Marketing Plan For Crème De La Mer In The Singapore Cosmetic Industry

Situation Analysis

The purpose of this report is to provide information about the company Crème De La Mer that is an extension of Estee Lauder Company. The report is a marketing analysis of the company Crème De La Mer that provides information about various issues faced by the company and measures to solve them appropriately. Marketing plan is an analysis that helps the business to look at various dimensions and organize the business strategies in such a way that issues are eliminated and the company achieves growth (Goldberg Fishbein Middlestadt 2018). Further, the report evaluates current market position along with competitor’s analysis. Further, it also evaluates brand and product management of the company. Pricing, distribution and communication strategies for the company have also been outlined. A two-year action plan for the company has been prepared that will help them to strategize the business objectives. Further, more details about the report are discussed below:

The company Crème De La Mer is was originated by Dr Max Huber, an aerospace physicist. Huber suffered burns due to lab accident while making a product, that is when he thought to create La Mer. After initiating more than 6000 experiments and 12 years of searching, he found a fermentation process that can help people transform the look of the skin. He named the product in honour of his muse. Lauder purchased La Mer company in the year 1995 after which the product became most demandable and coveted skincare brand worldwide. The brand is a luxurious brand that is highly preferred by premium customers present in target market. Further, the fact should be noted that the product is only preferred by premium clients present in the market due to which it need to initiate differential strategies to succeed in the target market (Crème De La Mer 2018).

Clinique: it is brand of Estee Lauder that is direct competitor of Crème De La Mer. The brand was formed in the year 1968 and works effectively to tone the skin of people. The products of Clinique is sole in every 5 seconds. Estimated annual income of the company is $345 million and the company works with a team of 2910 employees.

Body Shop: Body Shop is a UK brand that was found in the year 1976 by Anita Roddick. The company earns annual revenue of $1.4 billion and is working with a team of 17,000 employees. The company is a direct competitor of Estee Lauder Company.

Company Profile

The company Crème De La Mer should aim to target the middle income level people suffering from skin related problems. These people will help the company to increase its sales in the target market. Further, the company should create a vision of increase the sales by 5% by increasing the customer base. The company should aim to increase the customer base by 20% in the Singapore market. From the previous analysis, it can be seen that the Singapore market is favourable for the company to grow so it should develop its growth in Singapore market as a marketing objective. Segmentation refers to the process of segmenting the target market according to different bases and then targeting the customers to create defined position in the market (Flora Schooler, Pierson 2018). On the basis of demographic segmentation, the organization aims to target high class customers suffering from skin related problems. Further, on the basis of behavioural and psychographic segmentation, the company targets the people who are fond of using organic and mineral enriched cosmetics in the market. Further SWOT analysis of the company on the basis of market segmentation is discussed below:

Strength	Weakness
The strength of the La Mer is recognition of Estee Lauder in the cosmetic industry. The company is known for serving refined quality products to the customers. The products of the company are animal friendly that helps the company to fulfil their social responsibility. Brand recognition of the company helps them to increase sales in the target market.	The biggest weakness of the company is non-recognition of the brand in the target market. The fact should be noted that although Estee Lauder that huge brand recognition in the market but the La Mer brand of the company  is still struggling to be famous in the market (Good, and Hassay 2015).
Opportunity	Threats
The company has great opportunity to target the customers in the market by decreasing the price of the product and increasing the marketing activities in the market (Armstrong, et. al., 2015). Other brands of Estee Lauder only target premium range customers so this aspect increases the opportunity for the company to grow.	The biggest threat of the company is increasing competition in the target market. Cosmetic industry works with the support of loyal customers present in the market. Companies like Clinique and Body Shop has many loyal customers present in the market. So, competition is biggest threat for the company Crème De La Mer (Gupta 2017).

Brand management refers to the act of supervising the promotional activities of a particular brand. The brand management activity helps the business to manage the activities of promoting the brand in the target market. This type of management helps the business to concur the target market using promotional activities and influencing the market by initiating brand recognition. Further, in the company Crème De La Mer, the brand is already identified in market as a premium brand for skin care (Collins 2018). However, that fact should be noted that the brand of Estee Lauder is more well recognized in Singapore due to which it give a similar platform to all other brands like Clinique, MAC, DKNY and La Mer to grow and earn revenue in the market. Thus, it should be noted that it is important for La Mer to create a separate identity in the market of Singapore apart from an EL brand. Thus, the objective of the branding operations of La Mer is to create a brand that has individual recognition for Singaporean customers. Further, the objective of the company is to initiate branding operations to rise above the competition present in the Singapore market (Jamil, Ali, and Iqbal 2017). For this purpose, the company needs to implement strategies that help them to capture a wider market share. Further, internal branding refers to the process of aligning the activities of organization around the brand. This type of branding strategy helps the customers to appropriately understand the meaning of brand that the top level management wants to implement in the market (Westwood 2016).

Competitor’s Analysis

Marketing and promotion strategies in the environment are initiated on the basis of products manufacture of the company. So, it is very important for the business to implement effective product management strategies to succeed in the target market. The product management strategy refers to the strategy that helps the business to identify the real customers and create a roadmap to attain the strategic objective of the company. The product management strategy for the company La Mer in Singapore should be divided on the basis of three pillars that are product planning, product strategy and lastly product marketing (Malhotra 2016). La Mer should aim to align these two segments in order to appropriately succeed in the product strategy. The company should strategies the product management functions by aligning the manufacturing, sales and marketing process together (Wertenbroch 2015). The management should create product budget on the basis of which they should invest the income on the product. Further, the management should also analyse the need and demand of the customers present in the market and then they should organize the activities accordingly. This strategy should work to develop the product that is demand by the customers in the market. Along with a variety of range in prices, the product should also offer variety of services to the customers in cosmetic industry of Singapore. Lastly, on the basis of differentiation and specification of the product, the management should assign the marketing team that effectively outline all the specifications of the product in the market (Samli, et. al., 2015).

                                                                         

Pricing strategy refers to a strategy that helps the business to attain revenue to complete the business objectives of the company. The pricing strategy should help the business to attain adequate amount of revenue in Singapore so that the management can further fulfil the business objectives maintained by them. Pricing strategy should be very effectively for every business otherwise it would make all the other strategies of the company ineffective (Ryan 2016). The fact is known to all that the Laa Mer brand has presented its products at heavy prices in the market. However, the customers present in Singpore industry prefer using cost effective products so now it was time for the company to slightly bring variations in the pricing strategy of the company (Wu, and Lee 2016). The premium products of the company should undoubtedly target the premium clients in the market and the basic products of the brand should target lower and upper middle class customers present in the market. Slight change in the prices of the company will bring heavy variation in the demand and supply of goods in the market. Thus, it is suggested for the company Crème De La Mer to organize the pricing strategy in such a way so that the company would get the attention of middle class customers present in cosmetic market of Singapore. Thus, the company should reduce the price is of their product by 10 % in the market so that it is approachable by all (Ross, et. al., 2015).

The job of distribution is to give to an organization the work of the undertaking of conveying the item at a perfect time, place, and amount at any rate cost. A well designed distribution channel strategy make use both bottom line and channel partners and services to end users. This channel develops a framework that aligns thee sales and marketing strategies of the company with the product extension so as to effectively make it available in the market (Ramli 2015). The company La Mer need to initially penetrate the Singaporean market so as to develop an effective distribution channel strategy. Further, the company to distribute the products considering the demand present in the market. High demand and less availability of product and availability of product more than even demanded, both aspects could cause wrong brand image of La Mer in Singapore market. It is important for the company to effectively operate the distribution channel strategy so as to grow and diversify scope of business in Singaporean market (McDonald 2016).

The Integrated Marketing Communication plan is a methodology that accomplishes the targets of an advertising effort, through very much planned utilization of various limited time strategies that are proposed to strengthen each other. Within the IMC plan, the organization cautiously incorporates and facilitates its numerous correspondence channels to convey clear and predictable messages about the association and item or service. The plan includes getting a correspondence message to a client; this message must be clear, steady and convincing. The procedure of the IMC is critical for better dealing with the correspondence blend with target groups of onlookers and keeping up the solid market position through brand separation (McDonald and Wilson 2016). In the company La Mer, the company needs to initiate the IMC plan in such a way that it targets the customers and circulate information of the company in an effective way. Under this process, the company should initially implement situational analysis on the basis which they should target the customers. Further, company should aim to communicate the objectives to the target customers in the market so as to clarify their vision and develop adequate position for them as well. Further, the fact should be noted that the people of the country Singapore are friendly so a wise brand message with simple communication scheme will help the company to target different classes of customers increase market share as well (Strauss 2016).

Activity	Time Period (in months)	Manager	Growth Objective	Concerned Department
Situational Analysis	2	Marketing Head	Collection of authentic information	R&D
Deciding Goals and objectives for new market expansion	1	Operations Head	Initiating goals and mission	Operations
Defining audience and prioritizing groups present in Singapore	3	Marketing Head	Deciding target groups and people	Marketing
Allocating Resources to meet  Singapore’s client’s expectations	4	R & D Head	Procuring Resources	R & D
Product Development Strategies	2	Operations Head	Analysing issues and comparing with the real world situation	Operations
Communication with potential partners	3	PR Manager	Attracting sponsors	Public Relations
Development of channels	1	Sales Head	Development of platform to make more effective sales	Sales
Initiation of Sales through different channels	12	Manager	Implementing sales campaign	Management

Brand Management

Controlling is an important task for the business as it helps them to measure and control the functions and effectively grow in diversified markets. In this process, the company should initially create a budget for their plan in Singapore, afterwards they should start allocating resources to promote the product in the market. Further, the company should proactively control in the quality of the product as it should not reduce with the reduction in price. Further, the company should also look for the feasibility of the Singaporean market for La Mer products (Ozuem 2016). Lastly, the company should allocate budget to each and every activity of defined in the action plan and then monitor the activities accordingly.

Conclusion:

Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, the fact should be noted that the above mentioned report evaluated information about the company Crème De La Mer. The company was not adequately recognized in the market due to which they were sales volume. The above mentioned analysis will help the company to adequately increase the sales in the target market. The above mentioned report depicted situational analysis along with marketing objectives and implementation plan that will help the company to grow and increase the sales in the market.

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