Company Analysis
Moonpig.com is a UK-based e-retailer and pioneer in the online greeting cards market. The industry leader with a 60% market share sells personalized cards, gifts, mugs, and t-shirts (Moonpig Group, 2021). In recent years, it has diversified into flowers and augmented reality segments with video cards. Moonpig’s core markets are the UK, Netherlands, US, and Australia. Data from IBISWorld (2020) show that Moonpig’s sales rose by 156%, and app downloads tripled in the April-June 2020 period. Its business comprises two categories: greeting cards and gifts (card-connected and standalone).
Moonpig has a large selection of over 10,000 designs for greeting cards, accounting for 56% of its sales revenue (Moonpig Group, 2021). It is a development-driven firm with a strong focus on improving digital experiences through personalization. Recently, Moonpig listed on the London Stock Exchange with an estimated stock value of £1.2 billion (Nazir, 2021). Thus, a strong brand positioning based on personal touch, a digital print technology, and a broad product range is a key growth driver.
External Analysis: PESTEL Analysis
Political
Without a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, barriers to capital and labor flows are likely to increase. Moonpig’s license to operate in the EU and access to skilled staff will be limited, affecting its marketing, new investments, and R&D activities (Moschieri & Blake, 2019). Raising taxes to cover budget deficits due to the pandemic effects would reduce consumer spending. A depreciating pound since the 2016 Brexit referendum and limited government responses have affected B2C transactions invoiced in foreign currency. An increase in the minimum wage by 2.2% to £8.91 by April 2021 will lead to additional labor costs for Moonpig (Gov.UK, 2020). On the other hand, higher median earnings are likely to enhance consumer spending and demand.
Economic
The inflation rate could harm UK-based firms, especially after Brexit. It has remained relatively low since 2016, at 1.7%, but it may rise due to weaker sales in external markets (Moschieri & Blake, (2019). A low GDP growth and incomes occasioned by the global pandemic will decrease people’s purchasing levels.
Social
High access to the internet by the UK’s population is a crucial driver of online retailing. Personalized greeting cards are growing in popularity among the youth. Thus, greeting card designers must include designs attractive to the youthful and female demographic. According to Statista (2018), women buy an estimated 80% of all cards and often make bulk orders. Web-based platforms have gained acceptance among users as a tool for maintaining socially distanced connections during the COVID-19 period.
Technology
Increased penetration of smartphones in the UK has accelerated the development of e-cards and innovative features, such as augmented reality or 3D cards. The expansion in 4G and 5G connectivity supports the sending or receiving, avoiding high postal rates. Regarding technology, the UK is considered 10 years ahead of other countries in technical designs (CardFactory, 2021). The e-cards are made to match the preferences of the tech-savvy generation.
Environmental
No major issues relevant to the online greeting cards industry can be identified. However, consumers increasingly prefer eco-friendly or sustainably produced items, such as t-shirts. The sustainability-marketing strategy on social media (Facebook) has a high emotional appeal and customer engagement (Lee et al., 2018). Therefore, personalized mugs and t-shirts aligned with these principles are preferable.
Legal
A legal issue relevant to the UK online greeting industry includes regulations on product placement and promotions. Under British law, marketers must provide an editorial justification for placing a brand in a program (CardFactory, 2021). Copyright infringement related to images and videos placed on e-cards is another pertinent legal issue.
External Analysis: Microenvironment
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis (Appendix) shows that the degree of rivalry, customers’ bargaining power, and the threat of new entrants are high in this industry. These three forces have the greatest impact on Moonpig’s business performance. Competitors and similar UK websites, including funkypigeon.com, cardfactory.co.uk, and hallmark cards, control about 40% of the market (IBISWorld, 2020). Further, as supermarkets expand to many locations, competition is expected to increase.
The VRIO framework can reveal strategic capabilities based on Moonpig’s actual operational tactics. Based on publicly accessible data, the VRIO model (Appendix) comparing the firm’s resources and competencies in the UK online greetings card market indicates that Moonpig has sustainable competitive advantages in technology, human resource or talent developed in its innovation hub, and brand reputation (IBISWorld, 2020). However, Moonpig’s financial resources may not confer a long-term advantage, as competitors such as funkypigeon.com are performing relatively well in the UK market. Innovation and creativity are also imitable; hence, not a source of sustainable competitive strengths.
Buyer Persona for Moonpig
The Buyer Persona Spring (BPS) is a useful digital marketing strategy for e-commerce businesses. According to Vieira et al. (2019), BPS comprises five key elements: strategic business objectives, buyer persona, content, channels, and data depicted as loops (Figure 2). Moonpig has two different B2C buyer personas for its business: individual and corporate customers.
Individual Customer – Jim Cole
Jim is a 23-year-old male student in a London university and an avid user of digital communication. He is not married but has a girlfriend who lives in Manchester.
Channels
Jim uses Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube to connect with family and friends. He is also active on Twitter and Instagram and looks for good deals on shopping and leisure.
Motivations/Hot points
Jim is aware of the emotional connection that greeting cards and gifts offer but does not get the personalization he desires from retail stores. He recently turned to websites to avoid the hassle of visiting physical stores.
Goals
- Needs personalized greeting cards and gifts tailored to each occasion.
- Would prefer to purchase in bulk to fit diverse preferences.
Frustrations/Pain points
- Limited filter options for culture-specific or localized cards.
- Fewer results when localized cards filters are applied.
Corporate Client – Weston Cricket Club (Andrea Rogers)
Andrea is a 31-year-old married female from Liverpool working as a marketing and communications manager for the Weston Cricket Club. She manages a team that promotes the club through TV, newspaper, and social media.
Channels
Andrea uses TV, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for marketing the club and connecting with the audience and fans. She interacts with family through WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter. She uses LinkedIn, Email, and Twitter to maintain her professional network and for media relations.
Motivations
- Making decisions promoting the brand image of the club.
- Using new technologies to attract a younger audience to the club.
Goals
- Enhance digital member engagement.
- To be responsive and connect emotionally to members.
Frustrations
- She has to manage diverse channels, content, and audiences.
- A fast-changing environment poses a challenge to managing club reputation.
Explanation
For the two customer groups, the channels, content, and data are analyzed to determine the best strategy for reaching them. From the buyer personas outlined above, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are appropriate channels to access individual customers, for example, Jim. Moonpig can use this platform to promote downloads for its app. For corporate clients, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Email can be effective for accessing decision-makers. Additionally, Moonpig’s website is a useful resource to customers searching for cards.
Regarding content, using personalized messages enables customers to associate the firm with the emotional gratification derived from giving a gift or card. Its brand positioning, “unleash the caring instinct and cultivate the caring habit”, resonates with the company’s goal of being an intermediary in this experience (Lyons, 2018, para. 9). Increased presence on TV and social media will create the social capital to reach Cole. In Andrea’s case, personalized messages about Moonpig sent via LinkedIn or email are an appropriate digital marketing strategy.
On data, the BPS can be tightened using Moonpig’s website and social media analytics. The firm uses data analytics to analyze traffic to its site and app by country and online source. The majority of its traffic (54.9%) comes from paid searches followed by display ads such as hotukdeals.com (2.1%) and social media referrals (1.3%) – YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, Pinterest, and Twitter (SimilarWeb, 2020). Users leave digital footprints when using social media that can be harnessed to access the buyer persona through these channels.
SWOT Analysis
Organizations use SWOT analysis as a tactical tool to refine the strategic process in the digital marketplace. It comprises the internal factors under the firm’s control (online strengths and weaknesses) and uncontrollable elements (opportunities and threats) resulting from the external environment (Vlados, 2019). Comparing Moonpig with top online greetings card retailers in the UK will be useful for building the SWOT for this firm. Competitive analysis in this market is included in Table 1 below. It shows that Moonpig’s lags behind in traffic sources and referral sites (weaknesses) but performs well in social engagement (strength). It shares most of its customers with funkypigeon.com and cardfactory.co.uk (a threat).
Table 1: Competitive Analysis for Moonpig (Alexa, 2021).
A SWOT analysis of Moonpig based on the above information and web searches is provided below.
Strengths
- Broad product portfolio – Moonpig offers a big collection of personalized gifts and cards (via its app) at a low cost.
- A personal customer service – From the Alexa analysis, Moonpig performs better than competitors in social engagement of users. Thus, it has a strong personal touch with customers in their online experiences
- Delivery service – Delivery is a value-added service for purchased cards and gifts that has enhanced consumer trust in the brand.
- Accessibility – Moonpig has a strong online presence; it is highly accessible because it is a digital business.
- Strong growth – Moonpig can leverage its strong growth in the UK – controls over 60% of the market – to expand internationally (Lyons, 2018).
Weaknesses
- Limited physical presence – Moonpig operates few physical stores and has less partners with brick-and-mortar operations in its traditional markets.
- Low brand visibility – Its limited presence in social media is low as indicated by the low traffic sources from these platforms and referral sites to its website relative to its competitors (Table 1).
Opportunities
- A market shift to e-cards – The rising popularity of e-cards and online shopping will increase demand for these products.
- Increasing recognition of holidays – Many holidays (Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day) and festivals are now being celebrated across the globe and represent potential growth segments.
- Growing demand for personalization – Customer preferences are shifting towards brands that offer a personal touch and customized products, such as those integrating lighting with audio features, video cards, and augmented reality.
- Depressed competition – Competition from offline retailers is likely to remain low, as non-essential stores are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Demographic shifts – A growing millennial population that needs personalization when sending e-cards will increase demand for digital greeting cards in the future.
Threats
- Competitive pressure – Moonpig’s markets (the UK, Australia, and the US) have many established competitors with a large product portfolio – a threat to the firm’s sales performance and growth.
- Physical stores – A significant proportion of consumers still favor brick-and-mortar retailers over online stores.
- Economic slowdown – Depressed economic growth and lost incomes due to COVID-19 effects are likely to hit Moonpig’s customers, reducing their purchase volume and frequency.
Marketing Plan for Moonpig
From the SWOT analysis, the major weaknesses of Moonpig’s strategy are limited offline and social media presence. The following marketing plan will help promote the Moonpig brand through multiple channels. As Chaffey and Smith (2017) indicate, firms can use six different types of digital media to reach defined buyer personas: search marketing, internet-based public relations, digital business alliances, interactive ads, emailing, and social media. Firm-initiated ads or messaging (owned media) would help enhance customer acquisition and sales compared to user-generated content (Vieira et al., 2019). The proposed marketing plan will focus on creating a digital investment portfolio controlled by Moonpig using the SOSTAC framework.
Situation Analysis
Based on SWOT analysis and the review of the macro- and micro-environment, Moonpig’s current performance is the online greetings card market is average. It performs well in customer engagement through augmented technology but low brand visibility on social media affects traffic to this site and sales. Macro-environmental factors, including Covid-19 effects and Brexit, also affect its performance due to reduced disposable incomes and potential inflation (Moschieri & Blake, 2019).
However, Moonpig leverages customer insight to provide personalization products (customized video cards) that reflect changing trends. The key marketplace opportunities to exploit exist in new segments such as lockdown cards, augmented reality, and personalized e-cards. Competitor benchmarking shows that funkypigeon.com, gettingpersonal.co.uk, and cardfactory.co.uk are Moonpig’s strongest rivals.
Key SMART Objectives
- Build company profile on social media, follow influential figures, and share content 5-10 times daily to increase sales by 20% within the next 1 year.
- Email 30 customers and send newsletters to 500 clients to increase traffic to the website by 25% within the next 9 months.
Strategy
Strategic Recommendations Utilizing Buyer Persona Strategy
Based on the two buyer personas’ profile described above, segmentation strategies for multiple channels, content, and data components of the BPS are recommended. Moonpig’s target audience is active on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. Enhanced online presence in these two channels and SEO optimization are recommended to increase social engagement, app downloads, and traffic to its website (Silva et al., 2020). To reach the B2B client segment, email marketing is suggested.
On content, it is recommended that email messages focus on corporate e-card offerings that can help firms connect with employees and customers on a personal level. Further, increasing TV ads would be useful in initial consumer acquisition and redirection to the Moonpig website and app (Chang et al., 2019). Press releases shared through traditional media and LinkedIn networks can be useful for targeting corporate customers. The company can also disseminate its personalization and augmented reality capabilities through its app.
On data, a marketing strategy that includes information security is recommended to prevent breaches that can have a reputational cost on Moonpig. Contacting unique visits or visitors to Moonpig’s website can help increase the conversion rate and expand the market share. Moonpig should also mine online data (visits to its site and e-cards or categories browsed) to understand customer behavior and preferences and provide relevant products, especially for the younger demographic.
Strategic Recommendations for Further Digital Analysis
A recommendation for further digital marketing actions is comprehensive competitor analysis of the top online and offline players in the greeting cards industry. According to Gur and Greckhamer (2019), competitor analysis helps compare an enterprise’s strategy with that of rival firms, establish weaknesses in their strategic plans, discover new marketing opportunities, and exploit preferred channels. Therefore, this approach would give Moonpig informed, actionable insights into online marketing. Sridhar and Fang (2019) note that a full competitor analysis in the digital marketplace should cover all online marketing domains, including websites, search rankings, and site analytics capability. The firm can emulate a rival firm in any of these areas to address its weaknesses.
A further recommended digital analysis for Moonpig is in-depth target persona research. Analyzing consumer variables, including age, gender, location, challenges, needs, values, and fears, would provide the data for developing a responsive strategy (Ruiz et al., 2020). Moonpig needs to examine the channels used by target customers to search for personalized e-card or gift solutions. Moonpig should analyze diverse strategies, including local search engine optimization (SEO) and social media ads to determine their impact (DigitalMarketer, 2021). From the analysis, it should adopt the most impactful marketing approach in its marketing plan.
Tactics
The focus for Moonpig is to attract more prospects or traffic and convert visits or leads into sales. The digital marketing tactics to implement over the next 12 months include SEO, email marketing, and social media marketing.
Actions
Tactic 1: SEO
- Analysis of keywords – Moonpig, Moonpig UK, Moon pig, and birthday cards (Alexa, 2021)
- Optimization – sites carrying the targeted keywords will be optimized raise Google ratings
- Content – involve key bloggers or sites to develop quality content around Lockdown cards and augmented reality
- Linkages – link target websites to create authoritative sites
Tactic 2: Email Marketing
- Tracking – monitor email delivery, opening, and conversion rates to determine the efficacy of this tactic
Tactic 3: Social Media Marketing
- Viral content – follow influential figures on Twitter to generate traffic and increase retweets and likes
- Reviews – request customers to write reviews about Moonpig’s products
Control
Web analytics will be used to monitor performance towards the achievement of the objectives over the 12-month period. Among the key metrics to track will include monthly search traffic, click-through rates, leads created and closed, and the number of mentions. For each of the above actions, the monthly measures that will be monitored are included in Table 2.
Table 2: Gantt chart – Control Metrics.
Risks
Managing specific risks is critical to successful digital marketing efforts. The potential risks Moonpig must manage in its online marketplace include are included in Table 3.
Table 3: Marketing Plan Risks and their Mitigation.
References
Alexa. (2021). Moonpig.com competitive analysis, marketing mix and traffic. Web.
CardFactory. (2021). The greeting card market. Web.
Chaffey, D., & Smith, P. R. (2017). Digital marketing excellence: Planning, optimizing, and integrating online marketing (5th ed.). Routledge.
Chang, Y., Li, Y., Yan, J., & Kumar, V. (2019). Getting more likes: The impact of narrative person and brand image on customer brand interactions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(6). Web.
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DigitalMarketer. (2021). The ultimate guide to digital marketing. Web.
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Gur, F. A., & Greckhamer, T. (2019). Know thy enemy: A review and agenda for research on competitor identification. Journal of Management, 45(5), 1-9. Web.
IBISWorld. (2020). Online greetings card retailers in the UK – Market research report. Web.
Lee, D., Hosanagar, K., & Nair, H. S. (2018). Advertising content and consumer engagement on social media: Evidence from Facebook. Management Science, 64(11), 5105–5131. Web.
Lyons, E. (2018). Moonpig hunts for emotional connection in marketing refresh. Web.
Moonpig Group. (2021). About us. Web.
Moschieri, C., & Blake, D. J. (2019). The organizational implications of Brexit. Journal of Organizational Design, 8(6), 1-12. Web.
Nazir, S. (2021). Moonpig begins £1.2bn stock market float. Retail Gazette. Web.
Rogers, C. (2019). Why managing risk is now essential to marketing. Web.
Ruiz, C. A., Baker, J. J., Mason, K., & Tierney, K. (2020). Market-scanning and market-shaping: why are firms blindsided by market-shaping acts?Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 35(9), 1389-1401. Web.
Silva, S. C., Feitosa, W., Duerte, P., & Vasconcelos, M. (2020). How to increase engagement on social media using the honeycomb model: A case study in a Portuguese HR company. Revista de Gestão, 27(2), 153-167. Web.
SimilarWeb. (2020). Moonpig: Traffic overview. Web.
Sridhar, S., & Fang, E. (2019). New vistas for marketing strategy: digital, data-rich, and developing market (D3) environments. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47, 977-985. Web.
Statista. (2018). Value of greeting card market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by category. Web.
Vieira, V. A., Almeida, M. I. S., Agnihotri, R., Silva, N. S., & Arunachalam, S. (2019). In pursuit of an effective B2B digital marketing strategy in an emerging market. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(6). Web.
Vlados, C. (2019). On the correlative and evolutionary SWOT analysis. Journal of Strategy and Management, 12(3), 347-363. Web.
Appendix
Table 1: A PESTEL Analysis of the UK Online Greeting Cards Market.
Table 2: VRIO for Moonpig.