Promotional Activities Used by Cadbury, Divine, Green & Black Chocolate - Coursework Example

Promotional marketing portfolio Executive Summary The purpose of this portfolio is to analyze the promotion activities in the confectionary industry by targeting three chocolate bars producers. This portfolio will consider three chocolate bars which have used different methods, strategies and tool to market their chocolates to the market. The marketing strategies to be considered in this portfolio will range from word of mouth promotion, advertisement in television, online advertisement, market and product segmentation, branding, packaging and celebrity endorsement among others. Cadbury, Divine and Green & Black chocolate are all quality chocolates which have used a variety of promotional strategies we have looked at. They have been able to expand their operation in the market despite the stiff competition due to their diverse tools of promoting their products. After taking all the three chocolate bars into account, this portfolio will analyze and critically evaluate the findings of the promotion activities through a commentary. 1. Introduction The purpose of this portfolio is to analyze three chocolate bars with a view of evaluating their promotion activities. Scope While evaluating the promotion activities of the three brands of chocolate under perspective in this study, it is important to consider their quality, price, market coverage and standard features so that their competitive advantages are in alignment. Method The information reported ion this portfolio was collected by consulting with a wide range of sources such as magazines where the chocolates are promoted, the social media, billboards, analysis of the market and prices in the stores to identify price variation over a period of time. 2. Findings a) Divine chocolate Divine chocolate has the support of many faith groups such as fair trade advocates and a number of NGOs. Promotion activities Discounts Discounts are used to promote chocolates by diversifying the prices and products so as to enable them reach as many people as possible. This is done by differentiating brands and prices among milk chocolate bar, crispy white chocolate bar, crispy crunch bars, darkly divine plain chocolate, double milk chocolate and divine mini eggs. Joint partnerships Divine chocolate promotes its products through Joint partnership with other companies such as Sainsbury and Christian Aid supporters. Many stores stocked their chocolates after partnership as they were able to make nationwide supplies. The UK market is served by their retail stores and outlets such as Christian Aid, Comic Relief and The Body Shop. This opened a wide coverage for divine chocolate as it offered a new and fairer product than what most people were used to. Free samples Promotion of Divine chocolate is done through offering free samples for people to taste them before making their choices. Samples are offered in stores, malls and in the supermarkets where people frequent a lot so as to attract a huge traffic of people. Sampling and tasting is very effective is ensuring increased sales. Cause-related Divine chocolate provide fair chocolate which is environment friendly compared to other chocolates in the market. These appeal to majority of people who are interested in ethically products and green trading. This has been successful in appealing to people to buy their products even when they are expensive since they minimize harm to the public. This has enabled them achieve a niche in the market. New media Divine chocolates are now being marketed through the internet especially the social media and the emails where the company engages with the people online by using codes which are sent to their website to win prices. This company is very much involved in new media promotion. Recently, they sent emails to their loyal customers to engage on the taste of their chocolates and ask for feedback on the way the customers perceive the chocolates should be. In so doing, the company is able to build sustainable brands. b) Cadbury chocolate Cadbury chocolate has attracted the largest market in the chocolate market for a long period of time due to their effective and sustainable marketing strategies. Some of its promotion al activities include; Coupons and Free gifts Cadbury recognizes the important of price discrimination and discount in the market. The price a customer pays for a bar of chocolate will determine the chances of coming back for more. Therefore, Cadbury provides discounts to its customers during festive times such as Christmas. Price discrimination is also used to increase the levels of sales where the market is divers. Tyner recognizes that the increase in the level of sales will lead to increase profits for the company. This is also done by adding other things such as glasses in the picture below. Competition in television and newspapers Promotion of Cadbury in Cadbury is done through arranged competition done by users by playing games in the television. Most of the Cadbury chocolates have been widely promoted through the television due to its wide converge. Such advertisement has yielded so many sales in the past. In the newspapers, promotional games are also played in the newspaper by sending in codes found in the newspapers. Cadbury chocolates are also advertised in newspapers and magazines to those people who are found of reading text media. High frequency of advertisements leads to increased sales. Joint promotions The company selects several Brand Ambassadors and partners with them in the international markets in order to represent the interests of the company in other countries since the chocolates are promoted internationally. New media With the increased use of the internet, promotion is very feasible in promoting products due to the massive traffic in internet. Cadbury chocolates seek to promote their products in the international market though the internet where customers enter codes in their websites and win products. The internet has proved to be a leading marketing tool nowadays. Some of the things won include umbrellas, t-shirts, cash and other things. Price differentiation and discounts The product mix of Cadbury chocolates is very diverse with several brands of chocolates which ensure them that the company provides a wide range of products to satisfy their market and offer a wide range of prices for all customers to afford. Many brands are used to offer different pries which include; Cadbury Dairy Milk; Cadbury Dairy Milk Wowie, Cadbury Dairy Milk Crackle , Cadbury Dairy Milk Roasted Almond, Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut, Cadbury Dairy Milk Shots and Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk. Different prices and discounts are used to enhance their different customers to be able to afford their chocolates. Joint promotions Joint promotions between brands and other brands owned by other companies, For example, Cadbury chocolates are used in the marketing of other confectionary especially during children events where chocolates are tied with a ribbon together with some biscuits and candies. Sampling Chocolate in stores is modified in different forms in stores where people are given a sample to taste and identify their preferences. The samples enable the customers to be loyal to their brands without risking the initial cost of buying. For example, chocolate is prepared in cubes, flowing samples and sticks and given to people in small amounts. c) Green & Black chocolate Green & Blacks is a premium chocolate brand which aims to grow and expand its market share through the acquisition of new customers to the brand and by increasing the brand loyalty of current customers, resulting in up-selling and cross-selling of products. Promotional activities of Green & Black chocolate include; New media With the increasing rise of the use of technology, Green & Black’s chocolate recognizes the importance of marketing their chocolates through the internet. This is very effective especially in marketing over wide areas within minimal time. New media is using in both playing games advertised in their websites and also in emailing. Promotional campaigns have also been done through mailing and managements in the website. For this project, there were primary components of executing clear and concise communication, a very fundamental consideration when promoting a brand. The marketing agency led by Brave aimed at a contacting over 250,000 Green & Black customers through email and inviting them to participate in survey that on the brands home page. The survey was aimed at establishing why the customers eat, the varieties they have tried and the influence they receive from Fair-trade Ethos of Green & Black chocolate Brand. Product sampling in store and in magazines Product sampling is a very good way of inducing trial by new customers, they are not expensive in terms of manufacture of trial sizes, since they are already made by Green & Black’s for its mini pack. Competition in Newspapers and magazines Green & Black chocolate is widely featured in lifestyle magazines and newspapers as the premium brand. Very exotic pictures used alongside them are attractive to the customers which motivates them to buy the chocolates. Inside the chocolates there are coupons which enable them to compete to win the advertised prizes. Free gifts Palmer, a marketing consultant argues that marketing of Green & Black’s chocolate bars caters of the performing consumer’s analysis through the issuance of free samples and gifts so as to inform people at a close range why they should buy their products. Competition in the television Television promotion has been widely iced to market Green & Black’s chocolate since their inception to the market. The company mostly uses television to introduce new games which motivate people to buy the chocolates, find coupons and compete to win things such as cash, shopping vouchers among other. Discounts Green & Black’s chocolate is promoted through the issuance of discounts to their consumers. This is because of low-income consumers who wish to buy the chocolate but they don’t have enough money to buy big ad expensive chocolates. Price discrimination is also done by issuing rive reductions to their loyal customers during the festive seasons. 3. Commentary The three brands of chocolate have been very successful in promoting their chocolates through different promotional activities such as issuance of free samples, discounts, use of newspapers, magazines, television, new media, joint promotions and coupons. This has been done by diversifying their promotional activities other than using just one method. Promotions activities are always planned through analysis of fundamental areas within which promotional objectives may be achieved such as achieving marketing share growth or maintenance, the maintenance or important of profitability; establishing an opening market position and maximizing cash flow, harvesting. The most important promotional objective is to achieve marketing share growth and be able to maintain it. Where the business is entering into a market where there are already established businesses, it is difficult to penetrate the market and worse to be market leader. As such, the business should establish promotional activities which will allow it to enter into the market and tactfully compete with other established companies without being ousted out of the market. Market expansion strategies should be aggressive and should include high levels of defense for the acquired market while expanding into the target market. Furthermore, promotion objects to establish an opening market position by providing services and products which are highly perceived by the customers. This includes; identifying the departing point between the products of a company and brands of the company. The brands should not only be different but also be attractive and distinct from those of the rivals companies. The company should also determine the target market which they should be able to serve the best. This is done by analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. A market position is aided by conducting consumer analysis so as to identify what the consumer expect different what is being offered by the rival companies. Establishing a market position enables the business to survive despite stiff competition in the market. The three chocolate brands presented in this analysis have established their objectives and devised their promotions in accordance with the objectives the companies have set to achieve. Competitor analysis is a very crucial factor in promotion as a company should analyze their competitors in order to provide a product which competitive favorably in the market. Analyzing competitor strategies enables a firm to formulate effective policies and the best way to execute them in order to remain economically relevant in the industry (Gurau & Ashok 2007). Competitor strategies will help stimulate the sales and increase the market share of the chocolate companies. Before making any decisions concerning the launch of new brands, or the target customers, a company should analyze their competitor’s activities in the industry in order to establish their competitive position. They should analyze their relationship between the competitors to identify the market leader, the followers, and their strengths and weaknesses in the delivery of services in the industry. In this case, the three chocolates have been able to co-exist in the market by appealing to different angles of the market. Divine is a fair product, Cadbury is a contemporary product while Green & Black’s chocolate is also fair. In conclusion, I would recommend the promotional activities used by Cadbury, Divine and Green & Black chocolate as they have been very successful in marketing. The promotion of chocolates brands have also taken into consideration primary mechanisms of advertisements such as Reposition the product which involves establishing a place in the customers ‘minds where the chocolates will occupy in the minds of their consumers; Improvement of product packaging; which shapes the perception the customers have about the products; Alteration of prices depending on the market environment such as cost to serve, value of the product, demand and changes in the service prices of the rival companies; Improvement of the quality of the chocolates by adding more flavors; Standardization of chocolates so as to be in alignment with the market trends (Gurau & Ashok 2007). Bibliography Gurau,C. & Ashok Ranchhod, A., 2007. Marketing Strategies: A Contemporary Approach. Financial Times, Prentice Hall; 2 edition. UK Confectionery Review of 2000, Cadbury Trebor Bassett http://www.cadbury.co.uk/fr_today.asp) Stanley Thornes, 1997, Design & Make it: Food Technology, p 142-143 Hodder & Stoughton, 1997, D&T Challenges: Red Book, RCA, p 6-11 Tull, A., 1998.Food Technology to GCSE, Oxford University Press, p 50-51, p 100 Collins, 1999. Inglis, Food Technology Foundation Course, Plews & Chapman, p36-45, p 64-69 Proudlove, R.K.1994. The Science & Technology of Food, Forbes, 1994, p 178-183 Fair trade : Fair Trade edition - www.oxfam.org.uk Read More