Marketing Performance Review

This assignment consists of two parts and aims to review the business

performance against the marketing objectives. The review strategy

shall depend on reassessment of power SWOT analysis, positioning

strategy, competitive analysis, target market analysis and marketing

mix strategy. It will include the things need to be reviewed, when to be

reviewed, how often to be reviewed and who would carry out the

research and review.

Performance Review

It is important for the success of any business to keep conducting

regular review of the marketing activities performed by the company.

In Nj Chocolate Company, we identified five aspects of the marketing

strategy that need to be reviewed after the second quarter of

operation in order to check performance against the objectives set by

the company including the following:

1- Power SWOT Analysis

It seems that the 100% pure ingredients of NJ's Chocolate has

competitive advantage in the market and enables the company

to achieve one of the most important objectives of the company

which is promoting the image of the product and increasing the

awareness of the mass people of the quality of NJ's Chocolate.

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Knowing that it's 100% pure organic ingredients chocolate have

motivated many customers to buy the product. The promotion of

the product is going slower than expected because the

marketing activities weren't concentrated enough. It is seems

that the company as expected has difficulty in penetrating the

market on account on other competitors and that shows that

brands such as Patchi chocolate, kit-Kat, Jersey and Nestle

represent great threats to Nj's Chocolate.

The marketing and research department need to reconsider how

can the company gain market share from other strong

competitors by identifying the main weaknesses of these

competitors that can be used by the company to promote its

product.

2-Positioning Strategy

The positioning strategy of NJ's Chocolate is reviewed in terms of

what really has been achieved during the second quarter of

operation against what has been set in the positioning strategy

developed by the company. It seems that the company has

distinguished itself by providing a product made of pure and high

quality ingredients. However, the company needs to review its

positioning strategy especially in the part concerned with

targeting customers on healthy basis because the attempt to

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promote NJ's chocolate on this basis shall create a kind of

complicity amongst the customers who might think that NJ's

chocolate is only suitable for people with diabetic problems.

Instead, it would be better to attempt to promote Nj's chocolate

on basis of chocolate for all and for better life.

Pricing Strategy Analysis : When the pricing strategy is

reviewed after the second quarter of operation that means we

shall review the effect of the introduction stage price on

customers. NJ's chocolate needs to reconsider its pricing rates

during the introduction stage of the product to involve more

reduction in order to attract more customers. There is no

significant difference between the pricing of NJ's chocolate and

the pricing adopted by the key competitors in the market.

However, being a new product NJ's chocolate needs to offer more

incentives for consumers to switch their loyalty from the well-

known brands in Kuwait to develop loyalty for NJ's chocolate. At

the Introduction do a market skimming to see the prices of the

competitors and at this stage I would a set a price to my services

and products. This strategy is appropriate for a new product

introduced to the market. It should be taken into account upon

setting the price of the introduction stage that I shall be

increased in the growth stage.

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3-Competitive Analysis

The importance of reviewing the main strengths and weaknesses of

the main competitors of NJ's Chocolate is to assess their influence on

the marketing and sales its product especially during the introduction

stage of NJ's chocolate during by the end of the second quarter of

operation. It seems that Patch is the strongest competitor for NJ's

chocolate being the main dominant chocolate in the Kuwaiti market.

Patch has strong promotional activities that cover the market

throughout the year. Effective Merchandising is the strongest

promotion activity of Patchi. This kind of promotion is made inside

Patchi luxury boutique through unique displaying of its products, usage

of splendid packaging.

Patchi also offers wide range of chocolates of different names, size

and ingredients. NJ's chocolate has to carry out similar marketing

activities to be able to compete with Patchi, the company has to offer

more promotions especially during public holidays and national

festivals especially in Eid, Christmas, Kuwait National Day, Liberation

Day and Hala February where Patchi offers extensive promotions and

discounts.

4-Target Market Analysis

Reviewing the target markets after six months of operation is very

effective to identify which segment with the highest purchasing power.

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Having reviewed the different segments of the market we managed to

identify that targeting consumers on healthy basis isn’t practical way

to promote the product because it has negative impact on ordinary

people who don't suffer from diabetic or obesity and misunderstood

the marketing concept of the product. Therefore the marketing

department should focus on promoting NJ's chocolate on demographic

basis such as gender and age. segment the market on lifestyle basis is

also very effective as it focuses on different social occasions and

parties.

5- Marketing Mix Analysis

The marketing department would review the four marketing mix to

identify which one of the four needs to be changed. It seems that in

the second quarter of operation, which the company has to reconsider

the placing strategy to coordinate with distributors to display the

product in more popular markets with high density of visitors and not

to restrict the presentation of NJ's chocolate at luxury shops and malls.

The company has to come up with new marketing techniques and

don't confided itself with the conventional ones. Innovation is very

important aspect that should be given more consideration through

encouraging the designers of the marketing campaigns to design more

innovative logo and promotion messages more attractive to the

customers.

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Part 2- Marketing Plan Review Report

The current business objectives include :

1- I will commence my business called NJ Chocolate on April7,2011.

2- My Sales revenues for the year ended April6, 2011 will be KD

5840.

3- My net profits for the year ended on April6, 2012 will be KD 2215

KD

4- My expected total customers for the year ended April6, 2012 will

be KD 16920.

5- My breakeven point will be in September,2011.

Changes made to the current business objectives include:

1- I would postpone my opening date to June 21, 2011. This

because I shall wait till the end of the scholar year in Kuwait to

launch the new product in the beginning of the summer holidays

2- My sales revenues for the year ended June12, 2011 will be KD

7000. Because the sales of the product during the summer

holidays, Ramadan and Eids are expected to grow 25% when we

introduce more innovative marketing techniques.

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3- My net profits for the year ended on April6, 2012 will be KD

14000. Because any profitable business will not exceed its profits

more than 100% from the previous year.

4- We shall try to gain the largest share of chocolate market in

Kuwait, but it isn’t possible to identify a specific number of

customers. We can build up close projection about the number

of customers but it is hard to identify accurate number.

Current Opportunities

- NJ's Chocolate shall be produced in local plant and this would

reduce the costs of transportation and distribution.

- Growing market with strong potentials to increase the

consumption of chocolates in Kuwait including NJ's Chocolate

- NJ's Chocolate is a national product that shall be exempted from

taxation and thus would save taxation costs to the company, which
can be directed to other activities such as marketing

- Global brands of chocolate are very costly so launching our

product for low prices will acquire considerable share of the market.

- There is high potential to expand my business and open new

markets in GCC

Changes made to Current Opportunities

- Growing number of Kuwaiti nationals tend to spend the holidays

in Kuwait which would mean more celebrations, parties and
weddings which consume great deal of chocolate. I made this

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 change because we have noticed that travel costs have
increased preventing people from touring around.

- There is a strong trend within the government to add corporate

income taxes on national companies. Therefore the opportunity
of being exempted from taxes doesn’t form strong competitive
advantage to the company. Instead of this opportunity we shall
place another one related to the facilities granted by the Small
Business Fund in Kuwait which provides free-interest loans for
national industries and this would relieve our burden from the
high interest rate of finance companies.

- I would change the third opportunity mentioned above to be that

global brands are only marketed in luxury markets with limited
target customers as it's promoted on basis of income. so we shall
focus on promoting our product in both the luxury and popular
markets in Kuwait to attract the largest share of customers.

- The last opportunity related to expanding my business in new

GCC countries seems a bit costly and requires huge funds. I
would replace this opportunity with another one related to
expanding my business locally through opening new branches in
most Kuwaiti cities. I made this change because local expansion
is far less expensive than regional expansion.