Marketing Final Project

Shalene Shalika Wickramathilake – H00146063

Esther Mary Roy – H00145883

Table of Contents

Executive Summary...3

Business Mission...4

External Marketing Audit...5

Internal Marketing Audit...9

SWOT Analysis ...11

Marketing Objectives ... 13

Core Strategy ... 14

Marketing Mix Decisions ... 21

Organizations and Implementation ... 25

Control ... 26 Conclusion ... 27 References ...28 Appendix…...30

Executive Summary

The marketing plan is executed with the framework of SOSTAC.

The marketing plan initially begins with the business mission and moves on to the marketing audit, which consists of external and internal factors that affect the company. Marketing objectives are implemented through the SMART test which helped identify the problems stated. Core strategies allowed us to target our customer in different segmentations. Additionally it includes target, positioning and segmentation market. A brief summary of our competitors have been shown in a table. Marketing mix decisions were achieved using the four factors which include product, price, place and promotion. Implementations were based on the organization decision on strategic planning and decision making. Lastly the control aspect allows our company to follow the marketing objectives and meet performance standards.

Business Mission

José Eber is a UK based company taking hair products to the next level by introducing the new and improved collection of hair quality tools. Our business mission is hair styling tools in the beauty industry. Our main objective is focusing on innovation with its advanced features and designs that give remarkable results. José Eber has come out a new inventive product called the signature series with includes a 3 in 1 straightener, curler and blow dryer. This product has been designed to make it easier and cost efficient for customers. What makes us different from any other hair styling product is that we have a in-built keratin serum added onto the nano-glide titanium plates or rods of the hair tools which produces less damage to the hair and giving it a healthy glow.

Our Mission

José Eber can help transform the hair industry by coming up with new innovative products to help satisfy our customers using great technology.

Marketing Audit

The marketing audit is a fundamental part of the marketing planning

process. It consists of both external and internal influences on the marketing plan (Friesner, 2014).

External marketing Audit;

Macro-environment

This section consists of issues based on the many forces to which the business is exposed.

PESTLE

It’s a tool for business analysis which includes the following;

Political

Economic

Social-Culture

 Doesn’t apply   Economic growth (developing in other countries) Income of increase

 Sold in most of the countries

 Very handy and is trading

Technological

Legal

Environmental

 Larger impact on the

production 

Safety Issues about the

product 

Natural material used

Political:

Political risks are addressed through building a relationship with the various stakeholders of the company (Hollensen, 2011).

Economic:

Marker size and growth are influenced by the economic growth. José Eber is becoming a known product and developing in most countries of the world. This is an advantage because there is an increase in income and profit margins.

Social-culture:

José Eber growth is increasing because of its new ways of innovation and productivity. In this specific product the distribution trends for people who are involved or use hair styling tools in the beauty industry.

Technological:

Consumers are becoming more demanding and experimental in the area of beauty products. Technology seems to be increasing rapidly every day and this is a challenge. This also has a better impact on the production.

Legal:

José Eber first started out in 2012. Over the years safety issues have been stated about product before buying.

Environmental

All material used in José Eber are authentic and natural materials are used for the hair serum.

The Market

Our Customers

This applies to those involved in the beauty industry. Our customers range from

those who would by the products individually to the product being sold at retail. The

following table shows the market size and shares against our competitors.

Our Competitors

Name

Braun Bellami Chi

About their product

Styles hair without damaging and is infused satin hair technologies for just

blow dryers and straighteners

Offers a complete clip & clip-less collection of the most useful and versatile professional titanium curlers

Selection of

professional flat irons plus curlers that give you a sleek and silky finish to your hair.

Cost Starting cost with basic features is $60.00 goes up to $80.00 for each product

Ranges from $219.99$350.00

Ranges from $185.00 and above for each product

Strengths and

Weaknesses

Strength- products is user friendly and the costs are reasonable.

Weakness- No new innovative products for hair styling tools so less demand.

Strength- their online site is well established and they control majority of the beauty industry market.

Weakness-Products are expensive

Strength- The hair tools uses negative ions and ceramic plates to

straighten the hair at high temperatures without stripping it of moisture. Weakness- Does not have a heat setting which could damages the hair.

Strategies and

Objectives

They have other products apart from hair tools which tend to do more well because of its tech uses

Their product is very well known and they have variety of other products such as hair extensions which also feature the famous ‘Kylie Hair Kouture’.

Apart from styling tools, it does well for hair products which are used professionally.

Market Shares & Size

They sell their product from other manufacturers and retailers –Good brand image even on GDP market

Variety of different products for hair in the beauty industry. Bellami also has a good brand image. Sold only online and in the US.

Chi is a start-up company so the profits are slowing rising through social media giving them a good brand image.

Internal Marketing Audit

The internal audit assesses the resources of the organizations as they relate to the environment and main resources of competitors. (Raju M. S., 2009)

1. Operating results

José Eber takes into consideration operating results which is generated by its product, customers, sales, market profits and shares.

2. Strategic Issues Analysis

Market objectives would be defined in terms of profitability, market share or growth (Jain and Haley, 2009).

Profitability is the most important objective that senior managers set in the company. José Eber targets a measure of revenue through various ratios such as earnings per share, return on shareholder funds and return on capital employed. Performance against these profit objectives is measured annually and often quarterly or even weekly.

Growth would be second to profit and it can be achieved internally or through achievements. In market share we seek to maximise the market value and the company would invest only if it achieves a return greater than shareholders for example could obtain for themselves.

3. Marketing Mix

In order for the marketing mix to be effective the business needs to look carefully at the combinations of fours factors which include product, price, place and promotion. The business should also balance out cost and effectiveness. (Sutherland & Canwell, 2008)This has been shown in the marketing mix decisions.

4. Marketing Structure and Systems Marketing research

Gathering information on an organisation which would include customer’s opinion and social research, using analytical techniques to shed light on decision making. José Eber conducts various types of market research in order to satisfy our customer’s needs. The company conducts two types of research, primary and secondary which would consist of qualitative or quantitative researches. The increasing role and importance of market research is highlighted through the words of Churchill and Iacobucci (2005) as they state ‘marketing research exists everywhere’.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is the planned approach when assessing the internal and external factors, which may affect the company in a positive or negative way and help strategically position the company in its market industry. SWOT is presently one of the frequently used tools in strategic analysis and other evaluative studies (Magid, 2013).

Strength

Weakness

  

Strong brand image/ value High quality of product Existing brand

Retail and Online growth

 Competition mainly with Braun

New product may not sell as successfully in the market unless

bought f or retail

Opportunities

Threats

Huge market potential Further innovation

 

 

Growing competitors from established chain market for example Braun etc. Marketing/ Promotion failure

 

.

Change in market demand

- Internal factors of the organization consist of: Strength:

One of José Eber’s biggest strengths is their constant innovation in its beauty products and their continuous research. Their creativity allows the highly valued product to have a good brand images and to be sold at a reasonable price. They advertise and promote specific products for their target customers through retail or online shopping.

Weakness: On the other hand, José Eber’s weakest link would be their profit margin is

significantly lower than other competitors such as Braun because similar products are sold for a less expensive price. The products are mainly sold through retail stores and online stores.

- External factors of the organization consist of:

Opportunities:

The most profound opportunity is that José Eber has a huge market potential which attracts more customers. It has a lot of customers because of its good known brand image. With further innovation, globalization helps to bring out a rise in demands for the product.

Threats:

One of the biggest threats was the global economic crisis and economic downfall. Growing competition with other companies from established chain markets for example Braun, Babyliss etc. This also makes it hard to keep up with the change in market demand and consumer preference.

M eas ura bleAc hie veabl eRe alis ticTi meSp eci fic

Marketing Objectives

Most marketing objectives go through the SMART test. It is designed to minimize misinterpretation or assumptions in the marketing objectives. (Richman, 2006)

José Eber uses SMART to asses it’s marketing objectives, it helps the company when looking at the profitability, market share and its growth

Figure 1.

Problems Stated

Hair styling tools in general tend to strip the oils from the hair. Over heat can damage the hair causing spilt ends and bristled hair.

Solutions:

José Eber new built in keratin serum helps solve over heating as it gives out a layered serum helping it to protect the hair from being damaged.

Segmentation

Targeting

Positioning

Core strategy

The marketing objectives are achieved through the core strategy of the company, José Eber. The core strategy is accomplished through target markets, competitor targets and competitor

advantage.

Target market:

When a particular market is targeted, it is easily reached and it is ideal that a second potential market exists which is determined by the nature of the product (McCann, 1923). José Eber targets all customers who would use their product for themselves or use it as a service to others.

Figure 2

Figure 3. Retail stores Individual customers Beauty industry (Hair salons)

MARKET SEGEMENTS

Market usually consists of customers with similar needs and through market segmenting, the company can identify the customer’s particular needs and segment them according to their liking towards the product or service. (Doyle and Stern, 2006)

José Eber specialises in 3 segments within the particular market. Ranging from selling products such as hair straighteners to providing beauty services at prestigious salons.

Consumer Markets Demographic

José Eber creates products mainly for customers who would be involved in the beauty industry. The product does not target only women but those who would be able to also sell our products in their retail store or productively use our product as a service in their companies, such as hair salons. The product is ideally also for those aged 15 and above, however it mainly targets the market segments as per figure 3.

Geographic

José Eber is a UK based company. It is sold internationally to retail stores and different salons in well-known countries, ranging from U.S to UAE. It is sold in areas such as malls which are visited by customers on a daily basis.

Psychographic

José Eber aims their products for customers within the middle class to the upper class. Different consumer lifestyles exist between social classes and so it is ideally for those who are able to afford it and use it on a regular basis.

Personality marketers use various personalities to segment the customers into their particular segments. The company strives to match their products with brand personalities of their consistent customer personality (Kotler and Fox, 2002).

Behavioural

Brand loyalty towards José Eber would portray how strong the customers loyalty and their preference towards the particular product. José Eber is a prestigious brand known worldwide and is used by many hair salons. The brand loyalty from our customers would be from a medium to high. The company is well known for its products being efficient and reliable whenever used. The product is well known to be used by many women and it is also used by many hair stylists

throughout the country and so the product usage would be from medium to high.

Requirements for an effective segmentation.

Measurable

Accessible

Substantial

Durable

•Size and

character of

the resulting

segments

can be

determined.

•Customers

can be

reached and

served

effectively.

•Large

enough to

warrant a

special

marketing

effort.

•The product

is likely to

resist over

time.

José Eber’s marketing mix Market

Jose Eber’s marketing mix 1 Jose Eber’s marketing mix 2 Jose Eber’s marketing mix 3

Segment 1 Segment 2 Segment 3

Jose Eber’s marketing mix

Segment 1 Segment 2 Segment 3

Figure 4.

2. Market targeting

Selecting the right target market is essential when trying to release the product into the market. The company aims to decide among the three broad market coverage strategies; undifferentiated marketing, differentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. (Rich, 2009)

a. Undifferentiated marketing:

b. Differentiated marketing

c. Concentrated marketing

Figure 4.

José Eber is more for the concentrated marketing segment. The product is meant for anyone involved with the beauty segment in the market. Customers ranging from students in colleges, housewives, working people to the product being used as a service in hair salons or being sold at

various retail stores. This way the company satisfies the customer’s needs and wants within the particular segment in the market.

3. Market positioning

Positioning strategy is the decision made within the target market segments, which would define where and how the business would compete, with the advantage of being differentiated amongst the segments. (Koleszar, 2009)

- Introducing new brand: José Eber is introducing the new product into the market. 3 in 1 product gives the company a competitive advantage over other companies who are selling each product individually.

- Changing existing brand: changing the cost and utility so that the product is more appealing to the customers, this will be done a few months after the product has been released into the market.

3 4 X 1 Economy 2 Mass market 3 Premium 4 Luxury x José Eber 19

QUALITY COST

Jos

é

Eber's Marketing Position

1

2

Figure 5.

As per the figure above, José Eber is placed in between the mass market and premium to portray that it is a reasonable product priced closer to premium as it is a medium- high quality product. On the other hand the components used to produce the products are slightly high.

Competitive advantage

An advantage gained by José Eber is when it can provide the same value as our competitors, such as; Braun, Chi and Bellami however it is sold at a reasonable price and provides more value through differentiation.

José Eber is different as it has an in built keratin serum added to the nano glide titanium plates of the hair tools which would cause less damage to the hair unlike our other competitor’s product. In a strategic marketing plan one of the aims is to find a favourable position in a distinct industry and then exploiting a long term competitive advantage (McGrath, 2013)

Competitor analysis

One of José Eber’s aims is to satisfy our customers’ needs and by doing so, the company also has to better than their competitors and the company sets its competitive benchmarks with companies such as Braun, Chi and Bellami, comparing customer satisfaction with the products, services and relationships of the company with its competition.

Competitive benchmarking is essential as it encourages the management to pay attention on the customers externally as well as the competition at hand (Doyle and Stern, 2006).

1 Determine the critical success factors. With the help of market research, the company is able to identify the quality and service valued by customers. 2 Measuring the customers remarks on the business as well as critical success

factors

3 How customers perceive the main competitors

4 Measuring the performance gap. Using tools such as SWOT and PESTLE. 5 Analysing the data gathered through research and creating / using solutions

provided to achieve the marketing objectives and also to determine how the gap can be closed.

With the help of Porter’s model of industry competition, the company is able to adjust accordingly to the different suppliers, potential entrants in the market as well as the bargaining power of customers.

Potential Product Augmented Product Other services Tangible Product Core Product

Hair styling tools

Figure 6.

Marketing Mix

José Eber is based on professional hair styling tools. Our new signature series range features are 3-1 product which consists of a straightener, curler and blow-dryer. The concept is based on using one product but with three interchangeable barrels fused with ceramic that easily creates the perfect long lasting silky desired hair style. Separate buttons have been added to enhance each styling tool all with one stylish LED display handle. The new signature series is an

exclusive product because it is different and new to the market. It comes in three different colors. The benefits of using this product is that it has an in build keratin serum which makes your hair silky and causes less damage to your hair.

Figure 7.

Core Product: Specialising in hair quality tools apart from the additional services and products. Tangible Product: This would characterise by the physical qualities for example the titanium rods used in the making of the product etc.

Augmented Product: This is the part other services and products are taken in. For example heat protective hairsprays etc. This is generated to multiple revenue streams. Additionally is involves in the brand identity and image.

Potential Product: This applies in the transformation of the product, to better innovative products in the future.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2012 2013 2014 2015 Braun José Eber Chi Bellami Price:

Price is one of the elements that produce revenue in the marketing mix. It helps market the company’s intended value, positioning the product. Additionally the price of a product will depend on factors such as competition, target market and willingness to pay (Kotler, P and Keller, K.L, 2008). The price strategy used is by penetration pricing. The José Eber signature series will be sold at a starting price of $185. The expected result is that it will have high sales and large market share.

Sales

Figure 8 Time

Place:

When considering the place to promote the product, it is quite critical as the company upholds the product to potential clients who would convert to actual customers. Throughout Dubai, José Eber is promoted through most retail stores in well-known malls such as Dubai mall, Deira City Centre and more. The product will also be sold to hair salons and on the main website.

Promotion:

After deciding on the price for the finalized product, promotion is inclusive of different elements such as: advertising, video marketing social marketing, email marketing, search engine

marketing… etc. For José Eber we advertise our products through different social media such as Youtube, Facebook and through our own website ‘www.Joséeber.com’. Each of the social media sites contribute equally into promoting the product however most of the promotion is done on a face to face basis.

Organization and Implementation

Achieving more effective implementations or execution of the marketing strategies is a high priority for many organizations. (Hooley, Piercy, & Nicoulaud, 2012)

Implementing strategic plans

A common method of implementation is a critical factor in which the organization appears to buy into the strategic appropriate behaviours. This involves slogans, social media, advertisements etc.

During the year;

 To have whole sales/ retailer chains

 Creating advertisements that be used to enhance our brand image and invite customers to try out the product

 Generate sales

Long term goals;

 To be one of the leading brand in hair styling tools in the beauty industry.

 More innovative products which help satisfy our customers  Higher profits reaching the target market

Control

The aim of the marketing control aspect allows the company, José Eber to see if marketing objectives are being followed prior to the performance standards. The results from the company are then compared to the performance standards and if for instance the standards are not met, the top administration would have made corrections and alterations to the marketing objectives and this creates a cycle of events. There are many approaches to control, such as: sales analysis, quality controls, budgets, marketing research, feedback from customers (surveys) etc…

These various types of controls help the company achieve its marketing objectives:

Type of control. Example

Customer feedback Customer surveys, customer complaints and

customer panels

Sales analysis and control Sales volume and sales trend

Market share analysis and control As per sales analysis but based on how the well the company is in the market

Profitability analysis and control Return on capital, net profit and analysis of cost and margin

Strategic control Making use of the full marketing audit

Conclusion

In conclusion with the help of SOSTAC José Eber is able to meet its marketing objectives and goals with help of the marketing audit, SWOT, PESTLE analysis, marketing mix decisions and organizations and implementation. All this helped identify where the product lies in the market and the how our product differs from other competitors.

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Appendix

THE SURVERY SHOWS THE APPROXIMATE RESULTS OF 30SURVEYS Survey: José Eber.

Name: _____________________________________________________________ Number: ___________________________________________________________ Email address: ______________________________________________________ 1. Do you use a hair tool?

Yes No

2. If yes, which of the below do you use? A- Hair straightener

B- Blow dryer C- Hair curler D- All of the above

3. How often do you use a hair tool?

Everyday Often Never

4. Do you use a blow dryer more than a straightener?

Yes No

5. Have you ever used any of José Eber’s products? If yes, please specify.

Yes No

-Hair straightener pro series

6. What are your thoughts on José Eber’s product? A- Good product

B- Fairly okay

C- Needs improvement

7. How would you rate the product? A- 8- 10

B- 5-7 C- 0-4

8. How would you rate the price of the products at José Eber? A- 8-10

B- 5-7 C- 0-4

9. Would you purchase other products from José Eber? Yes

No

10. Have you had any bad experiences with any of José Eber’s products? Yes

No