Introduction
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is currently a cosmopolitan region with consumers who value high lifestyle. This set of circumstances has arisen from the increased revenue that is derived from oil export, excellent infrastructure, and vigorous workforce from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Various studies underpin the fact that the agricultural sector in the UAE only contributes to a minimal percentage of the revenue. The primary sources of revenue in the country dairy, poultry, seafood, and minimal production of fruits and vegetables. As a result, there are minimal food processing plants in the region.
Due to the limited foodstuff production in the region, there are amplified opportunities for foodstuff and beverage importation in the country. For instance, expanding tourism industry in the UAE has also escalated the demand for more agricultural products in the hotels and restaurants.
This essay provides an analysis of the consumer needs and trends in the United Arab Emirates by examining the various market surveys that have been conducted in an attempt to assess the demand for banana puree.
Marketing Strategy and Plan for a New Food Product in the UAE Market
Businesses that realize high sales volume and considerable competitive advantages have unique characteristics that revolve around the marketing strategies that are implemented.
According to Melotti, such strategies encompass crucial processes such as creation of customer value, business a situational analysis, and development of the product among others (72).
Creation of Customer Value
Various steps that will be conducted to ensure that a perfect value for customers is created are explained below.
Comprehension of Value Drivers for the Customers
The top management will engage both the middle and front line managements to conduct surveys with a view of understanding the viewpoints of the product’s new consumers. This research will entail talking to the consumers and observing their actions and behaviors towards the newly developed banana puree.
The data from the research conducted will be interpreted to ensure better understanding of consumer preferences and the opportunities that are available (Smith and Colgate 10).
Value Propositioning
Effective value propositioning ensures that consumers spend a lot of time acquiring more information about a company’s product. This practice is usually essential for the products of a company that is new in the market.
Value propositioning is understood as a promise of a quality value that will be delivered to consumers (Smith and Colgate 15). Value propositioning will be conducted to ensure customer relevancy and benefits. This process will also be used to inform the consumers about the uniqueness of the new food product.
The management will ensure that simple and correct business language is adopted in the survey with an aim of soliciting sufficient information on what the customers fell about the product (Huber, Herrmann, and Morgan 41).
Features that will be considered include images with simple explanations to provide more information about the product. Briefly, the feature will elaborate the benefits, target customers, and uniqueness of the product.
The cost of the product will be reasonable to capture a sizeable market in the UAE. It will be advertised through various media sources to ensure that information reaches many customers (Smith and Colgate 15).
Identification of customer segments where more values can be created with higher qualities compared to the competitors
Employees and the management will collaborate with consumers in the launch of the product to gather adequate information about their perceptions. The information will be used to compare the product with those of competitors in the market environment (Smith and Colgate 15).
Customer segmentation will then be accomplished by separation to identify those with specific needs. The features that will be considered include demographic, financial, geographical, and business information. This situation will lead the company to identification of the class of customers who will be targeted first.
Creation of Price
The management will establish a win-win price whereby the customers will get higher values of the product. Customers with perceptions of being offered greater values are projected to pay more for the new product (Smith and Colgate 17).
Investing in the Customers
The enterprise will invest immensely in the few loyal customers and segments that can be served with the required convenience to ensure higher returns (Smith and Colgate 16).
The Strategic Planning for the Market
According to Huber, Herrmann, and Morgan, a marketing plan is an organization’s blueprint that defines its marketing activities (41). It guides operations such as strategic planning and tactic points (Huber, Herrmann, and Morgan 41). The strategic planning that the company will embrace is market-oriented.
This position will be accomplished with an aim of getting more returns and ensure improved growth of the business. The strategic plan for the market will entail the following features.
Situation Analysis
The current market situation is favorable for the performance of the food product in the UAE. The market base is relatively broad. This set of circumstances will maintain low competition since there is little feasibility of similar products in the near future.
New market entrants in the food market are still minimal; hence, competition is almost non-existent (Bhuiyan 746). Examining the company’s technology, there is progressive innovation of various food products including the banana puree.
Replacement of old with new technology has minimized the errors that arose from using obsolete equipment in the production processes (Bhuiyan 746). The company’s profit feasibility has been done to ensure the progress of business activity in the market.
The current revenue margin is above the expected value. This situation guarantees successful introduction of the banana puree in the UAE market.
A SWOT analysis that has been conduct to determine the suitability of the business indicates that the strength of the product will be realized in direct sales to consumers. Another advantage will be the cost of the product that will be maintained at an affordable price.
Product responsiveness is also projected to be high amongst the consumers (Bhuiyan 746). Weaknesses that are currently experienced in the business environment include relatively increased workloads that are likely to affect the completion of the project adversely.
Therefore, employees will be overworked, a situation that can bring about dissatisfaction and increased turnover rates. Another issue that is being addressed is how to minimize the inventories in the company (Bhuiyan 748).
The opportunity that has been noted is the increased spending on foodstuffs among the consumers in the UAE. Such spending is an opportunity to venture into the business by introducing more foodstuffs in the market.
There is also amplified proliferation of knowledge on various agricultural foodstuffs among the consumers due to increased use of internet. Online platforms have created an opportunity to reach more consumers. This situation will ensure seizure of a larger market share (Huber, Herrmann, and Morgan 41).
Despite such advantages, the company’s primary threat is the developed companies that offer similar food products. As a result, the company has no alternative other than designing a unique product that surpasses the expectations of consumers.
Various aspects of sale forecasting that the management will embrace include feasible markets, technique of generating revenues, costs of operations, and estimation of demands (Huber, Herrmann, and Morgan 41).
Cost analysis will be conducted by focusing on the design and quality of the product, implementation of communication channels, and proper scheduling of processes. The identification of costs will be accomplished through cost estimation and quantification among other methods.
Developing the Market Strategies
Product
According to Bose, any item that is offered in a market for satisfying a consumer’s need is known as a product (510). Products are either tangible or intangible. Tangible products encompass physical goods. On the other hand, intangible products are services, experiences, events, and ideas among others.
The unavailability of banana purees in the UAE has created an opportunity to offer such products in the country. The product will be characterized by binding qualities such as excellent packaging that will use environmental friendly materials.
Packaging will also have detailed information about the convenience and usage of the products as well as the expiry date (Berthon et al. 261).
Pricing of the Product
Pricing of the new product will be based on various factors that include the costs of all expenses incurred during production, marketing, and advertisement. Another aspect that will be considered before estimating the price of the foodstuff is internet usage (Bose 510).
This exercise will enable the company to view the prices of the closest rival companies that offer similar products. Discounts, introductory offers, and coupons will also be taken into account to ensure that the consumers are successfully enticed.
This price will be determined to fall between the cost of production and consumers’ average bid. An example of pricing technique that will be used is the costs plus whereby the total costs of production will be calculated first. The price will then be added to the cost with an aim of establishing a reasonable profit percentage (Bose 510).
Distribution and Promotion Strategies (Market Mix)
Continuous advancement in technology in the UAE market has improved communication significantly.
The company has invested heavily in technology; hence, promotion of the product will be accomplished adequately through processes such as advertisement, public relations, direct and indirect sales, direct mails, sponsorship, and the company’s brand name (Berthon et al. 261).
Internet marketing techniques will be applied whereby online selling of the product will be done using banner advertisements, videos, blogs, and social media.
The distribution strategies that will be used include vehicles and distribution agencies among others. Retail stores will also be used to sell the products to customers who are unable to reach the location of the company or hypermarkets that offer the products (Berthon et al. 261).
Conclusion
The essay has elaborated the marketing research on consumer needs for the banana puree, a new product that will be introduced in the UAE market. It is noted that United Arab Emirates is an upcoming market for the product due to the minimal agricultural production that is practiced in the region.
The culture and lifestyle of the consumers in the region also portray cosmopolitan behavior whereby significant investments and returns are based on the revenues from oil export.
An added advantage to the opportunity is the improved growth of the tourism industry that has led to the sprouting of many hotels. This situation is a viable opportunity for the banana puree.
Works Cited
Berthon, Pierre, Leyland Pitt, Kirk Plangger, and Daniel Shapiro. “Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy.” Business Horizons 55.3(2012): 261-271.
Bhuiyan, Nadia. “A framework for successful new product development.” Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management 4.4(2011): 746-770.
Bose, Ranjit. “Competitive intelligence process and tools for intelligence analysis.” Industrial Management & Data Systems 108.4(2008): 510-528.
Huber, Frank, Andreas Herrmann, and Robert Morgan. “Gaining competitive advantage through customer value oriented management.” Journal of consumer marketing 18.1(2001): 41-53.
Melotti, Marxiano. “Heritage and Tourism. Global Society and Shifting Values in the United Arab Emirates.” Middle East-Topics & Arguments 3.1(2014): 71-91.
Smith, Brock and Mark Colgate. “Customer value creation: A practical framework.” Journal of marketing theory and practice 15.1(2007): 7-23.