows (Meyerson, 2015). Targeting a representative market will be good for Streets ice-cream to test new ice-creams in segment, like children and teenagers.

Marketing of New Products

After designing the products successfully, it is important to develop an effective marketing process to launch the product into market. Under this step, it will establish a budget and promotional expenditure to bring the products to target segment (Hollensen, 2015). Streets Ice-cream will ensure that the products are well positioned and targeted in the respective marketplace.

Thus, this product development plan will assist Streets Ice-cream in developing its well-known brands, like; Paddle Pop. This is a systematic process for developing new products and services.

Integrated marketing communication plan is a program that is created by each and every organization to promote its products to the target market segment (Meyerson, 2015). When a business entity develops its new products and services, it forms an integrated marketing communication plan that includes all the advertising strategies and promotional tools to advertise new products and services to market place.

In order to bring its new ice-cream products to the market, Streets Ice-cream will develop a marketing communication plan that will include different advertising and promotional techniques to approach its target customers (West, Ford and Ibrahim, 2015). The IMC plan for Streets Ice-cream is stated below;

Advertising

Streets Ice-cream is adopting and implementing effective advertising and promotional techniques to entice and attract customers towards its products. It is using both traditional and digital advertising as well. Under these advertising processes, the company will be able to reach to its target market segments.

Traditional advertising

Television

Under traditional advertising, the company will use television, which is major source for advertising and promotion (West, Ford and Ibrahim, 2015). This source of method includes broadcasting the advertisement of ice-cream products with different flavors on these traditional channels, which are very famous in marketplace. This vehicle of media can assist the Streets Ice-cream to approach different people, who are not active on social media sites and internet. This is one-way communication that will be pursued by Streets Ice-cream in making interaction with potential customers and

Radio

Under this method of traditional advertising, the company will choose radio. In this, Streets Ice-cream will choose different radio stations, which are available in the area. These radio stations may be in different languages, like; English and Hindi. It will give advertisement on these radio stations and FM, where people will be able to know about new ice-cream products, like; Paddle Pop.

Print Media

Print media is a primary way to improve the brand awareness of Streets Ice-cream. Through this, people will be able to acquire knowledge about new products and services of company through print media, i.e. magazines and newspapers (Peck et al., 2013). Under this, the company will choose magazines and newspapers that are majorly circulated in different locations. It will give the ads in child magazines to entice target customers. 

Digital advertising

Under digital advertising, Streets Ice-cream will use different methods and sources, so that it can approach the people. There are some sources, which can be used for advertising the products digitally.

Online and Social Media

Adopting social media platforms, like; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube are very important tactics in the promotional campaign of Streets ice-cream. The organization may use e-marketing to advertise ice-creams to Australian population. The company is using this media because today most of the population is engaged in using internet and social media. There are different modes of social networking sites, like; Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc. that can be utilized by Streets ice-cream to advertise its products to public. The company will create a page on Facebook and Instagram, where it will post its products and pictures. E-marketing can be considered as two-way interaction method for Streets Ice-cream. It will assist the organization in retaining and increasing its customer base.

Promotion

Streets Ice-cream is continuously using creative promotional and marketing strategies to enhance its brand name and image. Promotion is the part of its marketing mix strategy to promote its products. Streets Ice-cream is using all the media, like; TV ads, print media and online media to form brand awareness. It is offering different free and discount coupons for increasing its sales and promotion. In addition, the company is developing different promotional campaigns for reaching to its potential customers (Kleinaltenkamp, Plinke and Geiger, 2016). It is opening its physical stores in the locations, where customers can reach easily.

Price Promotion

Promotional pricing is a short-term strategy that is used by the organizations. The companies are using promotional pricing like a way to sustain continuous purchases from buyers. Streets ice-cream organization is using effective pricing strategy that will assist the organization in attracting more customers towards its products. The prices of company are lower than its competitors in the industry. It is offering ice-cream products with better quality and different flavors and tastes. Thus, company is increasing its customer base by adopting effective pricing strategy.

Marketing Expense Budget	Jan	Feb	Nov	Dec	2009	2010
Advertising	$                  5,000	$                   5,000	$        10,000	$       3,000	$     120,000	$              150,000
Catalogs	$              1,000.00	$              1,000.00	$     1,500.00	$   1,000.00	$    5,000.00	$             8,000.00
Websites	$              2,500.00	$              1,800.00	$     1,000.00	$     500.00	$  50,000.00	$           45,000.00
Promotions	$                  50.00	$                   50.00	$     1,500.00	$       50.00	$    1,600.00	$             1,800.00
Shows	$                  10.00	$                   10.00	$          15.00	$       10.00	$    1,500.00	$             1,800.00
Literature	$                100.00	$                 700.00	$          50.00	$       50.00	$       500.00	$                800.00
PR	$                  10.00	$                   10.00	$          10.00	$     100.00	$       300.00	$                300.00
Seminars	$                100.00	$0	$0	$0	$    2,000.00	$             1,200.00
Service	$                200.00	$                 100.00	$          50.00	$       20.00	$    1,020.00	$             1,110.00
Training	$                500.00	$                 500.00	$        500.00	$     500.00	$    6,000.00	$             6,600.00
Other	$                100.00	$                 100.00	$        100.00	$     100.00	$    1,200.00	$             1,500.00
Total Sales and Marketing Expenses	1.666666667	1.428571429	2.222222222	0.6	21.81818182	20
Percent of Sales	3.00%	3.50%	15.00%	15.50%
Contribution Margin	2300	2800	12500	12800	70000	90000
Contribution Margin/Sales	76.67%	80.00%	83.33%	82.58%	70.00%	75.00%

List of Activities	Start Date	Duration	End Date
Selection of Topic	20-Sep	1	21-Sep
Topic Confirmation	22-Sep	2	24-Sep
Marketing objectives	24-Sep	5	29-Sep
Objective 1	29-Sep	3	1-Sep
Objective 2	7-Sep	10	17-Sep
Strategy	18-Sep	10	28-Sep
Segmentation, targeting and positioning	29-Sep	5	4-Nov
Promotional mix	5-Nov	5	10-Nov
Test marketing	11-Nov	10	21-Nov
Evaluation of the strategy	9-Nov	1	25-Oct
Amendments	25-Oct	15	9-Nov
Product Launch	9-Dec	1	19-Dec

Main activities/ stages	Week1	Week2	Week3	Week4	Week 5	Week 6
Marketing objectives	?
Objective 1	?	?
Objective 2		?
Strategy		?	?	?
Segmentation, targeting and positioning			?	?
Promotional mix				?	?
Test marketing					?	?
Evaluation of the strategy					?	?
Amendments						?
Product launch						?

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sales
Revenue	3000	3500	4500	5000	5500	7500	8700	9200	11000	14200	15000	15500
Cost of goods sold	700	700	800	1000	1500	1600	1600	2000	2100	2150	2500	2700
Gross profit	2300	2800	3700	4000	4000	5900	7100	7200	8900	12050	12500	12800
Expenses
Legal fees	100	120	180	220	240	280	320	360	400	440	480	520
Motor vehicle expenses	500	580	650	700	770	840	900	960	1050	1100	1300	1380
Postage, telephone and fax	500	580	640	690	750	800	850	920	1000	1150	1180	1260
Stationery	600	700	800	820	900	1000	1025	1075	1100	1180	1240	1300
Rent	1500	1500	1500	1800	1800	1800	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000
Repairs and maintenance	700	800	850	950	1022	1080	1130	1190	1260	1290	1345	1370
Security	500	500	585	610	636	650	720	750	780	810	830	850
Superannuation	800	855	870	900	940	980	1025	1075	1100	1150	1200	1250
Transport/courier costs	1000	1100	1200	1300	1400	1500	1600	1700	1800	1950	2000	2100
Wages	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000
Workers compensation	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000
Total Expense	10200	10735	11275	11990	12458	12930	13570	14030	14490	15070	15575	16030

Conclusion

In the limelight of the above executed analysis it has been it has been concluded that the business entity has been focusing on the marketing plan of Streets ice cream Australia. The above presented report is the part of the marketing plan which comprises of the consumers segments and the brand strategy adapted by the entity. The next is the description of the marketing objectives which are required to e attained for betterment and development in the organization. Furthermore, the report includes the marketing program and the last part comprises of the scheduling and forecasting the expenses or the budget which will be incurred by the entity.

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