Marketing Plan For Chocolate City Ltd

Company Overview

Discuss about the Research in organizational change and development.

America is a warm country which means hot weather becomes commonplace for the people of America to take beverage. Maybe that’s the cause of the birth of various types of typical American drinks. Even those drinks become very calculating business. We can see in some regions in America, beverage stands such as fruit juice, fruit soup, fruit ice, cendol and so forth is so commonplace in our society (Cohen, 2006). The business continues to survive even growing up to now because is supported the needs and wants of  American people living in this tropical region, not least in the city of Texas.

The purpose of this marketing Plan is to develop a marketing plan for a company known as Brown Chocolate Ltd located in down town Los Angeles. The Chocolate City (“the name of this business”) is a beverage stand that sells a variety of unique beverages with chocolate base ingredients. This business was founded by Ben Davies and Andrew Parker as a limited liability Company to provide chocolate products to the region.  Chocolate City is a business that offers both chilled and hot chocolate drinks with a variety of unique product variants. With these activities will generate profits for owners and walkers of this business (Wood, 2003).

With these circumstances we try to capture the same opportunity but with different products. Here we will try to channel our interest about chocolate into a chocolate drink product and serve it to consumers. Coupled with the tastes of the people who generally love the taste of chocolate, we hope these things become a multiplier effect for our business.

Chocolate City is a company that runs in the field of product sales, more precisely chocolate beverage products in order to capture the opportunity as well as channeling our interest about chocolate. With this effort we also try to serve and introduce not only the chocolate drink itself but also the value and benefits contained in chocolate.

Strength Competition is still a little in the market Broad market segmentation Unique product concept The typical benefits of chocolate	Weakness People’s lack of recognition of chocolate drink Limited supply of raw materials Lack of experience
Opportunity Preserve the chocolate drink in the community Being a prima donna in the chocolate beverage business Develop a business in the form of a franchise	Threat Potential The emergence of the same new business Potential development of the same business that already exists

Chocolate City has a line of products which are produced in form of bars and others for beverage purposes.  All these products come with different price tags in the markets which is a price that is calculated in terms of cost of production. Due to the nature of the market, the company’s products are differentiated to have more appeal to its customers (Shultz, 2005). The products include;

• Chocolate Caramel( which is the flagship product)
• Hot Chocolate
• Cadburrys
• Vee Chocolate among other products being pushed in the market.

SWOT Analysis

Modern sales force is far from the unpleasant stereotype. Today, most salespeople are highly educated, trained professionals who work to build and maintain long-term relationships with customers. They foster this relationship by listening to customers, reviewing customer needs, and organizing the company’s efforts to solve customer problems and satisfy customer needs. Chocolate city Ltd has got a very experience team of personnel in the marketing field (Barrow, 2008).  The sales manager, Mr. George Newton being the person tasked with leading the team is qualified and has a wealth of experience that he has received while working with other companies within the FMGC. He has eleven years of experience with a proven track record in all the previous companies he has worked for.  The company has got two other assistant sales managers who also have got vast experience in the field of sales and marketing. One will be tasked with digital advertisng where the company intends to use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook , Snapchat and Instagram to popularize its products.  All these are expected to boost the company’s sales in the future.

The products of this company have been manufactured to meet the demands of the target market.  The products have been made solve the high demand of chocolate products in the market. When it comes to price, the company has placed the right price for our products and this price is not only meant to push more sales but the price is according to the customers value. For the price to be set we will consider the competitirs, cost, distribution plan and mark ups.  For the promotion, the company will use every marketing channel to push the products. The product will also be availed to consumers through a distribution cahin that involves retailers and wholesalers.

The sales and marketing personnel is going to conduct a marketing drive to popularize the products.  This exercise is important because it will push the company’s sales much higher.  Some of the methods that are going to be used in marketing are, website marketing, using all social media avenues, billboards among others. The total cost for advertisng will be $57,600 for the first year.

Vision statement

• Being a business that can present the happiness of a cup of chocolate drink.
• The products should comply with regulatory framework at national level
• The quality, safety and taste of the products should be maintained.

Mission:

• Chocolate City is trying to present a variety of unique varieties of chocolate drinks to the community at an affordable price, all in order to introduce and conserve chocolate drinks in the local community.
• Creating a chocolate drink with a variety of unique and interesting variations.
• Seeking more populist segmentation with more price determination.
• Savor Chocolate Drinks as part of local culture.

Promote the products to stakeholders by building trust and confidence through transparent and responsible practices throughout supply chain, high quality nutritious and tasty products. 

We strive to segment our market as widely as possible. First, because the nature of the drink itself is needed by everyone. Secondly, because almost everyone likes chocolate flavor. However, we estimate the most potential buyers are teenagers down. Generally we create and sell products that are populist alias affordable (Eldenburg, 2012). Still we also provide one or several variants of high quality products (and at higher prices of course). The level of quality (bottom up) we divide in several levels, ie 1 – 3, in hopes of being a positive value for the psychological effect to the consumer.

Product Line

For any business, social media marketing is a new way of advertising. For this business Chocolate city, we intend to use social media platforms such as facebook, twitter , Instagram among others to create more awareness about our business and the products that we are offering. Social media strategy is therefore important for our business plan.

It is not difficult to create accounts on twitter and facebook. However, this cannot be said of other social media networks that are not supported with the right content and marketing strategies.  To run a business website it is important to have content. The evolution of strategies in marketing through social media and content in websites has become a way of reaching the right information to the right customers about our products.  Although the marketing strategy that we are going to use should constantly be expanded and updated, this is how we will use social media to market our business.

There are three stages that we shall use when using social media to market our business and this is what is broadly called social media marketing.   The first step will be participation, this is by engaging our followers because as potential customers, the content they generate for our social media platforms will be full of ideas and more meaningful than the ideas we make ourselves. 

The second stage is anticipation where the content we put forward in our social media sites will enable our potential customers to anticipate what will come next.  The third stage is coordination where we involve a mutually beneficial relationship with out followers. 

On our social media platforms, we shall be sharing multiple content to our followers and this has the following benefits; first, the help in maximizing traffic through social media. When content is shared more than once on social media it increases the number of visitors on our social media platforms which means increased awareness of our products.  This will also bring in new followers to our platforms and we shall use tools available on facebook and twitter to monitor the growth in numbers(Stutely, 2003).

• Twitter chats

Another strategy that we shall use is holding Twitter Chats. Twitter conversations with prospective clients and longtime followers is a great way to build relationships. This relationships are the starting points of introducing to them our products and also a way for them to know more about our business.  The conversations shall also help in collecting information on how to improve our products, knowing what the market needs and also knowing of new markets. After getting this information, we shall develop content based on the new ideas that we have received to keep our followers focused on the products. 

• Facebook at work

Sales and Marketing Personnel

We shall take advantage of Facebook by creating hashtags to see how our followers connect with the brand and this is an easy way to keep track of conversations.  We intend to increase the content that we share and encourage the readers to share with others which will bring in more customers. We also intend to create specific demographic targets which will enable the brand to be more recognizable to our target customers(Stutely, 2003)..  An easy way to engage and attract customers is by having valuable content that keep them waiting for more content.  Thus we intend to bring on board qualified social media marketers.  We shall also use LinkedIn to popularize our company to people which is a very powerful marketing tool.

In trying to get the product to the hands of our customers we devise the following marketing strategies:

• Create and open an eye catching stand.
• Distributing Pamphlets.
• Advertise in cyberspace.
• Promotion at opening time by distributing free drinks.

In the early period of the business, we tried to make students, especially the students who reside near the company our permanent customer base by utilizing our identity and relationships as students. Other methods are;

Of course not off the good and proper marketing strategy. Here are some home business marketing strategies for beginners that you can apply in your halal chocolate business.

Distributing brochures is one of the most effective marketing strategies for a chocolate business. In addition to distributing flyers, you can also install pamphlets in places that are easy to see by people and crowded to visit people (Stutely, 2003). The more people who read your brochures or pamphlets the more likely you are to find customers or customers.

Marketing a chocolate products or business through online media is nothing new. You can start by creating a facebook account, twitter and so forth to capture a lot of consumers. In addition, you can also try to join online forums that fit the market share. Building a broader relationship will provide a better opportunity for business beginners  like Chociolate city (Shani, 2017).

As a first step to market a  chocolate business is not easy. Usually the beginners of Chocolate halal chocolate business market it by word of mouth (Wyatt, 2012). What you can target market is, friends, family, neighbors and even colleagues. Starting from the nearest person you as a business beginner can get criticism and input to develop a  chocolate business that you run.

Home  chocolate business will not grow well when you just sit still without doing any effort. One of the marketing strategies to introduce your product is by following an exhibition or bazaar. That way you have the opportunity to show off your chocolate products from your Chocolate process (Wyatt, 2012). By following the bazaar event, beginners can not only increase sales of chocolate products but also can capture more business relationships.

Social Media Marketing

If this is deemed necessary and necessary, you can market the product from your  chocolate business to stores located away from where you live. But before you use home marketing strategies, try first to understand how the buyer’s character is from the store. What they need and how it affects your home business later (Baker, 2001).

Making business cards for some business beginners is sometimes regarded as trivial. Many of the business starters think that making business cards is just a means to make it easier for people to contact your company. Though you need to know that business cards can be used as a tool for marketing your halal chocolate home business (Marketing, 2005). If the chocolate business is well advanced and well developed, then you are thinking of a new strategy to hire a larger business premises.

In terms of location, our target market has not run a business in the same type we will run. But in the same field, the field of beverages, there have been businesses such as fruit ice, fruit soup, coconut ice, ice juice and others (Senior, 2016). While businesses in the same field and type – although not yet in the location of our target market – have started emerging, whether in the form of franchise or not (Marketing, 2016). Some of the names of potential competitors who are already famous in the field of chocolate beverage sales some of the examples are Pasco Franchise and Choco Rich.

For basic ingredients, ie chocolate drink powder, we get supply from BT Cocoa company, or with real name Choco Supplies . BT Cocoa was founded in 1993. In 2000 BT cocoa focus in the production of chocolate products one of which is a chocolate drink. As for other materials we will get supply from other companies in the market (Langton & Campbell, 2011).

Newcomers in the industry usually bring new capacity, in an effort to profit from the stock market, and important resources.

• Economic scale: economies of scale are cost advantages associated with large sizes.
• Product differentiation: brand identification creates an incoming barrier by forcing entrants to deliver substantial expenses to address existing customer loyalty.
• Capital requirements: the need to invest huge amounts of financial resources creates a significant entry barrier, especially if used to cover costs such as R & D.
• Switching costs: switching costs are costs that a buyer spends once he moves from one supplier to a lan supplier.
• Access to distribution channels: new arrivals may require an incoming barrier to secure the distribution of their products.
• Independence of cost-loss measures: established firms may have cost advantages that newcomers can not easily imitate.
• Government policy: governments can provide an entry barrier for an industry by applying licensing requirements and limiting access to raw materials.

Competition among existing companies.

In most industries, companies are interdependent. Competition driven by one company can certainly affect its competitors, and may lead to retaliation or resistance attempts.

• Number of competitors: competitors are very diverse or not equal in size and strength.
• Industrial growth rates: rapid industry growth usually provides a number of opportunities for many companies to grow in.
• Characteristics of goods or services: if goods or services are fundamentally the same – regardless of what the firm offers, they are the same as commodities.
• Fixed cost amount: if the firm’s fixed costs are high, the firm should cut the price below the total cost at least to cover its fixed costs.
• Capacity: if the only way the company can use to increase the volume is to increase capacity by building a new plant, it can be fulfilled if the full capacity of the new plant is able to keep the unit price as low as possible (Smith, 2013).
• High barrier to exit: barrier to exit keeps company out of industry. Such barriers may be special assets or management loyalty to existing businesses.
• Diversity of competitors: competitors often have many areas, strategies, and corporate culture. They also have very different ideas about how to compete, and the arena they often do shortcuts and do not know the challenges that exist in every different position.

The target market of Chocolate City  is all chocolate lovers of all ages and all walks of life. Positioning Chocolate City positioned its brand as an American chocolate product.

Chocolate City is a producer of chocolate that has capital advantage to support production function and product marketing function. However, at the beginning of the running process, this company has no ambition in the field of marketing (Eliot, 2016). So for the marketing strategy is still competing with other which companies. In producing chocolate both companies use a distribution channel known as direct channel, which is selling directly to consumers (Smith, 2013). Intense education will be launched by Chocolate City through advertisements on television and in the media. Chocolate City promotes its products on a massive scale through television and through investments in USA films, while Mars does promotion by creating animated ads that have a fascination for small children, which at no time does a company use such a method (Lamb, 2004).

Marketing Strategies

The company will have to hire according to the needs of the market , in this case where the company expands more personnel in both marketing department and production will be required.

Production Analysis (production process)                         

Our chocolate beverage products are blend-shaped so that in the process of making process requires mix in blender. The mix is ??in the form of fruits such as bananas and strawberries, bread, biscuits, and others.

Broadly speaking our products are processed with the following seven simple steps:

Chocolate brewing, Add thickeners such as ice cubes, peanut butter or yoghurt, add material (main mix). The addition of ice cubes. Mixing with blender, Additional toping and Packing.

THE FINANCES

Sales Forecast

	Jan $	Feb$	Mar$	Aprl$	May$	June$
UNITS
Hot Chocolate	1200	1400	3000	4500	4500	5000
Caramel	700	1000	1200	1400	1500	1800
Vee Chocolate	500	1000	1500	1700	1800	2000
Cadburry	900	1600	1900	2200	2500	3000

	Jan $	Feb$	Mar$	Aprl$	May$	June$
Price
Hot Chocolate	10	10	10	10	10	10
Caramel	5	5	5	5	5	5
Vee Chocolate	10	10	10	10	10	10
Cadburry	15	15	15	15	15	15

	Jan $	Feb$	Mar$	Aprl$	May$	June$
sales
Hot Chocolate	12000	14000	30000	45000	45000	5000
Caramel	3500	5000	6000	7000	7500	9000
Vee Chocolate	5000	10000	15000	17000	18000	20000
Cadburry	13500	24000	28500	33000	37500	45000
Total sales	34000	53000	79500	102000	108000	79,000

	Jan $	Feb $	March $	April $	May $	June $
Market research	500	500	500	500	500	500
branding	300	300	300	300	300	300
internet marketing	600	600	600	600	600	600
Public relations	1000	1000	1000	1000	1000	1000
websites	300	300	300	300	300	300
billboards	800	800	800	800	800	800
telephone	100	100	100	100	100	100
travel	1200	1200	1200	1200	1200	1200
Total	4800	4800	4800	4800	4800	4800

For Chocolate City, once the  marketing plan has been developed and put into operation, it must be controlled and followed in order to adjust it according to the practice. Effectively these digital strategic actions involve both economic and human investment (Pasmore, Woodman & Shani, 2010). Therefore, the control and monitoring allow to avoid wasting money and efforts. Including tools to measure the results in each phase of the plan makes the strategy come out streamlined, optimized and powerful (Smith, 2013).

First the actions are identified in the plan and the budget and time allocated for each of them are determined. Thanks to this, the priorities that must pass through the measurement tools are obtained (Richter, 2002). Just as the plan has defined objectives and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicator = Key Indicator of Performance), the advertiser produces an excel sheet in which these indicators, time, with the corresponding measures.

The increase in sales, the increase in new customers, are so many figures that serve the marketing management team to know the strengths and weaknesses of the plan.the surveys, the interaction. The great benefit of digital is that everything is measured; it also allows dialogue what is necessary to communicate with the target audience in order to assess loyalty, brand awareness. Finally, we eliminate the actions that do not comply with the previously set objectives, as well as those that involve a large investment and that do not comply with the ROI (return on investment) foreseen. Once you have removed what slows down the plan, then proceed to coordinate it to optimize it.

References

Baker, M. (2001). Marketing. London: Routledge.

Barrow, C. (2008). Practical Financial Management. London, GBR: Kogan Page, Limited.

Cohen, W. (2006). The marketing plan. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons.

Eliot, G. (2016). The mill on the Floss. New York: Open Road Integrated Media.

Eldenburg, L. (2012). Cost management. Etobicoke, Ont.: J. Wiley & Sons Canada.

Langton, D., & Campbell, A. (2011). Visual marketing. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Lamb, C. (2004). Marketing. Cape Town, S.A.: Oxford University Press.

Pasmore, W., Woodman, R., & Shani, A. (2010). Research in organizational change and development. Bingley, UK: Emerald.

Richter, T. (2002). Marketing mix standardisation in international marketing. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Senior, B. (2016). Organizational Change. Pearson Education Limited.

Shani, A. (2017). Research in Organizational Change and Development. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited

Shultz, J. (2005). Follow the money. New York: Open Society Institute.

Smith, K. (2013). Target Market Series. Newburyport: The National Underwriter Company.

Stutely, R. (2003). The definitive guide to managing the numbers. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Wood, M. (2003). The marketing plan. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Wyatt, N. (2012). The financial times essential guide to budgeting and forecasting. Harlow, England: Pearson.