Company introduction
Who we are:
Samakmak is an Australian-based seafood wholesaler selling its products to customers both nationally and internationally.
What we do:
We provide quality and affordable seafood products to our domestic and international customers.
Where we operate:
We are based in Perth, Australia and our operations are both national and international. The current target market is fine restaurant and 5 stars hotels in Dubai with high customer base.
SWOT analysis
E-marketing strategic planning
The target market is the fine restaurant and 5 star hotels in Dubai. The segment has chain of hotels which are used by tourists since Dubai has become a tourist destination. The presence of exotic and luxurious hotels and restaurants in Dubai is an attraction factor that we have considered.
Dubai is located in an arid region and far from the sea which implies that seafood is not common. Therefore, through the use of state-art-technology it will possible to supply seafood products in the targeted segment and achieve the anticipated market share.
Competitive pricing and penetrative pricing will be used to position our products in the market. Best quality seafood products offered at low and affordable prices will differentiate our products from the others. In addition, both fresh and frozen fish and seafood products will be available in the market. This will offer a competitive advantage over our competitors.
Objectives
Marketing objectives of Samakmak are:
- To gain 5% of the Dubai market share in 12 months.
- To achieve 80% of product awareness in the target market.
- To achieve 15% in product sales in the next six months.
- To be a market leader in supply of seafood through e-marketing in Dubai.
E-marketing strategy
This section looks at the 7ps of marketing which are pricing, product, promotions, placement, people, process, and physical evidence (Chartered Institute of Marketing 2009; Tracy 2004; Houghton 2007, p.61).
Figure 1: 7 Ps of marketing
Source: Bhasin (2011)
Pricing
Price is different from the other elements as it determines whether the products will be purchased or not. The prices of the products will be affordable, since high prices will have negative effect on the sales which will in return affect the customer loyalty and revenues. Therefore, the chosen prices will not be high or lower than competitors in the market, but will be considerate to be equal to the perceived value of seafood products. We attribute to gain profits as the consumers get value for their money at the same time.
Samakmak pricing strategy
To enter the new market, penetration pricing strategy will be adopted by Samakmak. Penetration pricing involves the use of lower prices with the expectation that quantity demanded will increase (Gitman & McDaniel 2009, p.309; Kurtz & Boone 2012, p.661).
We anticipate high demand for seafood because demand is always price sensitive (Schotter 2009, p.99), and as a result, either the existing buyers will have to buy more Samakmak products or new buyers will be attracted by the penetration prices which are considerably affordable. The pricing strategy has been selected based on the company’s SWOT analysis and the marketing objectives.
The rationale behind the penetration strategy is that high quality seafood and relatively low or affordable prices than the competitors will ultimately increase demand, market share, and customer satisfaction (Gitman & McDaniel 2009, p.309). As a result, market share will be increased and sales volumes will also be increased at a lower cost per unit. However, the distribution channels will have to meet the increase in demand for the Samakmak seafood.
Objective of pricing
Pricing will determine the extent to which Samakmak will earn and the market share it will gain in the next 12 months. Revenue generated will help in propelling the company to the next level. Demand is price sensitive hence the pricing strategy will fulfil the market objectives.
Place
Samakmak products will be made available through e-marketing. The implication made is that the products will be purchased through the internet and made available to the targeted customers or market share. Therefore, the initial step is to design and develop a dependable and fast website that will be used for online transactions. The website will have links which will connect the consumers with the available seafood products and the wholesale prices. In addition the 4ps of the marketing mix will be available on the website site.
With the increase in cyberspace crime, a secure and trusted purchase and payment method will be designed. The functionality and the dependability of the method will be tested in the first week upon launch to get rid of any loopholes. Samakmak plans to work with Cisco Systems Inc which will help in developing and managing the online system on behalf of the company. This will minimize costs resulting from cybercrime and related online faults or failures.
The Samakmak website will be used as communications channels, direct sales channel, and a distribution channel. Given that e-marketing strategy centre of attraction is website of the company (Rampur 2011), the website will have interfaces connecting to social media networks such as a Facebook and twitter. The website will be of proper format, design, attractive, and impressive to the targeted consumers.
Seafood products are highly perishable products which require well organized supply chain and storage facilities. A storage facility with the latest preservation and refrigeration components will be acquired and placed strategically in Dubai. The warehouse will be used to store seafood products before they are made available to the restaurants and five star hotels.
Another alternative is to have the seafood products made available direct to the consumers upon purchase in a period f less than 48 hours. Deliverance of fresh seafood products will give the company an added advantage thus gaining a competitive advantage. The distribution channel will have the products delivered at the premises of our consumers.
People
One of the major ingredients of service and product provision is the employment of highly trained and appropriate people and staff (Bhasin 2011). Samakmak has highly trained staff who have been in the business for a long period.
However, since the venture will be in a country which have different cultural beliefs and values as well as language, Dubai nationals will be recruited and trained appropriately. This will reduce issues associated with language barrier and cultural shock in the new market. In addition, blending the workforce will ensure workforce diversity which acts as a competitive advantage to any organization.
Consumers usually make judgements and offer their perception of the products offered and services based on the workforce they interact with (Bhasin 2011). Therefore, Samakmak employees will have appropriate interpersonal and communication skills, service knowledge, and aptitude to ensure that the target market gets value for its money.
Well trained technical workforce will be put into place to address any arising issues associated with customer care. It will be responsible for answering urgent phone calls, replying emails, and updating the websites. Sales representatives will be trained and deployed to the target market. This will be used to enable face to face communication with the consumers before officially going online. In addition, the team in ground will offer personal contact with the target consumers and get to answer any inquiries made. A subsidiary office will also be located in Dubai which will coordinate the Samakmak with consumers and the activities undergoing in the warehouses.
Physical evidence
The objective of the physical experience of Samakmak is to create unforgettable experience on the consumers. This will be achieved through tangible commodities which include variety of products in the market. Others include brochures, bookmarks, webpage, and staff that will help the target customers.
Social networking, e-space, and articles will offer intangible commodity which will improve the perception and the experience of the consumers. This will aid in attracting more customers as well as attracting the already available ones in the market.
The website will offer positive experience and perception of the consumers thus spreading the ultimate brand message. The website is tailored in a way that ensures convenience and reliability among the consumers. The daily update of our website and blogs will ensure that are physical evidence is realised as we keep in touch with the consumers. All the physical evidence will be aligned with the consumers’ expectations as well as the company’s marketing objectives.
Promotion
Product awareness will carried through different promotion methods such as advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and use of search engine marketing. To attract consumers to the website, SEO (search engine optimization) will be used (Roy 2010). This will attract internet traffic to the website hence high customer turnover (Rampur 2011). Online advertising will also be applied where products provided by Samakmak will be placed on the company’s website, blog or the social media networks.
Email marketing strategy will include sending of emails to the target consumers on the information of the products being offered as well as their respective prices (Kurtz & Boone 2012, p.283). In addition, it will aid develop good customer relations between the organization and the consumers. Online newsletters will be used to pass information on the products and their prices which will be available in the company website and blogs (Rampur 2011). Through the use of bloggers and journalists, we will be able to reach the anticipated market share in the set time frame (Rampur 2011).
Advertisement will be carried on via website, TV, radio, and print media (Dunn1995, p.1) Sales promotions will be offered to the five star hotels and the restaurants. In addition, push strategy will be employed to ensure the products are delivered to the target customers as soon as possible.
Process
We value our customers, and as a result, processes will be put into place to ensure that our services and products are made available to the target customer base (Bhasin 2011). The website will be designed in such a manner that the consumers get a positive impression of our presence. Instant access and easy direction upon login will move the customers around and view the different seafood products offered. Accessibility, dependability, and reliability are the key drivers of our e-marketing plan.
We believe in customer satisfaction which is achieved through delivery of quality products in the agreed or set timeframe. We thrive in our quick product delivery because we are confident in our processes. On top of this, the anticipated demand will prompt Samakmak deliver high quality seafood products. Seafood products are highly perishable products, therefore we will have to deliver optimally without any loss in quality.
The website will be used as a communication strategy to get in touch with our customers. This will ensure immediate response to any inquiry or issue. In addition, customer care agents in the ground will aid in sorting any anticipated or experienced problem.
Interfaces provided through the use of social networks such as a Facebook or twitter will allow immediate communication with the customers (Kurtz & Boone 2012, p.283). Skype will be used to teleconferencing between the consumer and the supplier.
The supply chain adopted by Samakmak will use the latest technology to track the goods being transported. This will ensure that any logistical problem is solved in advance and delivery of the products made in the set time frame.
Product
Samakmak is a wholesaler of seafood products. Therefore, variety of seafood products will be provided to the five star hotel and restaurant. Seafood products come in different varieties which are got from the sea. The seafood products provided by Samakmak will include major Australian seafood such as fish, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms (Brown & Connell 2001, p.6)
We will deliver fresh seafood products and fresh fish to the target market upon request. The product will be of high quality and well preserved using state-of-art freezers and refrigerators. The products will be certified by both the Australia’s and Dubai’s food and drugs regulatory bodies. This will authenticate and articulate that the products are good for human consumption. Daily delivery of the products will be put into place to ensure that fresh products are delivered as soon as possible.
In the case of frozen seafood products, we will use its state of art freezer to transport and preserve the seafood products. This will ensure that the products delivered are consumable as they reach the restaurants and the five star hotels. Since the products are of best quality, competitive prices will be used in selling the seafood products in the new targeted market.
Implementation plan
The implementation plan will be carried in a period of 12 months and is contained in the chart below
Warehousing, email marketing, and use of blogs, and website adverts will be carried for the whole period of 12 months. Evaluations will be carried after every three months and control measures taken after each evaluation exercise.
Budget
Samakmak plans to use AED 100 million to get the whole plan rolled out for the next 12 months. The cost involves all activities in the implementation plan but in a condensed form.
Evaluation Plan
Evaluation will be carried after every three months for a period of one year to determine the effectiveness of our marketing objectives. In addition evaluation will be carried to determine whether any control measures will be required on the marketing plan.
Sales analysis will be carried on the months of August 2012, January 2013 and May 2013 to determine the volume of the anticipated and the actual sales. Market share analysis will be carried in the same time to determine the performance of the company against market forces such as competitors and emerging entrants in the market (Vaknin, n.d). To determine the direction of the company, sales within the segment targeted will be compared with the expected market share and sales volume.
Expense-to-sales analysis will be applied to determine costs and benefits resulting from branding and brand awareness (Vaknin, n.d). Customer satisfaction analysis will involve the use of focus groups to determine the levels of customer perception, attitude, satisfaction, and customer opinion towards the seafood products by the target customers. Finally, financial analysis will be carried to determine the revenues generated from the sales of the seafood products after a period of three months.
Through marketing audit, it will be possible to determine the compatibility of Samakmak strengths with the market trends, customer preferences, demands, and needs (Trivedi 2010, p.49).To evaluate the way the marketing strategy of the 7ps is doing; efficiency control will be applied to see if the objectives align with the current performance of the strategy (Vaknin, n.d).
Reference List
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